What is the last movie you saw? and rate it.

I think this is the pertinent quote:

The Christian conception of God--God as god of the sick, God as a spider, God as spirit--is one of the most corrupt conceptions of the divine ever attained onearth. It may even represent the low-water mark in the descending development of divine types. God degenerated into the contradiction of life, instead of being its transfiguration and eternal Yes! God as the declaration of war against life, against nature, against the will to live! God--the formula for every slander against "this world," for every lie about the "beyond"! God--the deification of nothingness, the will to nothingness pronounced holy!

I don't believe Bergman is embracing Nietzche's ethos so much as recoiling at his recognition of its applicability. The horror is relieved (barely) by the suggestion that faith may still be found in our potential to love one another ("Papa spoke to me!"). But that possibility is precisely what Bergman rejects in The Winter's Light, and especially in The Silence.

Edit: This clip shows the helicopter sequence and the symbolic rape (with syringe). I notice that the image of the father is opposite the opening door. Somehow I had forgotten that over the years.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=41dVm3EauOU

I rewatched the movie. Karin does believe the spider wanted to rape her, but she was able to defend herself against him. Injecting the drug was against her will. That the helicopter occurred at the same time as the door opening implies there is some connection. There was no shadow of the helicopter on the floor. It had descended below the window by the time Karin recognized the spider, however, the final scene does have the helicopter leave and there is a shadow on its landing site that moves away.

Karin feels she was being forced by the "Others" to reject Martin, seduce Minus and read David's journal. She assumes responsibility, but excuses it by denying any free will on her part. She did want to go back to the hospital requesting that no attempts be made to give her therapy (which is what they did with the injection) so she could stay with the Others and not come back to them. I will have to see how "Winter's Light" and "The Silence" turn out. I've had enough Bergman for one day.

The idea of God as spider is a new one for me. However, I don't know if this idea is something Bergman intended to use or if others imagined this afterwards.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I rewatched the movie. Karin does believe the spider wanted to rape her, but she was able to defend herself against him. Injecting the drug was against her will. That the helicopter occurred at the same time as the door opening implies there is some connection. There was no shadow of the helicopter on the floor. It had descended below the window by the time Karin recognized the spider, however, the final scene does have the helicopter leave and there is a shadow on its landing site that moves away.

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Sorry, I meant silhouette. I went back and changed it later. But, she screams at the apparition of the image of the helicopter descending from the heavens like a spider on a thread (I also edited the scene into my post above). The rape was symbolic. The men (including her brother) trap her on the stairs and her husband injects her butt against her will. She does not say that she was successful in her attempt to defend herself. The description of what actually happened (in her delusion) seems to mirror whatever transpired between Karin and Minus in the ruined ship (based on the eye contact she makes with him as she describes it). Later, Minus tells his father that this involved reality "bursting open" and his "tumbling out" it seems to me that he is confessing his incest. What Karin seems to have been alluding to is that it did not involve actual penetration--perhaps because if Minus' immaturity.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LEdRxYotZuQ

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Originally Posted by Clopin

Also regarding the door opening. Once I was discussing Kafka online with someone who drew a humorous diagram or graph in paint which plotted characters in The Metamorphosis alongside their level of 'buggyness' and was accompanied with the argument that Kafka envisioned a world in which human life could be explained through the binaries of 'buggy' and 'not buggy' and considering this he stressed the possibility that really Gregor's parents are the ones who woke up changed... who woke up less buggy. It was defintely a joke, sort of a stab at literary criticism in general and Kafka analysis in particular. How that relates to the door, well... okay.

So I think the general interpretation of Through a Glass Darkly is the more literal one, that Karin has schizophrenia or something like schizophrenia and is uncurable. However your suggestion that there is no illness would mean what? Well that she's suffering from life? Or a spiritual strugglers? That makes a lot of sense to me given Bergmans oeuvre and the themes he chooses to tackle repeatedly in his films. He touches on mental illness a lot, but not nearly as much as he contemplates the silence of God, or (damn this word) existentialism, and you can also assume perhaps that mental illness isn't just mental illness when it crops up in his movies. So really then Karin is just suffering from a spiritual crisis of a much stronger magnitude than anyone else, but as you can see, every character is struggling in their own way and perhaps it's only a matter of degree separating Karin from everyone else instead of Karin being 'sick' and others being 'well'.

