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

[DanielBenoit]

Through a Glass Darky - This film is one of the greatest religious films ever made, and the reason why this is so is not because it is filled with angels and demons, but because it deals with real humans on a human level, existing within the absurdity of the human condition. This absurdity and despair is something Bergman admits in all of his films, but in the tradition of Kierkegaard, he still finds a place for God.

The title is a quote from Corinthians (Swedish translation) which said that our understanding of God will only be as clear as "through a glass darkly" and will only be clear once we die. What Bergman is so fascinated by, is how we as humans are able to survive without this kind of knowledge.

The story is quite simple really; it makes place entirely on an island, with only four characters (what would be known as a chamber film), and basically concerns the return of a schizephrenic young women to her family, after being released from an asylum, and the interactions between the four; the father (guilty because he rarely spends time with his son and daughter), the schizephrenic women's husband and the father's son.

This is such a quiet and beautiful movie, with very little action taking place and mostly consisting of long dialouges and silent human moments. Take for example around the begining, when the son has just put on a play for his father; the father recognizing the undertones concerning the son's fustration with his negligence and choosing of work over family, silently gets up and goes back into the house in which he mournfully stands at the window and silently weeps. Bergman doesn't try to pump up this moment with melodramatic music or cutting, but instead just leaves the camera where it is and lets it speak for itself. The father then comes back out and acts like nothing ever happened.

Eventually the daughter's schizephrenia begins to come back and tragedy occurs. Not tragedy in any sort of traditional or conventional way, nobody dies, nothing physically tragic occurs; it's just the tragedy of human experience, as if watching some mentally-ill person throw a fit on the floor (which is what happens).

This film has so many good speeches, and not speeches on any sort of epic philosophical idea, but just personal soliloqueys concerning each person's life, which then in part, silently consitute a bigger whole. Take for example the daughter's soliloquey at the climax of the film concerning God and a spider. It is so powerfully and yet subtly done, with such poetry, that it has to be one of the greatest speeches in all of cinema, and really hits home what Bergman's metaphor is saying.

I must say, that of all the great directors of the human experience, Bergman is the best; yes Fellini is great at capturing the induvidual and the confusion of society, but Bergman is the only one who can make statements about the human condition in such a silent and subtle way, like the waves which softly curl up upon the shores at the begining and end of the film.
10/10

[TheQuarkGotAway]

Section 9. Moments before going to see this I called my plumber friend about another matter and he told me not to go see this movie- he'd seen it the night before and did not like it. But hey, I had time to myself (without any feminine influence), and desperately needed the scifi cortex of my brain to receive some serious stimulation.

What I got was gritty, dirty ugliness that allowed surprising glimmers of insight into how we behave toward the Other. This is one of science fiction's greatest advantages: to be able to create a landscape at the edge of possibility and people it with characters, then turn a mirror on us and ask what would we do, and how would we feel about it?

The offbeat premise in Section 9 is that when we finally confront another technological life form, they are not more advanced in an individual sense (like the Vulcans or the Newcomers from Alien Nation) but more like us, their insectoid appearance notwithstanding. They know familial love, and honor, and grief. They are beggars on our planet, put in concentration camps and clandestinely used in government medical experiments. The film location of Soweto, near Johannesberg, South Africa is perfectly suited for this story, and a powerful part of the mirror that it holds up.

I must respectfully disagree with my plumber, because I liked this movie quite a lot. My scifi cortex was duly stimulated, and I walked out into the humid afternoon with even more fodder for the dreams I need to make sense of this world. 7/10

[Jazz_]

Rachel Getting Married

I didn't really enjoy this. I do enjoy 'arty' films, but this seemed to try too hard... The hand held cameras presumably used to create a different atmosphere just made me feel a little nauseous, and reminded me of a dodgy home video.

The acting was reasonable, Anne Hathaway played a very different character to usual - though I prefer her in other films. Several scenes stretched on way too long, including the wedding speeches and taking turns packing the dishwasher - which were equally boring.

Overall probably only 5/10 - I won't watch this again

[DanielBenoit]

Lost Highway - Okay, one thing is for sure about David Lynch's Lost Highway, you probably will never see another film like it. It is, in my opinion, Lynch's darkest, certainly his coldest leaving the audience with little empathy for any of the characters, except maybe young Jimmy.

Okay, this is one of the most underrated films of the 90's, but it does possess something that the critics in 1997 were right about, it is an excersise in style, though that doesn't mean that it's an empty film.

