27 Missing Kisses
A great Georgian Film...have watched it 5 times already.....
Printable View
27 Missing Kisses
A great Georgian Film...have watched it 5 times already.....
"Lost highway" (again and again :D) It's 10/10 for me :nod:
Indeed, I think I discounted it a little early in life, when I doubt I understood the humor entirely. A joyful mood comes my way from time to time, and I will probably give it another watch sometime then, as it seems that almost everyone I have disclosed my initial disliking of The Big Lebowski felt surprised that "someone like me" would not enjoy such a film. I will rent it again sometime soon, thanks! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Stargazer86
Similar to labeling The Big Lebowski somewhat early, I suppose I should not insult certain actors and actresses too early. I guess my dislike for George Clooney comes from exhaustion than in calling him talentless; Clooney has plenty of talent, but I feel overwhelmingly fatigued from that smug, sly, grinning hard-boil that the watcher hates to love in films like Ocean's Eleven, Burn After Reading, Three Kings, and The Perfect Storm. My first dislike of him, however, as a big Batman fan, occurred in Batman & Robin, which hurt to watch; no one beats Michael Keaton, in my opinion, but I felt that even Val Kilmer performed better in Batman Forever and Christian Bale in The Dark Knight. Luckily, From Dusk Till Dawn came out, and that restored some of my affinity for George Clooney, a lot of it actually, alongside the brilliant Quentin Tarantino, but not too much of his work has impressed me since.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathor
I regret to say that he scared me away from Michael Clayton, but, since we have shown some similar tastes in films, I will give it a chance sometime soon for sure, and appreciate the link to the Up in the Air trailor, because that looks fairly decent, too - perhaps a bit of a turn-around for him, eh? Now . . . if only we can get Mel Gibson to do the same . . . :lol:
Wristcutters 10/10
This movie is so great. I stumbled across it on the Sundance channel. It's a comedy about this heartbroken guy who commits suicide over a girl and the afterlife ends up being just like life, only worse. It doesn't sound like much of a comedy, but it does have many humorous moments. Also, I really liked the music.
Has anybody seen a movie called Lars and the Real Girl?
Jackie Brown, and I'd give it 7/10 not Tarantino's greatest
Oh no! :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by rimbaud
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
It was my first time watching it but I recognized a lot of the music. Entertaining movie. Susan Sarandon was hot...
8/10
what?! Pulp Fiction was way better, Inglourious Basterds too, so was Death Proof and Reservoir dogs!Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielBenoit
I know you are a robert deniro fan :) but still, it's not his best movie
Dancer in the Dark - Lars von Trier; I have only seen two of his films, but I'm confident enough to say that he is the most emotionally powerful director living today. His unflinching power transcends that of almost any director.
Trier has made some of the most shocking, sexually violent and emotionaly tramatic films of all time, with his new film Antichrist probably being the most extreme example (though I have yet to see it). Roger Ebert himself even said in his review of Antichrist that Trier "is driven to confront and shake his audience more than any other serious filmmaker - even Bunuel and Herzog." Those familiar with these two great directors will know the expanse of this statement. And it's true.
Judgement of Trier's films does not come about by asking the question, is this film great or not? but if it has effected you or not. Dancer in the Dark is a melodrama with a plot that would better suit a film made during the age of D.W. Griffith. It concerns a Chekloslovokian single-mother who works at a factory and is trying to star in a stage production of The Sound of Music and tries to hold these two jobs together to save up money for an operation on her son, as she slowly goes blind. The operation is one that will remove the genes that she has passed on to him, so that he will not have her blindness heriditary. This film also happens to be a musical, and without a doubt the most unconventional musical ever made (but I'll get to that in a little bit).
Now, I've seen many films, and I don't fall very easily for melodramas and in fact prefer emotionally subtle directors like Stanley Kubrick or Ingmar Begman, who make immensely emotional films, but don't come bursting out on the screen with tears and tissues.
