Judex: A deliciously pulpy ode to silent film serials, the film practically dares you to stay ahead of it as it throws in one crazy and unthinkable twist after another. The contrivances are certain to be too much for some, but everything keeps moving at such a brisk pace that it's hard to stay with one for too long as it moves onto the next and oftentimes more delightfully nutty addition to the pile-up. It also really helps that director Georges Franju keeps everything looking nice and pristine, all while staging some rather striking scenes, including the title character's grand entrance to the film at a themed costume ball. Not that this should be that surprising, given his already adept styling of another kind of throwback in Eyes Without a Face, but it was a real treat to see him just have some fun while not losing all the things one likes about his technique. The cast is also pretty terrific, retaining the services of the always enchanting Edith Scob and gaining the valuable presence of real-life illusionist Channing Pollock as our hero and Francine Bergé as a femme fatale whose dangerous ambition is surpassed only by her wardrobe rotation frequency. Deeply entertaining from beginning to end.
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Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| March 2016
- Thread starter Charles Foster Kane
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Wouldn't have needed that video explanation if you weren't browsing GAF while watching the movie.
Actually, i don't know if i'd call it bland, a bit like Sicario, i think the style actually saved the movie, overall.
This is an animation theory class where my prof owns some DVDs, but uses Youtube for a lot of stuff. She showed us a recorded from TCM fullscreen copy of Who Framed Roger Rabbit a couple weeks ago though and also frequently will show older stuff from Youtube too.
It's bothersome because she's the only prof who does the Youtube deal but so it goes.
you too clever for me JC
these Hard Boiled gifs, man. Like, it should be teached in school alongside the holy post modern sequences of McTiernan and the parable of sacred genre resurrection told by pontiff Miller. A mandatory sacrificial Snyder dvd to vhs (because you ain't gonna waste more than tape for him) every time Alan and Tequila kill an unnamed nobody. It saddens the heart to realize how low the level has sunk
these Hard Boiled gifs, man. Like, it should be teached in school alongside the holy post modern sequences of McTiernan and the parable of sacred genre resurrection told by pontiff Miller. A mandatory sacrificial Snyder dvd to vhs (because you ain't gonna waste more than tape for him) every time Alan and Tequila kill an unnamed nobody. It saddens the heart to realize how low the level has sunk
Not sure where to go after Fanny & Alexander.
I think i'm in love with his style more than i was expecting going in, but he made so much stuff.
Actually, i think i'm going to do some directors i've been putting off for a while, but that don't have as deep a filmography to go through.
I've had the bluray of A Zed & Two Noughts for like 5 years, so i'll probably do Greenway next.
Wouldn't have needed that video explanation if you weren't browsing GAF while watching the movie.
Actually, i don't know if i'd call it bland, a bit like Sicario, i think the style actually saved the movie, overall.
Yea...I know but the movie itself wasn't the most engaging to me anyway. Sicario held my interest and was freaking gorgeous to boot. There were so many dead spaces in Enemy. I caught all the symbols but didn't put 2 & 2 together. Sadly I was really excited about the whole thing but it was just a bit flat. Like I would watch as it got interesting but then it would go off into space again and I'd get bored again. Lack of action I guess. Then you take something like Eyes Wide Shut which was kind of a snoozer in the first half but ramped up hard later. That managed to hold my interest all the way too.
Discotheque
Banned
Id go every Sunday to that church
And urbanrats have you seen persona, hour of the Wolf or seventh seal?
ViewtifulJC
Banned
what is this
where is eva green
Discotheque
Banned
A pirate show
She'll be back....
She'll be back....
through a glass darkly is very much like the enemy. hours of the wolf, persona would be in the same vein.
Net_Wrecker
Member
Man I need to catch up with Black Sails. Sped through season 2 a few weeks ago and only got through 2 eps of this season before getting cut off again.
Discotheque
Banned
Shit gets too real later in the season man...