It has a masterful begining, with extremely shadowy neo-noir lighting (hell, I whole film has some of the best cinematography of any Lynch film), it also has the most effective moments: Those involving encounters with the incredibly creepy Mystery Man. Basically what Lost Highway is about, it identity, with a Lynchian twist with the metaphyiscs of Twin Peaks.

It begins with the couple Fred (who is a saxaphonist) and Renee (who plays two parts in this film), their marriage is cold and empty. One day a video-tape is left on their doorstep. They watch it to discover that it is a videotape of themselves alseep in bed! They call the police "somebody filmed us, while we slept" and before you know it, Fred is acussed of murdering his wife in a very effective sequence.

The fragmentary nature of this film is wonderful, and it possess, like most of Lynch's films, moments of true greatness, as well as ones of medicrity. The very best scene in the film occurs at a party in which Fred has a surreal encounter with the Mystery Man who gives him some information that is utterly mind-bogglingly surreal and creepy, and would probably have impressed Hitchcock. As for the medicore scenes; they are rather the techniques used, for example; one in which there is a POV shot, then with editting effects Lynch pauses the motion for a second and creates a jumbling shaky effect, as if the perciever is losing touch with reality. I have encountered this technique in two of his films; in this one, and in Muholland Drive. In the latter it, it comes at a point of sexual fustration and jealousy for one of the characters, and is infitiley effective, and just perfectly illustrates the character's POV, as a matter of fact, it may be one of the best shots in the entire film. But here in Lost Highway, it is used with haste and feels empty and meaningless.

Well, in the end, if you are looking for an expereince, you will find it here. It is as dream-like and surreal as Eraserhead, Muholland Drive and Inland Empire, and it will certainly cause confusion and terror, and yet, despite it's flawless cinematography and talented (though at times hasty) directing, it leaves the viewer with little impact except the question "what was that I just saw?" Now of course the reason we watch Lynch is to get that effect, but at least we can say it in the case of his other films to some purpose.
7/10

[Mathor]

Rachel Getting Married

I didn't really enjoy this. I do enjoy 'arty' films, but this seemed to try too hard... The hand held cameras presumably used to create a different atmosphere just made me feel a little nauseous, and reminded me of a dodgy home video.

The acting was reasonable, Anne Hathaway played a very different character to usual - though I prefer her in other films. Several scenes stretched on way too long, including the wedding speeches and taking turns packing the dishwasher - which were equally boring.

Overall probably only 5/10 - I won't watch this again

I completely disagree. I found this movie to be pretty amazing, honestly. The dishwasher scene provided a bit of dry humor. I suggest you watch it from another perspective.

That being said:

Dial M For Murder - 10/10 - I cannot find the words to describe how perfect this movie is. Certainly my favorite of Grace Kelly's films (who is present in my avatar from another Hitchcock film, To Catch A Thief). This is Hitchcock genius, second only to Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant in Hitchcock's "Notorious". This movie contains a lot of uncomfortable things, as an ex tennis pro designs the "perfect murder" to kill his wife. This one leaves you thinking until the very end.



EDIT: And Benoit, your review did not save my feelings on that movie being more than imperfect, and far from a masterpiece. You yourself said at the very end that there is very little to be found in that movie. As a musician I record lots of things that are interesting or sound cool but are far from complete, little exercises in style. That does not make those things good. This does not discount Lynch's superiority as a director, but Lost Highway is a load of crud, from my humble opinion. 6/10. Compare to any of his other films and you find you've wasted a lot less time.

[Janine]

I completely disagree. I found this movie to be pretty amazing, honestly. The dishwasher scene provided a bit of dry humor. I suggest you watch it from another perspective.

That being said:

Dial M For Murder - 10/10 - I cannot find the words to describe how perfect this movie is. Certainly my favorite of Grace Kelly's films (who is present in my avatar from another Hitchcock film, To Catch A Thief). This is Hitchcock genius, second only to Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant in Hitchcock's "Notorious". This movie contains a lot of uncomfortable things, as an ex tennis pro designs the "perfect murder" to kill his wife. This one leaves you thinking until the very end.

Wow, Mathor, just saw it the other night. I totally agree. I have seen it many times before but finally bought the DVD for my H collection. It is so well done and I love watching the Special Features, as well; I always do. By the way, I love Notorious...I watched that a few months back - third viewing now. Both are a 10/10 undoubtably. Both actresses are A1 in my opinion!