That could explain why everyone sees the door open at the same time becsuse every character is sick in the same way as Karin is, but maybe it's just not as pronounced, or they don't notice it all the time.

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My assumption is that she was not mentally ill, or that her problems were a form of spiritual crisis she needed to work through. If that is true, then her treatments generated the symptoms of schizophrenia which reinforced the diagnosis of why she heard the Others. However, that is what I want to see in the film. That may not be what Bergman intended. Whatever Bergman intended is what counts.

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Originally Posted by Pompey Bum

Sorry, I meant silhouette. I went back and changed it later. But, she screams at the apparition of the image of the helicopter descending from the heavens (I also edited the scene into my post above). The rape was symbolic. The men (including her brother) trap her on the stairs and her husband injects her butt against her will. She does not say that she was successful in her attempt to defend herself. The description of what actually happened (in her delusion) seems to mirror whatever transpired between Karin and Minus in the ruined ship (based on the eye contact she makes with him as she describes it). Later, Minus tells his father that this involved reality "bursting open" and his "tumbling out" it seems to me that he is confessing his incest.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w6YD7Z0EtlM

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In the next clip she says at 3:30 "I defended myself" against the spider and I assume that was successful since she also said at 3:47 that "he couldn't penetrate me". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzyMu4pBjYA

I agree that the helicopter symbolizes the spider. As it lands she sees the spider on the floor. The helicopter will take her back to the hospital where she will be with the Others provided she does not get further treatment like they gave her with the injection. After seeing the spider perhaps she will want the treatment now.

I don't think Karin and Minus committed incest. Her rejection of Minus as his face came close to hers was a sign of her free will which she assumed she did not have since the Others were supposedly making her seduce Minus. Minus was confused and he felt guilty since he probably wanted to have sex with her.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

In the next clip she says at 3:30 "I defended myself" against the spider and I assume that was successful since she also said at 3:47 that "he couldn't penetrate me". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzyMu4pBjYA

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Sorry again, but please see my thoughts about this above. I apologize for editing so much into posts I have already submitted, but that's the way my mind works :)

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Originally Posted by Pompey Bum

Sorry again, but please see my thoughts about this above. I apologize for editing so much into posts I have already submitted, but that's the way my mind works :)

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No problem. I edit mine as well. I have been trying to see if it makes sense that Karin and Minus had sex given the way she looked at the end of the scene where she brought Minus head toward her. At the moment I don't think it matters one way or the other. Perhaps my idea that she was rejecting sex in different ways is not what Bergman intended.

I watched Seven Psychopaths a couple of days ago and I thought it was really good. I got a few good laughs and replayed a few scenes to watch them over again and laugh. I recommend it if you're looking for a movie that'll cheer you up but doesn't annoy you by being too shallow or crass. 9/10

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I have been trying to see if it makes sense that Karin and Minus had sex given the way she looked at the end of the scene where she brought Minus head toward her. At the moment I don't think it matters one way or the other. Perhaps my idea that she was rejecting sex in different ways is not what Bergman intended.

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It's difficult to say. I don't think Bergman commented much about this movie, except to distance himself from it a bit, later on after he'd rejected religion. But I want to take slight exception (though only slight) to what you say about an artist's intent. Certainly there is an overly broad way to interpret a work. ("For you Through A Glass Darkly is about isolation from God and each other, but for me it's about how a pretty girl is like a melody!"); but there is also an overly narrow approach.

I vaguely remember J.R.R. Tolkien complaining, in one preface or another, about all the people who wanted him to admit that the One Ring was really the hydrogen bomb. No, no, he told them, that was not his intent, although some may find an applicability. That seems to me to be an excellent and valid distinction in the appreciation of art (which you, as a Berkelean, must see as subjective in any case). In that case, it matters less whether the screenwriter, or director, or actress understood every nuance of the film in the same way that you or I do (or that you or I understand them in exactly the same way, for that matter). That doesn't mean, of course, that Through a Glass Darkly is about bunnies and flowers. It is not. But it does mean that maybe Karin seduced Minus or maybe she rebuffed him--whatever Bergman thought. :)

EDIT: Sorry to step on your post about Seven Psychopaths, Lady D!