Dancer in the Dark is one of those films that will only effect you whether or not if you are in sympathy with the characters. Dancer in the Dark has a relatively soapy plot, and has many of the typical characters of melodramas, but is filmed, directed, acted in such an unconventional way, that every second is utterly believable.
I don't want to give away much of the plot, for, like most melodramas, a lot happens. All I can say is that Bjork is such a brave and beautiful actress, with merely the nature of her performance being a curiosity. For those not familiar, Bjork is a famous Icelandtic pop star, who is a celebrity in her country. Now, imagine Paris Hilton or Britney Spears in a not-so-glamorous performance, with a director known for his lack of mercy, in a Danish art film. Yeah, incomprehensible. Bjork's performance is so admirable and so couragous, so humble, that it is shocking to think that the star of this film is a pop celebrity (and though this may be a musical, upon seeing it, you'll know what I mean).
Now any actor or actress willing to work with Trier should be commended for their bravery. But Bjork's in particular is daring because not only is she willing to play an pretty, but far from glamorous single-mother who possesses more innocence and heart than intelligence and wit, but also because she was bold enough to sing in such a film.
Now the musical scenes come in as a result of her character's passion for music (especially Hollywood musicals) and her senstitive ear, to which she begins to hear rhythms upon hearing noise. From the bleakness (and sometimes unbearably traumatic) of her everyday life, she escapes into daydreams in which everyone begins singing and dancing.
The film self-consciously begins by seemingly criticizing the escapism of musicals, one of its characters saying how he didn't understand why in musicals people suddenly burst into song. As the movie progressed, I soon came to realize that this film is possibly the greatest and most loyal dedication to musicals, presenting escapism as a nessicary part of human existence.
Filmed in typical Trier style, almost every shot (besides the musical ones) is filmed on a handheld digital camera (in accordence with Dogme 95) with many jump-cuts and seemingly improvised camera-work. The musical scenes are contrasted with static cameras, with carefully composed camera-angles, with saturated film colors.
It is quite fascinating the self-conscious irony of the film. It has an extremely un-modernistic plot, more comfortable in a silent melodrama from 1919, while it is filmed in an the innovative avant-garde style of Dogme 95 and performed with extreme emotional intensity.
Oh and I haven't even come to the characters, who, despite being founded on cliches, are the heart of the film and the very reason why this film is so powerful. There is Selma (Bjork), who has a heart of gold and proves to be utterly selfless in literatly eternal dedication to her son. Not enough can be said of her, for she is such a beautiful and kind person, able to make even the most unlikely people smile, that it is suprising and sickening when there are those (very close to her) whom betray her.
There is her best friend and fellow worker at the factory who is more outgoing and reliable than her, and is always someone whom she can lean on. There is Jeffery, who is (if I must say) Selma's adorable crush, who waits for her every day after work trying to offer her a ride home (his feelings for her being very well established), but her shyness not allowing it. Then there is the couple from whom she rents her trailer, a police officer and a strongly 'American' women who loves to spend money. The police officer is a close friend of Selma's, who seeks her in times of deep distress and shares with her his secret financial troubles as well as his suicidal tendancies, while she shares him detererating sight (something she admits to no one). This is where the plot begins and what follows is a chain of unpredictable events leading to some of the most unbearable scenes I've ever had to sit through.
When I say 'unbearable' I do not mean it in the way the Transformers 2 is unbearable (far from it). I mean, unbearable in the sense that Trier has jolted and tore me apart from the inside; the power of his storytelling is unprecedented. I must warn you, for those who are squemish or easily disraught. Those, who like Selma in the story, become so depressed when a musical ends that they walk out before the second to last song so that they can hold the endless memory of it forever in their hearts, DO NOT watch this movie, or any of Trier's other films. One must be very brave and ready when watching any of his films. I, who am no stranger to tough films, found myself repeating "it's only a movie, this is all fake", but couldn't convince myself, due to the mercilessly realistic documentary-like photography which had cast me under a spell. I was in fact so shooken up, that afterwards I had vomitted half of my meal and had to take long shower so that I could go to sleep.
