I think the idea was to expose the aspects of one's value between social classes.

you mean the contrast between the bourgeois doctor and his "chosen" poor victims?

The doctor's daughter and the victims, yes.

I love this one too.

it's good clean fun.

Apocalyto

I was fully prepared to hate this movie. Turns out it was a pretty decent flick.
It looked spectacular. The violence was gloriously graphic.

I don't think there is another film maker working today that is putting out better movies in dead languages.

Rent it!

Finished disc one of this:



Not amazing, but plenty of funny moments here and there. Seth Rogen definitely destroys all.

Downloaded this not long ago. I thought it was pretty great. Not nearly as good as freaks and geeks but any f&g fan should see it. jason segel (nick andopolis from f&g) is fucking hysterical. Seth Rogen, as noted above, also kills.

Not at all, which I guess is why I don't get it.
The music? The funny? I wish I surfed?

The Royal Tenenbaums

As it has been for every time I've seen it, fantastic.

Ben Stiller's greatest moment in acting: The scene near the end when Royal buys the dalmatian to replace Buckley and Chas says "I've had a rough year, Dad." I have to hold back the tears for that moment.

Kingdom Of Heaven - the Director's Cut

Hmmm.... My wife & I gave up after the first half. It just wasn't gripping our attention in any meaningful way. Part of our problem is the lack of character development; there are pacing errors all over the place in this sprawling, unfocused story; all the locations were nearly identical so's you were never quite sure where things were supposed to be happening after awhile; and, of course, our general disdain for any sort of people who use religion as an excuse to be egocentrically horrible to one another. Maybe I'll watch the second half sometime in the future, but we honestly didn't have any empathy for the characters in one way or another... live... die... whatever. Disappointing for Ridley, yet I honestly can't tell how much of my reaction is based upon my complete lack of knowledge with the Crusades in general (I was sorta, you know, hoping this film would have sparked an interest in the topic since there's still so much religious war running rampant in the world today - after all, Gladiator inspired me to read up on Roman political history for weeks.)

All in all, my wife summed up this film perfectly: "I understand the Crusades now... God wanted them to kill each other because they were all so boring!")

On the plus side: the photography is exquisite; the sound is incredible. And it does move quickly (which is also part of the problem: too many key moments for character & plot development are lost), but the destination looks rather predictable (as are the subplots: [spoiler]does Liam Neeson have to die in every movie?[/spoiler]).

If I merely wanted to watch an epic battle with just enough story to make it work (and without the pretension of Trying To Be Significant) the 300 would have been a much better time.

No, you aren't.

Y'know, I don't remember. I saw it in the theatre, and I don't remember being uncomfortable (I get uncomfortable at about the 140 min mark). The DVD release may be longer than the theatrical release.

I finished the entire series last night. The finale just wrecked me. It probably ended around 10:30 and at 1:30 this morning I was still crying like it had just finished.

Without question the greatest, most beautiful TV show I've ever watched.

it was awful. i can't even describe what a piece of crap that movie is.

That quote from Empire alone should have given you pause. Dostoevsky?

i guess i had to know how low could modern russian cinema fall.

I watched "Grindhouse - Death Proof" the other night. The first half of "Death Proof" was enthralling. The second half with the cheerleader was incredibly tedious and overblown, so much so as to dillute the impact of the first bit. Still have yet to watch the second director offering.

Unreal.

Yep, that last episode is amazing... But was I the only one disappointed that [spoiler]Billy didn't eventually off Brenda in some appropriately horrible way?[/spoiler]

Over the weekend I stumbled upon and watched this for the first & last time:


It was just too old and skeevy. All I could think about was how much I hate Charleton Heston. What were they thinking when they tied that jaunty scarf around his neck? The scene w/ Edward G. Robinson toward the end was moving, though. I guess I expected production values more like THX-1138.

I only kept going back to that Simpsons halloween episode.