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Originally Posted by Pompey Bum

It's difficult to say. I don't think Bergman commented much about this movie, except to distance himself from it a bit, later on after he'd rejected religion. But I want to take slight exception (though only slight) to what you say about an artist's intent. Certainly there is an overly broad way to interpret a work. ("For you Through A Glass Darkly is about isolation from God and each other, but for me it's about how a pretty girl is like a melody!"); but there is also an overly narrow approach.

I vaguely remember J.R.R. Tolkien complaining, in one preface or another, about all the people who wanted him to admit that the One Ring was really the hydrogen bomb. No, no, he told them, that was not his intent, although some may find an applicability. That seems to me to be an excellent and valid distinction in the appreciation of art (which you, as a Berkelean, must see as subjective in any case). In that case, it matters less whether the screenwriter, or director, or actress understood every nuance of the film in the same way that you or I do (or that you or I understand them in exactly the same way, for that matter). That doesn't mean, of course, that Through a Glass Darkly is about bunnies and flowers. It is not. But it does mean that maybe Karin seduced Minus or maybe she rebuffed him--whatever Bergman thought. :)

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I view the movie as a cult classic that keeps coming up so I feel I have to have an opinion about it to stop my mind from wondering if I am missing something or not.

Given my pigheaded in/ability to appreciate art I have to take pains not to dismiss something too quickly especially if it is in black and white with a seemingly cryptic message I am sure not to get. For example, if I had to watch something for pure enjoyment from the middle of the 20th century, I admit that I'd rather watch Roger and Hammerstein's "Carousel" than anything with the name Bergman associated with it. So, I have to be careful.

"Through a Glass Darkly" does has some interest for me. As you know, I like monistic idealism and kundalini, tantric spiritual practices. For me, sex is not taboo. The universe is good. That seemed to be part of David's message at the end of the movie so I grudgingly have to admit liking the movie. Schizophrenia assumes that an authority knows the difference between a delusion and reality. The movie left enough doubt about whether that door opened because the "spider" opened it or the helicopter shook it open. Another plus for the movie.

I try not to take anything from the mid-20th century for granted. That leaves me still wondering if I'm glad I saw the movie or not. I'll have to watch the other two films from the trilogy to see.

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I remember enjoying "Seven Psychopaths", LadyDedlock. My score would be high as well.

Last night we saw "American Sniper". That was a movie about Chris Kyle and I thought it was well done. I wasn't in the mood to watch a war movie, and I almost fell asleep with all the violence, but this one surprised me in a way I was not expecting. The sniper had an unusual characteristic. Not only was he good at killing people, but he was gentle. He selflessly served those around him so much so that he became a legend. That seems a contradiction in terms, a gentle sniper, but it is what makes the movie exceptional for me and offers a sort of moral that might be worth more thought. Anyway, my score for that movie is 8/10.

The Hour of the Wolf - Ingmar Bergman

So this was uh... huh...

Indeterminate/10

But I did enjoy it quite a bit.

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Originally Posted by Pompey Bum

EDIT: Sorry to step on your post about Seven Psychopaths, Lady D!

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Don't worry about it, it's nice to see people continue a conversation. I would have felt awkward if it had stopped because of my post.

YesNo, I watched American Sniper too and I thought it was also pretty well done. I haven't seen any other Clint Eastwood film except for Gran Turino, which I also liked. I'd give American Sniper an 8/10 too.

I saw Ex Machina on Sunday. It was pretty good. It reminded me most of a film called Android from 1982, in which Klaus Kinski played a mad scientist on a space station, working away at perfecting his fembots. It is odd that the mad scientist is now a Mark Zuckerberg type IT billionaire, although I suspect the corporation that the protagonists work for, own, or were created by was based on Google rather than Facebook. I thought the actress who played the sexy fembot was great. The actor who played the computer scientist employee was not nerdy enough imo. I could believe him as a software engineer, but since he was tall and had even features, the only reason I could think for him not having a girlfriend would be if he suffered from social anxiety or was a bit on the aspergers/austistic spectrum. He did not seem that bad. Being invited to spend a week with the boss of your megacorporation, who is also a genius, would be worrying enough, but they way this one behaved would be enough put Bill Gates or Richard Branson ill at ease. The employee seemed to deal with him reasonably well considering.