It is almost shocking the unflitching integrity of the final scenes, the willingness to show it all, to not close the curtain and fly the camera through the roof until it is over, which, through all of the ironies of ironies, it does.
So is Trier's musical a great film or is it cruelly manipulative? I don't know. There are only a handful of films like these which transcend criticism and can only be judged on a purely emotional level. What do I think of Trier's film: I am utterly shaken. 9/10
Casablanca. Oh how those syllables seem to echo throughout the collective memory of film audiences. Its lines, phrases and characters have become virtually commonplace and this work of art is just as likely to settle into the collective unconscious of Western civilization just as Hamlet or The Sistine Chapel has. Let's admit it, this is one of the most popular movies of all time, so popular and so well loved, that it has become almost a cliche to call it the greatest film ever made. Every filmgoer who has seen it, loves it, and we all know that it is one of the three or four greatest films ever made, what's the point of even stating something that is common knowledge?
But Casablanca is more than just some great film. It's passion and love is unlike anything ever made in Hollywood, or anywhere for that matter, all thanks to the two immortal performances of two immortal actors, backed up by probably the finest cast of all time along with The Godfather and Citizen Kane. Every inch of this film is perfect.
I probably won't even bother with a synopsis because this film is like a piece of music that we've all heard and look upon with memory. It's like whistling the opening chords of Beethoven's 5th, it resonates inside every filmgoers head.
Now I could waste an entire review saying how great everything about it is, when I can just say what everyone else has said in a single sentence: This is a perfect film, perfect script, perfect acting, perfect atmosphere. Done.
There are just so many characters to love, down to the corrupt French police offical Captian Renault, who's probably the most lovable. His subtle bisexuality and amorality is so amusing that he seems to steal every non-serious scene in the movie. Bergmen and Bogart's performances are both great, and probably the greatest to ever be found in a Hollywood romance, or any film for that matter. Sam is the wonderfully charming piano player, who, despite his minor performance, made Casablanca what it was with the perfect pitch of jazzy music. Paul Henried as the heroic Victor Laszlo is probably the most stiff romantic hero of all time, but who's banality sets just the right tone so that his political heroism doesn't outshine the far more interesting and troubled Rick.
But what is it that draws us to it? Why is it so well loved? It is, in my opinion, along with Singing in the Rain, the greatest thing Hollywood has ever produced. Now of course Hollywood produced Citizen Kane and The Third Man, but those were films made by directors more free from the constraints of the studio system. They are works by their directors; Casablanca is not. It is a purely studio production if there ever was one, and it is an achievement on their part.
What I must say, upon many viewings from over the years, the explanaition of Casablanca's effect sinks in with time. The movie is about time and memory, and the love which seems to go along with it. Observe the nostaligc flashbacks of Paris and the end result; what we see is love, innocence and joy, pitted against the modern world, however can two lovers keep their innocence in a bloodstained world, seems to be what the film asks. Out of this comes Rick's despiar; nostaliga, apathy, memory. And yet, how beautiful it is, that through Paris to Casablanca, that we still hear Sam play "As Time Goes By", strumming the keys as if winding a clock. 10/10
Stubborn characters make great tragic figures, especially those who refuse to ask for help.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielBenoit
Which other Trier film have you seen?
I've seen the opening of Antichrist and it is beautifully shot. He returns to formalism of his earlier films (The Element of a Crime, Europa etc). Julien Donkey-Boy has to be my favorite Dogme film (or digital?), but Dancer is amazing for giving its Lifetime for woman material the Faulkner gut-punch.
I saw Dogville a bit of a while ago. Concerning Antichrist, I'd love to see it . . . .if only it was playing in Green Bay :( , though from what I've heard, and from what I've seen from the trailer, it certainly looks like an extremely despairing experience.Quote:
Originally Posted by NickAdams
I remember you mentioning Julien Donkey-Boy in one of your posts, and I watched the trailer of Youtube, and it looks utterly brilliant (Werner frickin' Herzog's in it!). But it's just so hard to find.