[NickAdams]

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men: as an interpretation it has its virtues, but as an adaption it it horrid. John "Tuna" Krasinski had some interesting visuals choices and the editing was impressive, but the score was a cliche and the framing device made a lot of the interviews a contrivance. The essence of the book is lost by the visualization of the interviewee and interviewer. The cast is off, because Krasinski stayed true to the monologues but didn't take linguistics (something David Foster Wallace was very conscious of) into account and the characters that the idioms, and the like, suggest doesn't correspond with what's on screen.

Lost Highway - Okay, one thing is for sure about David Lynch's Lost Highway, you probably will never see another film like it. It is, in my opinion, Lynch's darkest, certainly his coldest leaving the audience with little empathy for any of the characters, except maybe young Jimmy.

Okay, this is one of the most underrated films of the 90's, but it does possess something that the critics in 1997 were right about, it is an excersise in style, though that doesn't mean that it's an empty film.

It has a masterful begining, with extremely shadowy neo-noir lighting (hell, I whole film has some of the best cinematography of any Lynch film), it also has the most effective moments: Those involving encounters with the incredibly creepy Mystery Man. Basically what Lost Highway is about, it identity, with a Lynchian twist with the metaphyiscs of Twin Peaks.

It begins with the couple Fred (who is a saxaphonist) and Renee (who plays two parts in this film), their marriage is cold and empty. One day a video-tape is left on their doorstep. They watch it to discover that it is a videotape of themselves alseep in bed! They call the police "somebody filmed us, while we slept" and before you know it, Fred is acussed of murdering his wife in a very effective sequence.

The fragmentary nature of this film is wonderful, and it possess, like most of Lynch's films, moments of true greatness, as well as ones of medicrity. The very best scene in the film occurs at a party in which Fred has a surreal encounter with the Mystery Man who gives him some information that is utterly mind-bogglingly surreal and creepy, and would probably have impressed Hitchcock. As for the medicore scenes; they are rather the techniques used, for example; one in which there is a POV shot, then with editting effects Lynch pauses the motion for a second and creates a jumbling shaky effect, as if the perciever is losing touch with reality. I have encountered this technique in two of his films; in this one, and in Muholland Drive. In the latter it, it comes at a point of sexual fustration and jealousy for one of the characters, and is infitiley effective, and just perfectly illustrates the character's POV, as a matter of fact, it may be one of the best shots in the entire film. But here in Lost Highway, it is used with haste and feels empty and meaningless.

Well, in the end, if you are looking for an expereince, you will find it here. It is as dream-like and surreal as Eraserhead, Muholland Drive and Inland Empire, and it will certainly cause confusion and terror, and yet, despite it's flawless cinematography and talented (though at times hasty) directing, it leaves the viewer with little impact except the question "what was that I just saw?" Now of course the reason we watch Lynch is to get that effect, but at least we can say it in the case of his other films to some purpose.
7/10

I liked the beginning, but I think Lynch fully realizes the structure and idea (though a variation) in Muholland Drive.

[manolia]

I watched "Vertigo" last night (at the theater ) 10/10

[DanielBenoit]

I watched "Vertigo" last night (at the theater ) 10/10

At the theater

Vertgo. . .. on the big-screen!!!

I am officially the most envious person in the world for today.

[The Comedian]

I saw X-Men 2 the other night on DVD. It was everything that movies can aspire to: light characters & a light plot, lightly tied together with an over-dependence on the audience to graciously fill in the holes in the story-line. Oh yes, and it had some kicka. . ., er, awesome action sequences.

As movies go, this film deserves 10/10 adamantite claws.

[Helga]

I watched The Boondock Saints again... I do love that one... I am addicted to IMDB.com so I checked it out there and saw that there is a movie number 2.... sounds intriguing...

[manolia]

At the theater

Vertgo. . .. on the big-screen!!!

I am officially the most envious person in the world for today.

Hehehehe
Last year i watched rear window

[Hurricane]

"Zombieland", 10/10. So. Awesome.

[DanielBenoit]

Hehehehe
Last year i watched rear window

Where on earth did you get to see these classics, ON THE BIG SCREEN!

[Mathor]

Where on earth did you get to see these classics, ON THE BIG SCREEN!

live in NYC, Chicago, L.A, or Toronto, there are classic film festivals and classic film theaters!