The Jodorowsky box-set is currently on sale on amazon for $26.49

Get on that shit, dudes.

Just rented Almodovar's "The Flower of My Secret" on impulse...not knowing a thing about it.... Is it a Pick or a Pan?

i appreciate what this guy does, but it not exactly something that i'd like to own as far as my favourite cinema goes.

Yeha, Heston is really quite irritating in this film - totally not a character whom one could relate to at all (and I agree that scarf makes him look incredibly gay, which is probably not the effect ol' Charlie was going for). They shoulda hired Sean Connery instead. I'm sure he would've rather done this film than (shudder!) Zardoz.

I still have a soft spot for the film for several reasons: the premise is great (gotta dig Harry Harrison's work); I used to see this film on afternoon TV as a kid; and the Edward G Robinson scene you describe is flat-out terrific. For all that, I still don't think I'll ever really need to watch SG again in my lifetime.

[spoiler]Soylent Green is people![/spoiler]

started watching this, but decided to stop after 20 minutes.
some sort of melodrama/national identity thing. not my cup of tea.

Having seen Angelopolus' Ulysses Gaze, I can tell you that you need to be in a certain mindset to enjoy his work.

that movie reminded me of some of the similar soviet era films about people with weird fates and how son goes against his father and all that jazz. acting, directing, at least from the first 20 minutes, seemed good, but i after those 20 minutes i felt like i knew how the film would end. you know what i mean?

i should go back to watching old films instead of the recent releases. i got "holy mountain". so maybe i'll watch it tonight.

hell yeah! thanks for the heads up dude. I've been waiting for this for over a decade now.

just rented this the other night too.
I need to watch it again...

Jeepers! Not bad...an interesting story; decent acting from Affleck (that's right, you heard me); Diane Lane was brave to appear "old."

Totally OTM, though i might phrase the last part as, Diane Lane was brave to appear "her age."

You are probably alone or at least in the minority. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

vg you had a problem with heston but able to enjoy affleck in hollywoodland? not sure what to think of that.

watching it on vhs though, not dvd.

Le Soleil Vert est les gens!

I just watched Chinatown for class.
We talked about Chinatown in class.
I can't believe how great Chinatown is.

let it go feisty, it's Chinatown.

Overdued for some catch-up in this thread. Let's start with:



This was pretty stellar. A few stock storylines, but overall a gorgeous production with some damn fine acting from nearly all concerned. Will figure prominently in my overdue '06 revise.

How was this? I know much less about Leni Riefenstahl than I should--I've only ever seen Triumph des Willens.

Sherrybaby the other night.

At first I thought it was overdramatic, and annoyingly tense and stupid.

Then I gave in and decided it was beyond amazing. By the time she finally talked to her brother near the end, I was incredibly moved by the whole ordeal. Highly recommended for those who haven't seen it and love good acting.

Pretty much my exact thoughts on this matter.

Although, I'd seen it before when we watched it for class last year. But I had that same feeling while viewing it again. I was literally driven to tears by just how incredible the thing is. I wrote some amazing shit about it for the final, too. Teacher came up to me later that day to tell me that he was, well, very impressed. Wonderful film.

Tykwer certainly has his camera movements that he loves. Very similar to Run Lola Run in that sense.
I also watched a short called True which is also directed by Tykwer and is in Paris Je T'Aime. Great visuals and a pretty excellent storyline, for a short film.

I'm the overdude. Big whoop.

Fantastic soundtrack and period setting. Too many moments where I said McAvoy's character's lines in my head before he did and situations that were all too familiar. Quite scary actually.

Also stars Rebecca Hall (Sarah in The Prestige)

A classic! Right up there with V with one exception: Ray Bradbury rules.
Actually a bit creaky as far as production value, but it's a good story regardless.
That moment they see the flash thru the telescope is pretty intense.

Olympiad is also amazing if you can find it. It's the original 16 Days Of Glory.