Not to move away from Dogme films, but I've also been meaning to see Killer of Sheep, looks so great. Anybody seen it?
I haven't but, I tried to see it in theaters before it was released on dvd. I saw it in this truly great movie shop in NYC (Kim's Video); a cinephile's dream.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielBenoit
I don't know what relavence this may hold to the thread, if any at all. . . . .but for those who are familiar with my reviews might be happy to know that I have just gotten a job as Foriegn Film Critic at examiner.com!!!!!!
Congrats!:bday_2: (The birthday smiley seemed the most celebratory.:lol:)Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielBenoit
I hope that you go beyond criticism and get into filmmaking.
Having enjoyed The Squid and the Whale multiple times, by the same writer/director, Noah Baumbach, I watched Margot at the Wedding tonight, and almost preferred it over the former. I have seen it more than once on the video store shelves, and passed it by for unknown reasons, since both Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh have never failed to impress me, but even Jack Black gave an impressive performance that placed many of his slapstick films to a shameful position. Wes Anderson, one of my favorite writer/directors, first introduced me to Baumbach, and the few films that Baumbach has created certainly prove a quality-over-quantity complex that strives towards success in earning valid fans.
The film itself, without spoiling the details, explores several social inadequacies that would make even Dr. Sigmund Freud blush, amid familial, neighborly, and intimate relationships, not neglecting the age groups of adolescence and adulthood, as well as its transition. Its frequently dark and awkward humor only offers more to the cerebrally alluring plot to egg a viewer on for slightly under 2 hours, full of enough metaphors to attract any common thinker. Many twists and turns follow from the first 20 minutes, out of both amazement and curiosity, and no disappointments present themselves amid the disorganizations of a well-created plot, precise acting, and a well-chosen region of directing.
Rating: solid 10/10.
IT...3/10
I wonder why most of the movie adaptations of Stephen King books fail to impress!My sister(having not read the book) could not get the ending as it wasn't explained well.I think the movie-makers shouldn't have messed with the actual story!:(
Especially since it was a miniseries, so it wasn't like they had to boil it done to 90 minutes. I do prefer Kubrick's Shinning to King's miniseries.Quote:
Originally Posted by formality hater
Oh yes! My theory about literary adaptions is that it is best if they are taken in a different direction than the book and stand on their own as films. Just look at Kurosawa's adaptions of Shakespeare's plays, or Kubrick's entire career, especially film adaptions like Lolita or Barry Lyndon, the latter being a radical departure from the book.Quote:
Originally Posted by NickAdams
There's no savin' ol' Mel. And if there is, it will be the career turnaround of all time.Quote:
Originally Posted by mono
Congrats Daniel :)Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielBenoit
Did you like Apocalypto?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathor
Here's a trailer for his new film, it's nothing new though:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2723086873/
der untergang
amazing.. I really liked it, disgusting and real... but I thought Hitler had a golden retriever not a german shepherd.... maybe I'll check it out.. also Junge always said he treated his dog very well so one scene seemed out of place but I don't know he was on the edge down there....
"The Lemon Tree" and "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," both high quality films.
I've never cared for Mel Gibson that much, but I did think that The Passion of the Christ, though being a bit empty (especially when compared to Scorsese's Last Temptation), is very well directed and quite powerful at some points.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathor
You have to give Kazantzakis some credit for Last Temptation. Other than the roles of Jesus and Mary, I applaud Gibson for casting actors with ethnic backgrounds that are accurate and for his choice of the languages used in both Passion and Apocalypto. The world is far to connected for Hollywood to continue to produce films like Valkyrie. Robert Pattinson as Dali?! WTF, indeed.Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielBenoit
I just saw Bela Tarr's Werckmeister Harmonies for the second time in my life. I'm going to hold off the review because there is so much to say and I don't want to post it here until I publish it on examiner.com, which will be at the end of the year when, as tradition, all professional critics compile a list of the best films of the decade.
