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[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

It's a bit hard to put a finger on the button of why this film, made over 45 years ago, "works," while something like Black Swan does not. You could, perhaps, grant Black Swan acting, for it was made in a time where acting was generally a more naturalistic endeavor, but pretty much everything else - writing, filmmaking, suspense - goes to Repulsion. The film does use one or two genre cliches, but the many interesting and unique choices that it makes far outweigh the few banalities, whereas I would make just the opposite case for Black Swan: a few interesting things but far too many cliches. The best thing about this film, though, is that it's ultimately enigmatic; it traces the lead character's psychosis unrelentingly and gives it a realistic and artistic purpose/trigger within the film. It's likely the best portrayal of abnormal female psychology that I've seen put to film and most definitely one of the most emotionally wrenching films that I've ever watched. Highly recommended, especially if you really loved or were really disappointed by Black Swan; either way, I think you'll really dig it.

 

[UrbanRats]

Yes. I felt the same way about Enter the Void, I loved it but would never recommend it. Well, I would, and I guess I am right now, but I would preface it by saying it's not for everyone and there's a 50/50 chance you will hate it. Even I could have gone either way with it. It's way too long, half of the movie is the camera flying around (not swirling though), gratuitous sex, amateur acting, and extended scenes of nothing but patterns and subharmonic ambient noise. Fuck I'm getting excited just thinking about it. You at least seem open to it if you were moved by his last movie, go for it.

Well, the trailer looks awesome, i'm buying it from amazon, fuck it.

 

[Spotless Mind]

Candy - Enormously depressing and infuriating. I had trouble sitting through it. It was painful watching the lives of these naive and stupid people get progressively worse as the film progressed. Ledger, Cornish and Rush were wonderful though.

 

[AntonDaniel]

This was a terrible movie. The plot was ridiculous and the script was idiotic.

I haven't seen it, but anytime I talk to someone who has watched it, they say it's awful.

 

[moniker]

I saw Irreversible. I saw some Kubrick influence, some Tarantino and way too much moving camera. I was dizzy during the whole movie. That said, this director is worth watching. He's got stile, he just needs a better editor and a producer to stop him from making the viewer sick. The movie left me in a weird state, it's a good movie but I wouldn't recommend it, ever. I was kind of moved by the movie, but again, there's so much Kubrick in those last scenes. I dunno, strange movie, liked but no recommend.

Should I watch Enter The Void?

I think that was the point. Noe wanted you to feel sick when watching this movie.

 

[Satyamdas]

Léon (Besson, 1994):
I'm so fond of this movie, i've watched it a million times!
I think i can understand some of the gaffers going crazy for the Transformers or the like, when i think about this movie, since when i was a kid (i dunno, about 9-10 y.o.) i destroyed the VHS from watching it too many times (even 2 times in a day, sometimes, lol).
Anyway, i'm fond of it, but i like it in general, it's so amazing, the characters are a bit over the top, but not annoying; the story is simple but great and even the love story, which is definitely fucked up, don't come up as disgusting, in the end.
Also, i've never been to NY (or the US, for that matter) but it looks soooo beautiful in this movie.
Probably one of my favorite film ever.

I just watched Léon for the first time recently and was very impressed. I liked the "smallness" of the story as well, I thought it gave the few main characters plenty of room to breathe and feel genuine. The characters were well written and played to perfection, especially by Gary Oldman and Jean Reno. What a great and restrained performance by Oldman where you caught glimpses of the extent of his evilness and insanity but for the most part it simmered beneath the surface and he never crossed the line into cartoonish villain territory (not even the above .gif puts him over the top). Portman was awesome, and the "love story" angle -- if you can even call it that -- was handled perfectly. Just a great, tight package of a film. Also loved Danny Aiello's role as Leon's employer and all around scumbag. Plus it was cool to see that .gif in context finally.

Sugar Hill (1993) Directed by Leon Ichaso

Another movie that I just saw for the first time recently, and another opportunity for me to kick my own ass for sleeping on a classic. Now I'm no expert on Wesley Snipes' career, but I have seen a lot of his movies and this instantly jumps to the top of the (somewhat short) list of what I consider his standout performances. Absolutely killer acting by the supporting cast as well. Theresa Randle was as sultry and smangable as ever, Michael Wright played the reckless insecure and jealous younger brother to perfection, and Clarence Williams III was masterful as the brothers' heroin addicted and tragically decaying shell of a father. Not to mention the smaller parts such as Ernie Hudson's Lolly or Abe Vigoda as Gus. A great performance from everyone in a nice sized cast. The movie looks astounding, especially the interior shots. Great set design throughout, and the lighting sets the mood perfectly in almost every scene.