The Magic Flute - Ingmar Bergman

I expected this to be a movie based on the opera, or featuring the opera in some way (as Hour of the Wolf does) instead of a genuine opera film. The sets and costumes were beautiful and I enjoyed some of the score but opera isn't really my thing. I did add thirty or so filmed operas to my movie list so maybe I can change my own mind eventually.

Indeterminate/10

Shame - Ingmar Bergman

I forget who I'm quoting with "it's difficult to make an anti war movie because the action speaks for itself"; but there's no action here and it's quite effectively anti war. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen a war movie where the (relatively) likeable protagonist turns into a sort of fiend without any real necessity driving his actions.

9/10

We finished all six seasons of Breaking Bad. Walter's character resolved most of what needed to be resolved calmly without desperation.

Although I found this often painful to watch, thinking back on it, the series was an amazing achievement. Score: 10/10

But you only gave season four a 5/10! I agree though, four was the worst season. I enjoyed the show a lot, especially seasons one and two but I took issue with the hardline anti drug stance and Walter becoming necessarily evil to fill his role. I agreed with Gail when he said "there's crime, and then there's crime, I'm supplying a good product to people who are making the decision to use it"; not verbatim but I think that was the gist.

Yeah, I think I was being too hard on it before. The episode about the fly that Walter was determined to kill was the worst for me. I suppose it was describing how much of a perfectionist he was, but it now stands out as too weird.

I agree with you about the anti-drug theme. One could say this whole thing could have been avoided if meth was able to be sold legally and manufactured correctly like cigarettes. The consumer would be better protected. I think that point was made throughout the series even though Hank's perspective dominated for the purposes of the storyline. Based on body count, Walter removed more of the "bad guys" than Hank did.

Another theme was health insurance. Both Skylar and Marie refused to allow their husbands to use the health insurance they had which they felt was inferior, but had no real basis in knowing the treatment would have been worse except for the price. If it weren't for Skylar making a fuss about Walter getting the "best" treatment, none of this would have started.

Walter did become "evil", but most the of main characters became evil in their own way. Fear, greed, selfishness and insensitivity--I'm probably just scratching the surface--could be seen as explanations for their bad behavior. Some of the characters knew they were "bad", such as Walter and Jesse. Others, such as Skylar, Hank and Marie, never really understood that. They could always point to a bad guy who was worse than they were.

The fly was written the way it was because of extreme budget restrictions, most people dislike that episode.

I really didn't like how Walter and Jesse's relationship was written, I kept expecting them to become friends or comrades and Jesse just ended up annoying me.

EDIT: Oh yeah and regarding the characters becoming evil, I think it was the writers trying to show how morals become corrupted until good people justify doing bad things, so naturally manufacturing and selling meth opens the door to murdering children a year or so later right? Not in my view.

My daughters said the same thing about the fly episode. However, why should budget restrictions affect the quality of the writing?

Walter and Jesse were friends. They had each others' backs most of the time. Most people probably don't act like Jesse. They would have forgotten about the children who were killed after a while.

I think Skylar's personality was worse than Walter's. She was insensitive, self-righteous and manipulative. All the while she maintained a cover of innocence. Being one of the more beautiful of the females in the series helped make that innocence point. I see her as narcissistic.

Manufacturing and selling meth was just a way to put these characters into a situation that got out of hand. All of the narrow escapes, victories followed almost immediately by defeats, were ways to keep the plot moving. They were exaggerations of reality.

Maboroshi no Hikari - Hirokazu Koreeda

Filmed exclusively using natural light, and featuring beautiful settings, interior spaces and outfits (if you like textiles/fashion), it's a very visually attractive movie; the scenes in the small town, alongside the ocean are especially pleasing. At nearly two hours the movie is also very slow, pehaps too slow at times, or entirely too slow for some viewers. The story poses questions, about characters, about life and doesn't bother even attempting to answer them.