All I can say is that I have never seen anything like it. It is utterly mezmerizing. Bela Tarr seems to have invented a new language of cinema with his extremely long and contemplative takes. The atmosphere achieved in this film is so visually haunting, despairing and beautiful all at the same time. It is a metaphyiscal and political allegory in the best sense of the word. If you have the time and patience to go and seek out a rare, but extremely different film from the rest of things being made today, please see this haunting masterpiece. NetFlix is where I found it. 10/10
Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) - 10/10 - Germany's selection for Foreign language film at the Academy Awards this upcoming awards season promises to blow the competition apart. This movie is amazing! Being an Oscar-watcher over the past couple years, I've got many foreign language submissions yet to see, but this one is the obvious favorite (With the winning of the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year). Great stuff.
EDIT: And Daniel, I agree on Passion.
The Core gets a solid 2/5 for me (I dig Hilary Swank), while Stranger Than Fiction gets a thumping 5/5.
Stranger Than Fiction was definitely a very good movie.
Last movie I saw was Song of Love with Katharine Hepburn and it was pretty decent. I'd put off watching it, deleted it from my list then finally thought why not! Made me want to read the biographies of the Schumanns and Brahms. Just more books to add to that list.
Killer of Sheep - It is a miraculous thing that a film like this was made. Not because it is some epic adventure no. But because it possesses the power and the vision of some of the greatest films of all time, and yet it was made on such a minuature budget with no professional actors and was considered a lost film for decades.
Thanks to the grace of director Steven Soldbeirg, this film was rediscovered and re-released, thirty years after it's original release in 1977. Upon the films second chance, critics exploded. It was universally acknowledged as a masterpiece and its director Charles Burnett was immedietly hailed as one of the American masters. Almost right after its release, it was submitted into the National Film Preservation Regestry, a privlidge that only a few American films have shared. This film is proof that independent cinema can create gems, and that you hardly need anything to make a monumental film.
Set in urban Los Angeles through long hot summer days, we are given a series of vignettes concerning the everyday encounters of urban life for African-Americans. The films protaganist, Stan, is an emotionally detached working man who earns the little money he gets by working as a slaughterer at a sheep processing plant (hence the name).
This film is just teeming with life. With little scraps and bits of everyday life, we are able to intigrate a glorious whole of what it is to live in America. This film is neither upbeat or downbeat. It possesses no plot, it has minor character development, and wanders about the urban neighborhoods, with Stan being our guide.
There are moments of despair, confusion, joy, play. Hardly any scene has any deliberate connection to another, but in the end, we are do not feel that we have seen some kind of pretenscious fragmentated mess, but rather a beautiful mosiac of the human experience.
10/10
2012 - 8/10 - Million times better than I ever could've hoped it would be. I expected this to be one of the worst movies this year.
The Box- 5/10 - Take a ridiculous plot and spin it around a couple times blindfolded, with the philosophy of a really abstract David Lynch movie, but with none of the same redeeming qualities and you have "The Box".
A Christmas Carol - 10/10 - This movie was brilliant.
Antichrist - 7.5/10 - This movie will disturb you. I promise.
The Cove - 10/10 - I'm gonna go out on a limb and say with all certainty this movie will win "Best Documentary" at the Oscars this year.
Maybe i'll start actually posting my reviews of movies in the future instead of just posting little one-line comments.
I have just seen the movie "Julie & Julia" starring Meryl Streep. I would give it 9 stars out of ten for-
1. Outstanding preformances
2. Appels to writers and cookers
3. Has soo many funny lines and is rather tragic
4. Makes you feel the emotions from the characters, and the way it was directed made it feel like you were best friends with both of the characters. Outstanding!
"Madea goes to Jail" by Tyler Perry
Amazingly funny!
10 out of 10, the only let down in this entire movie is the fact that you wish they had more of Madea in it but what you see is very satisfying. this movie tells the story of a prostitute and how her friend, who finds her after the past few years, trys to help her. Meanwhile, never-failing Madea is back in court and is now going to jail. See how she survives and how she tells the jail that she is the boss.
