Children of Men
wow, hella good moive. realistic action sequences. had me on the edge of my seat of most of the movie

buy the dvd

The Piano Teacher
dir. Michael Haneke
2001



much better than i expected it to be. great performances from the actors.
as much as it can be a story about how sick the modern society is and all that jazz, i thought that it's actually better to think of this film as a straight forward story of a masochist. i think it really shows in the very end of the film. [spoiler]you'd think she took the knife to kill the dude. yet she just stabs hereself and walks away. that was probably my favourite part of the movie.[/spoiler]

shaun of the dead. (#146 on the Sombie all time 499 poll)

stellar. ab-so-fuckin-lutely stellar. really wish I'd seen it in the theater instead of a week before I caught..




hot fuzz.

which was entertaining and over the top and all but not nearly as engaging to me as Shaun was.

Cool spoiler function.
At first, I thought what the hell are these black bars?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Somehow, I never saw this until this morning. It's all right, but I tend to agree with Ebert on Depp's performance:

My dad had a pretty good take on it as well, noting that it sounded like Michael Jackson, if he were from Minnesota. I've got to say, I prefrer the original, Charlie in this one was too damned perfect. At least Charlie in the first version, snuck in and tried that candy he wasn't supposed to, this Charlie did everything right, apologized, and was just too squeaky clean. Also, Charlie was like a bit-part in this one, it really should've been re-titled "Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory" because it was all Wonka with a bit of Charlie. Lastly, I liked the first Oompa Loompas better, they were much more terrifying.

Charlie was so perfect because that's how Roald Dahl's book had it. Stuart Gordon, the director of Willie Wonka, said that they purposely added the Slugworth candy plotline (and the fizzy lifting drinks) in order to give some dramatic arc to the overall story.
...It wouldn't be PC to make Oompa Loompas terrifying today! The novel's original illustrations and descriptions depicts them as vaguely African jungle people.
Full story here.

meh

Boy, it turns out I don't remember the book much at all, lol. I know Dahl didn't like the original adaptation, so this probably would have jived with his vision much better, but I still prefer the original.

The Oompa Loompas debate is completely hilarious, as you have people using passages from a kid's novel to support theories of racism and slavery. I'd forgotten how silly university gets. But, I agree with you that Burton probably couldn't have had Oompa Loompas who were black and terrifying without a whole boatload of controversey.


You didn't like PLF? I think it's actually my favourite Godard, though I couldn't begin to explain what is going on in it. I just found the dialogue and imagery, even if I didn't understand it, kind of easy to get absorbed in. And I love the final scene.

I like both films equally, but I could have lived without the flashbacks of Wonka's father ....The Burton version was executive produced by one of Dahl's relatives, so at least there seems to be some authoritative stamp of approval.

this film is not yet rated

I actually caught this a couple weeks ago and it seemed rather well timed considering Mr Valenti
just passed away. A very well done if not strangely effective piece that goes to explain the way
the Hollywood system works to protect it's own and has a very strict inward method of controling the platform for which material is released to the public. It pretty much goes with without saying that violence is more acceptable than sex and there's definitely a double standard about what is OK to see when it comes to theatrical releases.

From a technical standpoint, I did feel like as the movie progessed it just seemed to me that perhaps he was running out of money or something. The later half of the film doesn't seem to have the same look as the beginning as he was adding all sorts of post effects to it. Still, between the discovery of the secret jurors and the inner workings of these wizards from behind the curtain make this well worth watching.



intimate strangers

very cool french drama in regards to a case of mistaken identity gone amuck.
a tax lawyer takes on a client who mistakenly believes he's a therapist.
being the quiet and calculating type, the fellow attempts to maintain this pseudo-professional relationship while he barely has a grip on his own. not altogether realistic but none the less I found it mesmerizing.

Yeah, I didn't want to look like I was strictly dumping on the remake, as I enjoyed it well enough, but I didn't really like the Willy Wonka Has Bad Homelife subplot. And since Depp was seemingly channeling Jacko, if they had to do a childhood flashback, they should have had it that Wonka's father was trying to force his son, and siblings, into being a singing group.

I wish Burton had some other motif for everything besides daddy-didn't-love-me.

i'd agree about the dialogue. i liked it's silly romanticism, and how it was just a big mix of things. from gangster movie to a musical. but at the same time it felt like they did the movie in a day or two. it felt very unprofessional. but you can enjoy that side of too i guess.

i have a problem with these mid 60s godard films, when he began using color. while i'm sitting watching them, i'm like, damn i wish this thing had already ended. is he ever gonna quit with his vietnam shtick. but then when i talk to someone about it, and i sort of reflect on it- it doesn't feel that bad. i dunno. i'm confused. for example, i love "masculin feminine" and "my life to live". but what do i do with "three things i know about her"?!!!

What? And alienate his core market?

What do you think of "Une Femme Est Une Femme"? Very wacky stuff, no Vietnam schtick there. (someday I'm going to buy it...)

i haven't seen it yet. (my library only got it on vhs, so i may have to watch it there). i think i'd like it, cos it's that godard period that i dig the most. same thing with "alphaville" and "band of outsiders".

Saw this over the weekend...not bad. It had one drop dead funny moment (the korean) and a lot of chuckles. Not a classic by any means but so much better than that Talladega disaster.

what a great movie. i really enjoyed it. very grim and yet very funny. the first half of it was particulalry good. i loved the soundtrack, and camera work with all those big open shots. really cool.

i was a bit dissapointed by the video quality though. my copy is a criterion one, and i was expecting good video as they always promise, but it wasn't that great. i know they have reissued both sanjuro and yojimbo very recently, and i was wondering if anybody knows if they also improved video quality on the new versions?