The story is fairly simple and -- while treading the familiar path of the criminal/drug dealer-trying-to-get-out-and-go-straight -- it manages to avoid being too 2 dimensional or indulging too much into the criminal side which oftentimes comes at the cost of giving a character a fully fleshed out persona. The subplot involving Roemello and Raynathan's father was the most compelling to me, due in no small part to Willams' wonderful performance of a worn out, broken man unable to atone for the choices he made in his life and gripped by his guilt and addiction to the very end. The dynamic between the three of them was intense and deftly presented, and together with Roem's relationships with his brother, adversaries and love interest, provided Snipes' with ample opportunity to show some quality acting chops. I really had to slap myself for sleeping on this one.

I don't usually assign scores or a numerical rating to movies, but I'd consider this a solid 8.5 out of 10. Just an awesome fucking film.

After looking up the director Leon Ichaso, I saw that of his 30 directing credits only 6 were for films (not one of which I had even heard of), the rest being TV movies and TV series such as Miami Vice, Medium and Saturday Night Live (!?). I don't note this to imply anything other than the man is a hidden gem of a director with clear talent and I was a bit surprised at his low film output.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

http://evulin.ic.cz/blog/images/leon.jpg
Léon (Besson, 1994):
I'm so fond of this movie, i've watched it a million times!
I think i can understand some of the gaffers going crazy for the Transformers or the like, when i think about this movie, since when i was a kid (i dunno, about 9-10 y.o.) i destroyed the VHS from watching it too many times (even 2 times in a day, sometimes, lol).
Anyway, i'm fond of it, but i like it in general, it's so amazing, the characters are a bit over the top, but not annoying; the story is simple but great and even the love story, which is definitely fucked up, don't come up as disgusting, in the end.
Also, i've never been to NY (or the US, for that matter) but it looks soooo beautiful in this movie.
Probably one of my favorite film ever.

http://i.min.us/ilIfJc.gif

I just watched Léon for the first time recently and was very impressed. I liked the "smallness" of the story as well, I thought it gave the few main characters plenty of room to breathe and feel genuine. The characters were well written and played to perfection, especially by Gary Oldman and Jean Reno. What a great and restrained performance by Oldman where you caught glimpses of the extent of his evilness and insanity but for the most part it simmered beneath the surface and he never crossed the line into cartoonish villain territory (not even the above .gif puts him over the top). Portman was awesome, and the "love story" angle -- if you can even call it that -- was handled perfectly. Just a great, tight package of a film. Also loved Danny Aiello's role as Leon's employer and all around scumbag. Plus it was cool to see that .gif in context finally.

One of my top 10 of all time. Absolutely love it.

 

[brianjones]

sam jackson saves tommy lee jones character from committing suicide and the movie is the interaction that follows, all taking place in the same room. based on cormac mccarthy play

excellent

 

[Doffen]

Trolljegeren (2010)
A strange, yet good Norwegian movie about trolls, it’s sort of filmed like The Blair Witch Project. We’re following a camera team, who’s stalking a man who hunts down troll’s which are trespassing.

The King's Speech (2010)
This Oscar nominated movie sourly doesn’t need any introduction, but it was a good movie.

 

[WorriedCitizen]

Great Expectations (1946)
Old British films from that era often suffer from a stuck up, oldschool victorian way of story telling in my opinion. It is too often in the way of a pleasant movie experience for me. This aspect is somewhat true for this film too but it is more than redeemed by a very intriguing story and beautiful cinematography. So i was pleasently surprised how much i was able to enjoy it.

Heima (2007)
I was hoping for a great audiovisual experience ala Baraka or Koyaanisqatsi but got disappointed. It's pretty decent for a band docu i suppose but its really mostly aiming at fans of Sigur Ros (which i'm not).