I say Check it out ASAP. grab your family, sit down, and laugh!
if you like Meryl Streep, you should see the new Wes Anderson (Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, Rushmore) film that's coming out in like a week, it's an animated film starring her and George Clooney. It's called "The Fantastic Mr. Fox"Quote:
Originally Posted by Emily May Nelms
Indeedy, from the Roald Dahl novel - so exciting! Other than Streep, it has a lot of the Wes Anderson crowd - Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, etc., and apparently Noah Baumbach helped with a lot of the screenwriting. I cannot wait! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Mathor
A Woman Under the Influence - Some films seem to flash before your eyes in seconds and then they are over. I for one enjoy films, and thus if I am watching a good movie, prefer the film to go on. I do not think extended running length is a vice.
That's why it's almost so strange to watch A Woman Under the Influence a Cassavetes film which runs at 155 minutes but probably has under eight full scenes. These scenes are stretched out beyond expectation to emphasize the reality and the life of this films characters. There is not one false moment in this film.
The plot: A blue-collar working man (played tensely by Falk) begins to come under the impression that his wife (played masterfully by Rowland) might be insane, and decides to commit her. It is well established that he has been aware of this for a very long time, as is everybody else, and is merely regarded as her quirky attitude.
It is quite obvious that Mabel has some issues at the begining of the film when her husband calls her and says that he is going to have to work late. Tonight was supposed to be a special night for them, they had sent the kids to their mothers, so the house would be empty. Nick seems to know from experience her behavoir and dreads returning home to something terrible. Something does happen, but hardly serves the plot and rather shows us Mabel's world.
The following scene takes place at a dinner table, with a dozen or so of Nick's friends coming over for dinner. Here a base is formed on which we discover these characters. Mabel seems to possess more social anxities and esteem problems than she does insanity and tries too hard to please. In fact, the dinner goes well even when she begins to get comfortable, and thus over-the-top eccentric. It is not until at one point Nick yells out "sit your *** down" does a state of silence vanquish the scene.
Unlike many films, this is not about characters evolving, both spouses are still helplessly themselves in the end, but rather about characteristic discovery, for both the audience and the protaganists. It involves two great performances by Falk and Rowland and intense camera-work by Cassavetes. There are some scenes of such extreme emotional intensity, that sometimes you are shocked, and yet, you despairingly know what's going to happen.
A Woman under the Influence is a film about two helplessly wounded people; one who doesn't know how to act in front of others and thus escapes into eccentricity, another who is terrified of a lack of order and is easily ashamed by his wife's acts, and reacts in shocking ways.
There is one immensely powerful scene in which Mabel returns after six months of being in the institution. Everyone is unnerved upon seeing her behave, which lacks all of the antics and embaressing idiosyncracies. Nick is ironically embaressed by this and takes her upstairs and demands that she just be herself. Covered in shadows the two try to discover what it is they want out of each other. In the end it seems that they don't want anything, but rather must have each other in their own madness. Mainly because not everybody is as forgiving as Mabel.
10/10
HAHA amongst all these mature movies I have to throw in my Ice Age Three-Dawn of the Dinosaurs.... :D ITS AMAZING
Such a great film :thumbs_upQuote:
Originally Posted by DanielBenoit
Ok, all you goldern oldies. What was the oldest films you saw?
"Above Us The Waves" with John Mills.
"The Hill" Sean Connery.
"Ice Cold in Alex"
"El Cid" Charlton Heston.
"Straw Dogs"
"Midnight Cowboy" Jon Voight
"The Dam Busters"
"Saturday Night & Sunday Morning" Allan Bates
"Klute" Jane Fonda
"The Big Country"
"The Servant" Dirk Bogart.
"Zulu" Michael Caine.
"The Pawnbroker" Rod Steiger
"Mutiny On The Bounty" Marlon Brando.