I rented 'The Queen' last night. Pretty straightforward, though the performances were exceptional. It's odd that the film has been billed by some as a take-down of Queen Elizabeth, as I thought it was very sympathetic. Moving even.

I just watched this too. Great movie.
I was really impressed with the consistent look that the production designers created for the movie - it wasn't the future as typically imagined on film.
Highly recommended.

the killing

I hadn't watched this in quite a while.
still holds up... made me realize how badass Sterling Hayden really is.

Serious pwnage.

Even though the Strummer stuff is great, it is a real heart-sinker to find out that he was talking about playing with the Clash at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Induction.

it's a love story.

I thought Caligula was the most controversial movie ever made.

united 93

not so long ago I saw the cheap made for tv version which was not only piss poor in terms of its approach but also embarrassing in its treatment of probably one of the most alarming moments in recent history to happen here in the good ol' U.S. of A.

this on the other hand was riveting from beginning to end.

Have you seen DiabolikDVD's website? They have Exploitation movies there you won't find anywhere else.

The mid-90s was filled with this type of mediocre slacker dramedy. While still pretty mediocre, this was one of the better ones, in that I actually cared about a couple of the characters

good link.

Jackass Number Two: It is what it is. God, Johnny Knoxville was insane in this one. I get a little tired of the gross-out stuff and the animal stunts, I'd much rather watch them do silly or dangerous things on bikes and skateboards.

I once saw this at Fermilab. Very good. I saw Killer's Kiss a few weeks before that, though, so I still get parts of the two mixed up in my head.

This was pretty funny.

The Time Machine ride was awesome.

I'm a Cyborg, but that's OK.

by Chan-Wook Park

how was this?
I'm a big fan of Park's work and can't wait to see this one

Not bad at all. Sharon Stone drags the whole thing down, but it's still really good. Probably goes third on my list of Scorsese movies (after Goodfellas, and The Departed).

I agree it's a solid movie. Although it wouldn't be near my top 3 Scorsese films.

Have you seen Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets or After Hours?

I've seen Taxi Driver-- it's a great vehicle (!) for De Nero, but it's not a very interesting film for me. After Hours bored me silly. I've only seen bits of Raging Bull-- it's on the NetFlix queue. Haven't seen any of Mean Streets,

If I had to chose a favorite Scorsese film, I would probably go with Goodfellas.

That seems to be the line I hear. I'm just getting into his movies now, so I don't have an informed opinion. Anyone out there dislike Goodfellas?

I prefer Casino to Goodfellas. I don't see how anyone could like the posturing of The Departed more then Taxi Driver.


Has anyone seen 'Black Book' yet? It's terrific.

I don't understand the critspeak term 'posturing' in this context. I found The Departed to be more interesting and entertaining than Taxi Driver.



No. What is it? Spill, chipmonk.

I don't know what 'entertaining' means in this context. TD is completely absorbing and hypnotic. The Departed is filled with fake machismo sub-Mamet machismo a well-then-who-gives-a-damn amount of meaningless plot twists, an insufferable Jack Nicholson at his worst and more bad acting from Alec Baldwin and Mark Whalberg.

Black Book is the new Paul Verhoeven film (He went back to Holland for this one). It's superb.

Me. I hate Ray Liotta's performance. I just don't think he has the presence to handle a leading role.


Right there with ya, T.

I don't get all the slagging that Sharon Stone gets for Casino. Personally, I think she pulled off that character very well. Ever known someone that whacked? Hell, in Vegas those gold-diggers are a dime a dozen, and when they get older they get worse.

Liotta grates intensely. If the film had been made 10 years earlier then Deniro would have played that role brilliantly.

Casino was alright but not nearly as perfect as a Goodfellas.
To pitch it as being on a higher plain is just pure hogwash.

Casino was all over the place and not nearly as tight a picture.

I enjoyed the assassinations sequence. Particularly Alan King's character who was based on a guy who was assassinated in the parking lot of a hotel in lincolnwood back in 1983. Rickles & Smothers were smart casting choices. On the other hand I thought Pesci was hardly doing much and Woods was a bore.

Only Scorsese could plug Devo into a pic. Only thing more surreal was watching Fellini use the music of Michael Jackson in his last film.

Tony, I'm a big fan of Verhoven's early works and while I've heard high and low scores for 'Black Book' I do intend to check it out at some point.

I have no qualms about calling Casino better then Goodfellas. No movie with Ray Liotta in the title role can be called perfect. And at the end of Goodfllas it feels like Scorsese was just having someone read from the book and illustrating it. The sprawl of Casino added to its impact for me. And there was a much greater sense of tragedy both in the characters involved and their surroundings.

Just try living in Vegas. Scorsese did a great job capturing the essence of the city, much like Gilliam captured NYC in the Fisher King. Plus, the lighting design in Casino is effin' amazing.

where the truth lies

missed this one entirely when it was released. then again, getting an NC-17 is usually the kiss of death
and yet viewing this I'd have to say it certainly didn't deserve it. I can't say I agree with the whole miscasting phenomenon that's been described for Alison Lohman either. A really underrated flick and maybe one of Atom Egoyan's best to date.




johnny guitar

I want to say there's quite a camp factor for this Nick Ray pic. Really a strange feel to it all the way around. I wouldn't have guessed that he'd directed it. I kept thinking it was someone else.