Belle de jour (1967)
Next to Repulsion this is another film where Catherine Deneuve plays a crazy psycho bitch and again she does a fabulous job at that. I found it more interesting than enjoyable. I missed the dark humor that adore so much in some of Buñuel's other films.

Days of Heaven (1978)
In terms of cinematography this is a masterpice. "Every frame a painting" is so true for this one. Sadly story and characters felt rather flat on the other hand. A step backwards from Badlands for Mallick in that regard.

Breathless (1960)
Not sure what to think of Godard's "i don't give a shit"-approach of film making. This was only my second of his films, Alphaville being the other one. I'm not convinced yet of him.
What Breathless has going for it are two young and very attractive main characters, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. Take their appearance and some of their interactions away and there is not too much left that would have kept me interested.

I think that was the point. Noe wanted you to feel sick when watching this movie.

Exactly. He even added a low frequency noise to the sound that causes nausea for some people.

 

[otake]

Yes. I felt the same way about Enter the Void, I loved it but would never recommend it. Well, I would, and I guess I am right now, but I would preface it by saying it's not for everyone and there's a 50/50 chance you will hate it. Even I could have gone either way with it. It's way too long, half of the movie is the camera flying around (not swirling though), gratuitous sex, amateur acting, and extended scenes of nothing but patterns and subharmonic ambient noise. Fuck I'm getting excited just thinking about it. You at least seem open to it if you were moved by his last movie, go for it.

I'm going to avoid it then. I can apreciate the guys talen but I hated the torture Gaspar put me through in Irrevisrsible. I dunno if I can take that again.

Making the audience sick does not make the movie better.

 

[VALIS]

I've been in the mood to watch trash this week. Well, I always am, but more than usual this week.


The Sinful Dwarf (1973, Vidal Raski)
Hobbled dwarf Olaf (the cane is such a nice touch!) and his alcoholic, ex-cabaret star old mother run a rooming house that seems perfectly normal, albeit dingy, on the surface. The only difference is they keep naked, heroin-addled women locked in the attic for paying customers to have sex with.

This sounds like gruesome, unpleasant fare, but it really isn't. It's just so ridiculous and campy I could barely stop smiling the whole hour and a half. Olaf's accent and creepy laugh, plus his fondness for stuffed animals. His mother's Beefeater benders, which always seem to end with her putting on an old costume and belting out a cabaret hit. Olaf providing the piano, of course. And the soundtrack! It veers between creepy, dark synthesizer gurgles during the slow parts and blaring psychedelic rock during the action parts. This is an exploitation classic, the effete and genteel need not apply.


The Beyond (1981, Lucio Fulci)
I'm not a big fan of gore. I don't dislike it, but I generally don't care. Unfortunately being a big fan of the horror genre, there are hundreds and hundreds of horror movies to wade through where the main selling point is gore. The Beyond is one of them. Don't get me wrong, there are a few scenes here that are outstanding, particularly the bridge scene and the ending. But otherwise, about all we get here is gore. A long series of barely connected and barely coherent scenes, one after the other after the other, where the only point is to see rubber skin get melted and chewed off and glass eyeballs pulled out of their sockets. I've read some (including Fulci himself) try and give this movie a high minded spin; that it's an incoherent montage of violent images for a reason, as a Artaudian technique. Nah, it's just a simple gore film with a few moments of style and atmosphere.


Satan's Children (1975)
At home, teenaged Bobby's father berates him and his step-sister sexually taunts him at every turn. He runs away from home and gets hit on by an old pervert in a bar, who is shooed away by a younger man. Bobby strikes up a friendship with this guy who helped him, only to get raped by him at knifepoint. Next, he calls his friends over for some gang rape fun and Bobby is left in the woods unconscious in his tighty whiteys. It just isn't Bobby's day as now a group of young, hippy satanists stumble upon him in the woods, take him back to their coven, and, well, I don't want to give the entire plot away. This is a ridiculously grimy, eye-popping piece of trash. Sleazy, violent and somehow manages to be homoerotic and homophobic. If you like exploitation movies, this is a greasy one.