Net_Wrecker
Member
It already turned a corner in S2 and got way more real than I thought it would. hype
Fancy Clown
Member
Rewatched High and Low. Even better the second time around. Good lord. Movies really don't get much better than this.
I love how Kurosawa denies easy explanations for the antagonist here. It makes the whole situation far more complex, human, and haunting than if he were just a social allegory.
It's also an easy contender for best final shot/scene out there.
I love how Kurosawa denies easy explanations for the antagonist here. It makes the whole situation far more complex, human, and haunting than if he were just a social allegory.
It's also an easy contender for best final shot/scene out there.
The Concert, eh, it's not that it's bad, it's just not much of anything. Plays it so safe, sacchariney, trying to pander to everyone like one of those insipid recent Angloeuroamerican tv shows, but actors are splendid, got a good energy and plays the audience like a fiddle, meaning I cried at the end. And Melanie Laurent, jesus Christ, so beautiful
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
It's astonishing. Kurosawa's better-known for the samurai stuff, but this, Ikiru, and The Bad Sleep Well are, in most ways, even more cogent and daring.
Oh yeah, i don't have a problem with the idea of schizophrenic characters, the physical representation of them as two separate people, under the guise of a mystery, is what put me off.
But it's not a hard rule, i mean i like Double Life of Veronique, and that plays with the idea (although not schizophrenia) and even in Persona, i saw it as Liv and Bibi Andersson being two distinct characters, melding into one (rather than one splitting into two), but then it's not played like a mystery.
I'll say, Through a Glass Darkly is probably entered my top 10.
And that also has spiders symbolism in it, representing men instead of women.
Can I just come be in your class? I'd be glad to provide my blu-ray copies of this stuff haha
I would say the first episode is probably my favorite of the bunch. It very much has a feeling of just being in these peoples lives in a very specific moment in time more than anything. I think (hope) you'll come to appreciate it more once you watch the rest of it.
Hi there, just joined Letterboxd two days ago, would be happy for anyone to follow me and will follow back -> http://letterboxd.com/Schaukelrabauke/
Just wrote my first "realtime" review over there:
Just wrote my first "realtime" review over there:
My Batman v Superman write up:
It did have that "fly on the wall" feel, I just wasn't that intrigued by what I saw, as that fly.
Coming from Scenes from a marriage must have been a bit of a shock, since that one was so relentless.
Given that both F&A and Enemy didn't catch my interest strongly though, maybe yesterday I was just cranky.
True Savior
Member
Broadway Danny Rose - Woody Allen
This might be one of his most formulaic movies. It's a simple movie (as the structure itself kinda adheres to, as this is merely a recollection of a story at a dinner table), with some fun characters and Woody as the agent is charming and fun as always but the rest is a little stale. Mia Farrow seems kinda bored in the whole thing.
This might be one of his most formulaic movies. It's a simple movie (as the structure itself kinda adheres to, as this is merely a recollection of a story at a dinner table), with some fun characters and Woody as the agent is charming and fun as always but the rest is a little stale. Mia Farrow seems kinda bored in the whole thing.
brianjones
Member
scenes from a marriage is so good but not really like any of the other bergman stuff I've seen.. which is admittedly only a handful
watched fanny & alexander tv a few years ago and remember being equally "eh" about it.. will probably rewatch it sometime in the future i can't recall much about it atm
Well I watched the second and third act today, and I sort of turned around on it, shit hit the fan, and that prologue suddenly made total sense.
Infernostew
Member
Cries and Whispers - I really need to stop watching such emotionally heavy films before I go to sleep. This film is superb. The first few Bergman film I saw were all in black and white but Bergman in color is such a tremendous thing to experience. Intense acting across the board and holy shit at the scene with
Easily up there as one of my favorite Bergman films. 8/10
Bon Voyage - Hitchcock propaganda short film about a crashed down RAF pilot who has to escape enemy territory. Quite a step up from his other propaganda film, Aventure Malgache, which I found to be pretty dull. This one embodies more of his British spy thrillers and shares some hallmark Hitchcock direction. Has a bit of a twist to it although it doesn't come as a surprise. Not bad for what it is. 6/10
For all those in the US who have cable, Turner Classic Movies (GOAT channel, btw) are doing a 5 film Kurosawa marathon tomorrow so it might be a good idea to set your DVRs.