The movie also reminded me of how much I like Japan and the Japanese language which I really think is the most beautiful language on Earth, both written and spoken.

8.5/10

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Originally Posted by Clopin

The movie also reminded me of how much I like Japan and the Japanese language which I really think is the most beautiful language on Earth, both written and spoken.

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My father commented once, after watching the Lone Wolf and Cub films, that Japanese is an even better language than German for yelling at people.

Tokyo Story - Yasujiro Ozu

Loved it, I was nearly in tears by the end and I don't cry easy. Loved Noriko.

10/10

Ozu is great! Late Spring and Floating Weeds by him are also fantastic.

The Smash Brothers - East Point Productions

Four hour long episodic independent documentary made about the underground and, today, mainstream esports, professional scene of Super Smash Brothers Melee, possibly the best fighting game ever designed and currently the most watched figting game on the pro circuit. I think the average age of poster on litnet is around mid 40's so the subject matter, music, style and age of the participants would probably be grating. If you haven't played the game you won't have any idea what is happening, but if you have you will be dumbstruck by what can be done with the engine. The game is played so fast that professional players can and do develop serious wrist and hand problems (as do Starcraft players), and this is seriously worth a watch if you're young enough to get hyped over a video game tournament. Freely available on youtube.

9/10

Hey Clopin, I tried watching Maboroshi no Hikari but after the key incident in the beginning, and seeing Yumiko's face and body posture immediately afterwards, I just couldn't take it. When I feel better I'll try again.

Highly mannered film performances of Sherlock Holmes have been mandatory for some time and Rupert Everett's contribution to the genre
is no exception. In 'Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking' he plays the master detective as an extremely arrogant and dismissive
character with a totally ruthless desire to solve the case at any cost.
It's not by Conan Doyle and therefore has leeway to set the villain as a foot fetishist who murders young women on account of their shoes.
This unlikely tale is given some credence by the very good production values and atmospheric direction that creates a genuine feel for the
period. The usual Holmes idiosyncrasies: the narcotics, violin playing, moodiness etc. are on display but they don't detract from a fast
moving story that has genuine excitement.
This is a different kind of performance to Jeremy Brett's and in some ways its better but I suspect that it's due to the director Simon Cellan
Jones as much as Rupert Everett.

8/10

I watched the documentary on Vivian Maier - the unknown photographer who lept to fame posthumously. 10 out of 10.

Magic in the Moonlight, the latest Woody Allen movie. It was great, Colin Firths character was brilliant, I loved it.

"I have irrational positive feelings towards her"
"This meaningless world can still have magic"

these are not exact quotes from the movie but close, great movie.

I just found about Vivian Maier yesterday! She's fantastic, isn't she?

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Originally Posted by Lykren

Hey Clopin, I tried watching Maboroshi no Hikari but after the key incident in the beginning, and seeing Yumiko's face and body posture immediately afterwards, I just couldn't take it. When I feel better I'll try again.

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Yeh that's understandable. I watched Late Spring, An Autumn Afternoon and Floating Weeds recently and enjoyed them all very much. The idea of quiet, unnoticed suffering and deep disappointments masked by a culture of polite nods and regimented social customs of behaviour is plenty interesting to me as a Westerner, even though I suspect the movies would be even more impactful were I Japanese.

Hiroshima Mon Amour - Alain Resnais/Marguerite Duras

I really liked it, the movie opened strong and waned only a little, felt fresh despite its age and was very watchable. It was also nice to watch a movie in a language I sort of know (though I still needed subtitles) after all the Swedish and Japanese. The actress who narrates or speaks through most of the film has an incredible voice, it was beautiful to listen to and a lot of the dialogue was enjoyable and memorable as well "First your eyes go, then it swallows your voice".

9/10

Well, I finished Maboroshi no Hikari. Thank you, it was fantastic! The music added a lot, don't you think?

I only remember noticing it during the funeral procession scene. Actually I'm watching movies now on my tablet and the speakers are really subpar, it's defintely hurting my ability to appreciate the music and sounds of the films and that's something I actually really care about. A bigger screen would be nice, but the audio is more important I think.