Black Metal: The Norwegian Legacy? (2008, Bill Zebub)
I like black metal, and I like Bill Zebub (wiseass New Jersey radio DJ, writer, publisher, filmmaker, etc.), but this is just stunningly boring. Starts off lighthearted when Bill tries to get the Norwegians, Swedes and Finns to slag on each other, but what follows is nearly two hours of serious questions to various band members about black metal and its origins and concepts and etc., interspersed with shitty concert clips. One of the main problems here is this is a documentary about black metal circa now (well, late 00s, anyway), when the genre has been stale and unexciting for a decade outside of a few exceptions. Most of the interviewees seem like good dudes, but they also seem like middle aged career musicians. The danger and novelty is long gone.

 

[JGS]

Trolljegeren (2010)
A strange, yet good Norwegian movie about trolls, it’s sort of filmed like The Blair Witch Project. We’re following a camera team, who’s stalking a man who hunts down troll’s which are trespassing.

That is an optical illusion. I couldn't tell if that's his front or back. Loooks like something to see though.

 

[Drewsky]

I'm not gonna lie, I really wanna see this Troll Hunter movie. I'd never heard of it until now.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

WorriedCitizen: you crazy. Days of Heaven's script is as much of a masterpiece as its cinematography.

 

[WorriedCitizen]

WorriedCitizen: you crazy. Days of Heaven's script is as much of a masterpiece as its cinematography.

I didn't notice much depth to any of it. It was just there to give some purpose to the beautiful pictures. We don't know much about the characters past, the character development is barely existant and the story quite minimalistic. All of it could fit in a short film without a problem. It wasn't a film that kept my brain occupied afterwards.

 

[Borgnine]

Dare were people sufrin in pain and hunguh. Some people, dare tongues were hangin' outta dare moufs.

 

[Davedough]

Having only seen the title of the books and knowing absolutely nothing about the films, I decided to stream up The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on Netflix last night.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the film. I quite enjoyed it. One of the things I noticed and appreciated (although small) is the fact that the Swedish film featured a lot of "normal" looking characters. I think I've become jaded to the fact that Hollywood always has the prettiest and perfect characters in their movies. Everyone looks too good. This film looked like and felt like it actually happened.

Of course, I then soured the mood by letting my morbid curiosity get the better of me and followed it up with the trainwreck called Dragonball Evolution. Now there's an hour and a half I'll never get back.

 

[Timber]

Great Expectations (1946)
Old British films from that era often suffer from a stuck up, oldschool victorian way of story telling in my opinion.

I think Great Expectations would have suffered if it didn't have that aspect. You don't really sex up Dickens. Hmm.

 

[jakncoke]

48) Winters Bone [2010] good movie nicely shot

49) Fantastic Mr. Fox [2009] how the cuss they make it so good!

50) Citizen Kane [1941] damn fine movie and nice to know the context finally of the handclapping gif

51) Predators [2010] wasn't bad but really failed, hollywood plz let it lay in the grave

 

[BeeDog]

True Grit (2010): Great movie, highly entertaining. Jeff Bridges' slurry speech was a bit grating, but he still did his part well. So did Matt Damon with his sensitive Texas Ranger. The girl was very nicely played too, and I often don't like child actors. What surprised me the most about this movie was the humor; it was surprisingly funny, yet it never felt misplaced. The only thing that really bothered me was the awful green-screen effects at the end when they're riding the horse, just terrible. 8+/10

Winter's Bone: I was underwhelmed after all the hyping of this movie. The best thing about it was John Hawkes (great acting) and the way the movie was shot, simply beautiful. And some of the location shots were great. The rest didn't really captivate me. I found the the main girl too unconvincing in her acting, and she was too wooden/distanced for me to really care about her or the story.The movie itself was also fairly slow; I can take slow movies but this movie didn't really go anywhere for a good chunk. Completely average movie, in my humble opinion. 5/10

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I didn't notice much depth to any of it. It was just there to give some purpose to the beautiful pictures. We don't know much about the characters past, the character development is barely existant and the story quite minimalistic. All of it could fit in a short film without a problem. It wasn't a film that kept my brain occupied afterwards.

We know of the character's past what needs to be known: they are of the working poor, the brother is on the lam after having accidentally injured killed his manager/boss/foreman/whatever in an altercation. Linda fills us in on the relationships and their motivations, so I really don't understand the idea that we don't much about their past.