They're showing:
No Regrets For Our Youth (1946)
Stray Dog (1949)
Seven Samurai (1956)
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
High And Low (1963)
Shamefully, having seen none of these. I'm real excited.... even though I've owned Seven Samurai for a long time.
Liv Ullmann and the broken piece of wine glass.
Bon Voyage - Hitchcock propaganda short film about a crashed down RAF pilot who has to escape enemy territory. Quite a step up from his other propaganda film, Aventure Malgache, which I found to be pretty dull. This one embodies more of his British spy thrillers and shares some hallmark Hitchcock direction. Has a bit of a twist to it although it doesn't come as a surprise. Not bad for what it is. 6/10
For all those in the US who have cable, Turner Classic Movies (GOAT channel, btw) are doing a 5 film Kurosawa marathon tomorrow so it might be a good idea to set your DVRs.
They're showing:
No Regrets For Our Youth (1946)
Stray Dog (1949)
Seven Samurai (1956)
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
High And Low (1963)
Shamefully, having seen none of these. I'm real excited.... even though I've owned Seven Samurai for a long time.
Isn't Ingrid Thulin the one with the worst broken glass scene? Yet Liv Ullmann has still the cruelest moment, at the end, fuck that made me feel gutted.
Infernostew
Member
Right right, I meant her. God, I'm fuckin brain dead today.
Yup. Face touching doesn't mean shit.
It's hard to keep track of all the gorgeous Scandinavian women Bergman had in his films.
Lumpy Onion
Member
The Wave (2015) - Pretty good Norwegian natural disaster flick. Wasn't really anything I hadn't seen before but it was done well enough that I didn't care. I liked the tension of the lead-up to the disaster a lot. A few scenes towards the end were pretty damn claustrophobic . Seemed refreshingly down to earth compared to some of the disaster movies I've seen that become overblown CGI obstacle courses. Tone was serious and not full of annoying fools like in a Roland Emmerich film. 3.5/5- good movie.
Lady Snowblood (Toshiya Fujita, 1973)
Story about a woman gaining revenge and it did a good job of making an actual story of it outside of just a generic revenge plot. The only problem is that I could see a certain plot-twist coming from a mile away. I do like how it shows how vengeance ultimately needs to nothing, though.
Story about a woman gaining revenge and it did a good job of making an actual story of it outside of just a generic revenge plot. The only problem is that I could see a certain plot-twist coming from a mile away. I do like how it shows how vengeance ultimately needs to nothing, though.
Fancy Clown
Member
Oh wow thanks for the heads up. Haven't seen No Regrets, Stray Dog, or Bad Sleep Well. Def gonna record those. And yeah...watch Seven Samurai like yesterday.
Infernostew
Member
Yeah I know. I'll do the films in marathon order but watch my DVD to save TiVo space.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
watching Jupiter Ascending out of curiosity. It's...It's..
yeah it's definitely a thing that exists, oh right
brianjones
Member
thx for the heads up.. that remind me i still have andrei rublev on my dvr from TCM.. i look at the runtime though and I'm just like fuuuuu
if only movie was just Eddie being the hammest interstellar ham ever
With dialogue so refreshingly human, a mise-en-scène so immaculate (with the essence of hotels captured beautifully) and a couple of near-genius directorial strokes, it's a shame Anomalisa doesn't get to be better than it actually is, partly because it doesn't get as much out of its main conceit as it might like to. It overtly displays its major themes from the very beginning - with the central one being a curious take on prosopagnosia caused by a spanning life crisis - and then presents them as a big character revelation at the end. In reality, it is at this point where the film falls short, where it would have required more work, more differentiation, the desire to really press on.