Breathless - Jean-Luc Godard

Yeh it was okay, watching it fifty five years after release I'm not wowed by anything that would have seemed groundbreaking to film audiences in 1960. I was hoping the girl would go to jail with Michel for being such a moron "you killed a police officer? Tee hee, lets go get dinner" but I was relatively satisfied with the ending anyway.

7/10 (but a weak 7)

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Originally Posted by tonywalt

I watched the documentary on Vivian Maier - the unknown photographer who lept to fame posthumously. 10 out of 10.

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I saw that, too! Really enjoyed it (8/10) and plan to get one of the books of her photography. She's quite a fascinating character.

Saw American Sniper the first weekend it opened. I didn't see it as a screed for war, but rather the story of a man very damaged by the war. I think the word hero gets bandied about a lot these days, so I don't know that I think he's a hero. He did something he believed in, I guess. I also heard that he wasn't such a nice guy in real life.

I just finished watching "A Month by the Lake". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113849/

In a resort in Italy an older couple (Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Fox) meet but can't seem to connect until a young girl (Uma Thurman) gets between them and then brings them together. It's complicated.

Score: 7/10

Two Days, One Night is the latest movie from the Dardenne brothers, who specialize in bleak, minimalist dramas. The solar panel factory where our heroine (Marion Cotillard, now that the Dardennes can afford her) works is over-staffed. They offer the 16 workers a vote -- each will get a 1000 Euro bonus, and Cotillard will get fired, or Cotillard keeps her job and nobody gets a bonus.

Cotillard, who is recovering from Depression, runs around grim, suburban Liege asking her co-workers to vote that she gets to stay. The movie is like a piece of Phillip Glass music -- Cotillard tracks down each of her co-workers and goes through the same, rehearsed speech (it's only two sentences, thank God). Each of them reacts in his or her own way. It's a theme and variation.

I liked the last Dardenne movie (Kid with a Bike) -- but this one is a little too grim, visually dull, and repetitive for my taste (despite getting excellent reviews from others). The situation is a bit too forced to be realistic. It's a fairy-tale situation, with all the magic removed. There is no music; there is no beauty (even Cotillard looks haggard and plain, as astonishing as that may seem). Cotillard is an excellent actress, and the Dardennes (I think) accomplish their goals as filmmakers. But did I really enjoy my participation?

I just finished watching Coffee Town: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234025/

This is about a guy who doesn't want the coffee shop he uses as his workplace, because of the free wifi, to turn into a bistro and so he takes matters into his own hands. There is also a cute girl whom he likes and a bartender whom he doesn't like who also likes the girl. This gets the males to start competing as best they can and complicates the plot, but don't worry. You won't be required to think too hard. This guy also has two friends who are idiots.

All in all, it was quite enjoyable nonsense. Score: 9/10

I was hooked when I read in my Film Guide: 'Parachutists pass through a red mist and disappear into thin air. And before long you will too! There is little point in sticking around to find out it's alian Maurice Evans putting skydivers in suspended animation and substituting duplicates. Talky, laughably low-budget and hopelessly inept.' I must admit that my hand did hover over the delete button more than once but we British are made of stern stuff and I watched it until the ultra embarrassing end.

2/10 For the nostalgia element of seeing the usual British suspects in both leading and supporting roles.

OMG

Dumb and Dumber To was in the library.

I checked it out.

Harry (Jeff Daniels) was looking for his abandoned daughter (Rachel Melvin) to see if she'd give him a kidney. After they find her, there's evidence to suggest that Lloyd (Jim Carrey) was really her father. The mother (Kathleen Turner) has reason to believe they might both be wrong. There are bad guys trying to kill them. I think I spoiled too much of the plot already.

Score: 10/10

I saw another comedy in the stupid category last night: The Interview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Int...282014_film%29

Franco and Rogen star as two characters who are going to interview Kim Jong and assassinate him. They delightfully mess everything up.

Score: 10/10

After a long day of studying yesterday I turned on my tv and found Animal planet, I like that tv station but last night there was a movie on, called: Blood Lake the attack of the killer lampreys

fish attacking humans, I'm not gonna rate it but I have to admit I couldn't stop watching