As for character development: the character of Linda is pretty darn well-developed. Through her voice-over, we learn about how she thinks, how she views the relationships, etc. If the adult story seems muted, it's because it's told from Linda's perspective, an observer who is somewhat detached from the situation, emotionally, despite it concerning her family (an important character trait, actually). Malick doesn't show us everything that happens, but he shows us enough to allow the imagination to fill in the rest. Which character did you think was not developed enough? I'd call all of them quite complex, actually.

 

[WorriedCitizen]

We must have seen completely different films if you find the characters complex. It's no The Grapes of Wrath depth wise that's a fact.

The ones that i found especialy flat are the farmer and the guy played by Richard Gere. Compared to Badlands the characters really don't have much to offer. And i was mostly let down due to making the comparisons with Mallicks earlier film. Badland's story was like a snapshot aswell but it was heavily character driven. Days of Heaven is driven by its visuals and there is not too much substance underneath only a nice little story that, as i wrote earlier, would fit in a short film. You can of course interpret a whole universe into it but that is all just speculation, nothing that is actualy presented in the film.

 

[Buckethead]

127 Hours

Before I talk about what I liked about it - that electronicrap "music" was awful.
The first 20 minutes of the movie made me want to shut it off.

That being said I really liked it. I had heard the story before via 60 minutes and the news
articles when the story broke but I was pretty impressed. Aron

Spoiler

amputating his arm

was painful to watch.

The ending

Spoiler

where people come to his aid and Boyle juxtaposed the shot of him walking vs. the crowds of people

was really powerful. It showed to me the value of one human life, which can be lost in the crowd.

 

[Johnlenham]

True Grit (2010): Great movie, highly entertaining. Jeff Bridges' slurry speech was a bit grating, but he still did his part well. So did Matt Damon with his sensitive Texas Ranger. The girl was very nicely played too, and I often don't like child actors. What surprised me the most about this movie was the humor; it was surprisingly funny, yet it never felt misplaced. The only thing that really bothered me was the awful green-screen effects at the end when they're riding the horse, just terrible. 8+/10

All the weirdos cracked me up but pretty much word for word what I would have said.

127 hours I watched on the plane home last week and fuck me I was glad
breakfast came after as I would have been sick had i eaten! Will def buy when it comes out to watch again properly.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

We must have seen completely different films if you find the characters complex. It's no The Grapes of Wrath depth wise that's a fact.

The ones that i found especialy flat are the farmer and the guy played by Richard Gere. Compared to Badlands the characters really don't have much to offer. And i was mostly let down due to making the comparisons with Mallicks earlier film. Badland's story was like a snapshot aswell but it was heavily character driven. Days of Heaven is driven by its visuals and there is not too much substance underneath only a nice little story that, as i wrote earlier, would fit in a short film. You can of course interpret a whole universe into it but that is all just speculation, nothing that is actualy presented in the film.

Disagreed completely. Badlands is excellent, of course, but Days of Heaven is an all-time great film, easily. Richard Gere and the farmer are both excellent, excellent characters, the farmer especially. The story drives in the visuals in Days of Heaven, not the other way around.

http://www.cosmoetica.com/B851-DES677.htm

Don't have time to go into greater depth, but this review captures what makes the film work so damn well.

 

[Fallout-NL]

sam jackson saves tommy lee jones character from committing suicide and the movie is the interaction that follows, all taking place in the same room. based on cormac mccarthy play

excellent

Thanks for the recommendation, this was really good. Reminded me a little of 'The Man From Earth' for all its theological discussions and execution.

 

[Zozobra]

I just watched the U.S. trailer for Revanche - it seems like it revealed a lot more about the movie's plot than it should have. Looked good though, so I'll check it out.

 

[Buckethead]

^^ Probably told you the whole movie. I don't watch trailers anymore unless I'm at the theatre.

 

[TOM f'N CRUISE]

finally seen this on netflix. awesome movie

 

[Mifune]

We must have seen completely different films if you find the characters complex. It's no The Grapes of Wrath depth wise that's a fact.

The ones that i found especialy flat are the farmer and the guy played by Richard Gere. Compared to Badlands the characters really don't have much to offer. And i was mostly let down due to making the comparisons with Mallicks earlier film. Badland's story was like a snapshot aswell but it was heavily character driven. Days of Heaven is driven by its visuals and there is not too much substance underneath only a nice little story that, as i wrote earlier, would fit in a short film. You can of course interpret a whole universe into it but that is all just speculation, nothing that is actualy presented in the film.

I think Malick's characters get more internalized with each movie. Character development and plot is increasingly delivered non-verbally and through the gorgeous cinematography.

When you revisit this movie in ten years, you will probably have a different take on it.

 

[sazabirules]

This movie was great. The whole cast was good but Casey stole the show.

 

[WorriedCitizen]

Disagreed completely. Badlands is excellent, of course, but Days of Heaven is an all-time great film, easily. Richard Gere and the farmer are both excellent, excellent characters, the farmer especially. The story drives in the visuals in Days of Heaven, not the other way around.

http://www.cosmoetica.com/B851-DES677.htm

Don't have time to go into greater depth, but this review captures what makes the film work so damn well.

I agree more often with your film opinions then a i disagree but this time i do. My view is completely different and i don't agree with this reviewer either. No doubt the film has exceptional artistical merrits but personaly i don't see them based in the story or the characters to this extend. Far from it.

Can you tell me what's so excellent about the farmer? I found his character rather unbelievable und uninteresting. He's a bit dumb and naive, later on he gets suspicious and then angry for a brief time. We know that he's supposed to be sick but he doesn't die. And that is all there is to his character in a nutshell.

 

[Foreign Jackass]

Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

It's a bit hard to put a finger on the button of why this film, made over 45 years ago, "works," while something like Black Swan does not. You could, perhaps, grant Black Swan acting, for it was made in a time where acting was generally a more naturalistic endeavor, but pretty much everything else - writing, filmmaking, suspense - goes to Repulsion. The film does use one or two genre cliches, but the many interesting and unique choices that it makes far outweigh the few banalities, whereas I would make just the opposite case for Black Swan: a few interesting things but far too many cliches. The best thing about this film, though, is that it's ultimately enigmatic; it traces the lead character's psychosis unrelentingly and gives it a realistic and artistic purpose/trigger within the film. It's likely the best portrayal of abnormal female psychology that I've seen put to film and most definitely one of the most emotionally wrenching films that I've ever watched. Highly recommended, especially if you really loved or were really disappointed by Black Swan; either way, I think you'll really dig it.

I found Repulsion to be a great movie, but Black Swan was also very good to me. I think they're really similar, with Black Swan a lot less subtle. To be really honest, though, I think Black Swan is a far more entertaining movie. I think the cliched story is kind of a strength, kind of like a part you already know made better by a great interpreter. The best Aronofsky movie after maybe The Wrestler.

 

[HiResDes]

I just watched the U.S. trailer for Revanche - it seems like it revealed a lot more about the movie's plot than it should have. Looked good though, so I'll check it out.

Do it, it's one of my top 50 favorite movies of all time...Do it now!

 

[UrbanRats]

Do it, it's one of my top 50 favorite movies of all time...Do it now!

Since you like Revanche, and have excellent taste in general, have you seen Ballast (should be on the same vibe)? I was going to pick it up on Bluray(region free), since it's US only, and the trailer sold me, but i wanted to be sure, as the shipping cost will be pretty high.

 

[HiResDes]

Since you like Revanche, and have excellent taste in general, have you seen Ballast (should be on the same vibe)? I was going to pick it up on Bluray(region free), since it's US only, and the trailer sold me, but i wanted to be sure, as the shipping cost will be pretty high.

No I haven't yet seen Ballast, but I've heard very good things. In terms of having a somewhat minimalistic, slow-cooked approach to plot I think the two might be similar...Although, Revanche has a sort of downplayed eroticism (not just in terms of sexual desire) about it that characterizes its mise-en-scène and also its display of sound. It terms of cinematography it probably has more in common with The American.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I found Repulsion to be a great movie, but Black Swan was also very good to me. I think they're really similar, with Black Swan a lot less subtle. To be really honest, though, I think Black Swan is a far more entertaining movie. I think the cliched story is kind of a strength, kind of like a part you already know made better by a great interpreter. The best Aronofsky movie after maybe The Wrestler.

Black Swan has its moments, but it's just so... blah. It feels like there are a bunch of different movies and styles inside of it that never really cohere into something whole, something that really "works." Repulsion grabs from the beginning and never lets go because, unlike Black Swan, it never lets you "out' of the nightmare, never explains its enigmas. You get glimpses, and hints, but it never fully answers the questions it asks. Black Swan cuts out pretty much all of its tension by taking the time to demonstrate, in pretty much every instance, that something never happened, as though the audience can't be trusted to understand that without being told it explicitly. I was super hyped for the movie, but I found that nothing but the realist sections ever really felt whole.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

can't we all atleast agree that anchorman: the legend of ron burgundy is the best comedy film ever.

 

[Drewsky]

I just watched Catfish. Holy shit, I don't even know where to begin. I knew there would be some kind of twist, but not at all what I was expecting.

Highly recommended though.

 

[UrbanRats]

No I haven't yet seen Ballast, but I've heard very good things. In terms of having a somewhat minimalistic, slow-cooked approach to plot I think the two might be similar...Although, Revanche has a sort of downplayed eroticism (not just in terms of sexual desire) about it that characterizes its mise-en-scène and also its display of sound. It terms of cinematography it probably has more in common with The American.

Well, guess i'll go ahead and see for myself then (and report back, ofcourse).

Meanwhile..

Man on the moon (Forman, 1999):
Crazy and touching story, with a fantastic Jim Carrey (one of his best movies, i think).
Giamatti and DeVito were great too.
Nothing much to say about the cinematography itself, but i really liked it in general --

Spoiler

the part where he sees the trick of the "conman", in the Philippines, it's priceless

.

 

[McLovin]

I just saw Zardoz for the first time(technically I saw some of it before, but I was too young and most of it flew over my head). That movie is pretty awesome. I was shocked by some of the topics it touched on, also it had lots of boobs. I <3 boobs.

 

[dave is ok]

This movie was great. The whole cast was good but Casey stole the show.

Amy Ryan's name isn't on the poster? That is bullshit. She had the best performance in the movie

 

[WorriedCitizen]

Call Northside 777 (1948)
Solid crime drama with James Stewart in the lead. Something about the pacing felt off. Wasn't as sharp and poignant as it could have been.

Detective Story (1951)
Thoroughly enjoyable for the most part. Has some really great characters in it, a good sense of humor, intense acting. The end comes a bit forced and out of nowhere, thats the only negative point i found.

 

[swoon]

Detective Story (1951)
Thoroughly enjoyable for the most part. Has some really great characters in it, a good sense of humor, intense acting. The end comes a bit forced and out of nowhere, thats the only negative point i found.

yea the ending tries to hard, but that's a wonderful movie and totally fucked up without becoming campy.

 

[HalfwayOrb]

Trolljegeren (2010)
http://spookysean.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/TrollHunterStill.jpg

(googled for wiki/imdb and youtubed the trailer) ok, im sold, getting it now.

 

[JGS]

Watched Knowing on TV and not getting the hate. I normally don't watch part of a movie but some of the scenes hooked me. It seemed like it got parts from The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow right.

The disaster scenes were some of the best I've seen.

It's not perfect but I get Ebert's raving of it. I also understand why it flopped. I was disaster movied out considering ho many were bad to begin with.

 

[Vicious]

Watched Salt last night. Wasn't expecting much and didn't get much. What started out as a possible decent action movie turned into mediocre drivel as the plot got dumber and dumber as it went along.

It felt like the movie was trying to be smart with all these twists they kept throwing in, but each new "twist" just made me roll my eyes.

I liked the look of the movie, the action was good, and Jolie was great. Overall I give it a 5/10. It seems like they were setting up for a sequel, and even though I didn't care too much for this one, I'd give the sequel a rent just to see some more Jolie ass-kicking.

 

[Danielsan]

Watched Knowing on TV and not getting the hate. I normally don't watch part of a movie but some of the scenes hooked me. It seemed like it got parts from The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow right.

The disaster scenes were some of the best I've seen.

It's not perfect but I get Ebert's raving of it. I also understand why it flopped. I was disaster movied out considering ho many were bad to begin with.

It started fine, then it became religious and I needed a barf bag.

 

[JGS]

It started fine, then it became religious and I needed a barf bag.

I'm in the middle of some remodeling so I missed the religious part. I was thinking it was sci-fi at the end, but the ending that happened shold have happened to me.

I think the "religious" part was neede to prevent it from being a toal downer i guess.

I'll have to watch in it's entiriety which is what I should have done to begin with. That

Spoiler

plane crash

though was amazing.