While the puppet motif works well in conjunction with the thematic undercurrents, the same cannot be said about the discursive threads surrounding the idea of 'service' and everything it entails, from language to behaviour and philosophy. Michael being haunted by chimaeras of 'service' while simultaneously not being adherent in the least to his maxims is nothing but the movie tripping over its own feet - as a 'blind motif', it's a big one to stomach. Kaufman makes it all too easy for himself with the fine print and sketches his character in one big stroke instead resulting in a failure to get ahold of his protagonist and - the actual demerit - the failure of not being aware of a psychological safari stopped dead in its tracks.
Finally, no movie should ever attempt the 'talkative taxi driver' trope again unless it has something meaningful or at all funny to add to it.
A well-shot but not particularly well-considered piece.
While the puppet motif works well in conjunction with the thematic undercurrents, the same cannot be said about the discursive threads surrounding the idea of 'service' and everything it entails, from language to behaviour and philosophy. Michael being haunted by chimaeras of 'service' while simultaneously not being adherent in the least to his maxims is nothing but the movie tripping over its own feet - as a 'blind motif', it's a big one to stomach. Kaufman makes it all too easy for himself with the fine print and sketches his character in one big stroke instead resulting in a failure to get ahold of his protagonist and - the actual demerit - the failure of not being aware of a psychological safari stopped dead in its tracks.
Finally, no movie should ever attempt the 'talkative taxi driver' trope again unless it has something meaningful or at all funny to add to it.
A well-shot but not particularly well-considered piece.
True Savior
Member
Razredni sovraznik - Rok Bicek
This is a nice Slovenian movie about the relationship created between students, teachers and how impactful they can be. Something happens to one of them, and it generates a mass-reaction which leads to an interesting presentation about our society and how it is structured. A nice little movie. I am most certainly not versed in slovenian filmmaking, but I really liked the style.
I also saw Avengers Ultron, which is the worst movie I've seen in a while. Hard to believe Whedon became a hollywood director. Can't say it's worse than the first one though.
This is a nice Slovenian movie about the relationship created between students, teachers and how impactful they can be. Something happens to one of them, and it generates a mass-reaction which leads to an interesting presentation about our society and how it is structured. A nice little movie. I am most certainly not versed in slovenian filmmaking, but I really liked the style.
I also saw Avengers Ultron, which is the worst movie I've seen in a while. Hard to believe Whedon became a hollywood director. Can't say it's worse than the first one though.
Man of Steel is an incredibly fun movie, although it has very recognizable flaws. Cavill's Superman is a joy to watch, despite the "realistic" atmosphere. The rest of the cast works well too, with an engaged Crowe and delightfully hammy Shannon being highlights. The Smallville fight might be one of the best superhero sequences put on film; it's certainly one of the coolest. Unfortunately, the writing is pretty awful, sometime adding unintentional hilarity to scenes. Also, the final setpiece of the film is far too prolonged, and becomes a mess of CGI not interested in the idea of Superman. It becomes too in love with the excess that Snyder has mastered, and the denouement from said sequence is far too short to really bring the film back to greatness. Although suffering from a poor third act, Man of Steel is pretty fun and exciting to see. It's just a shame that we most likely won't get a proper sequel for it anytime soon.
Also, to complain about Xfinity; how the fuck does cropping still exist in this day and age?
Also, to complain about Xfinity; how the fuck does cropping still exist in this day and age?
Knight of Cups is like Leviathan (the Harvard one, not the Russian one) but instead of tossing gopros around an industrial fishing boat to catch nightmarish fractured images of fish and fowl and metal and churning water Malick and Chico throw gopros around LA/Southern California to conjure a distorted dream of beautiful women and deserts and beaches and glass buildings and still water. His most experimental work yet, comparable to Godard in the extent formal experimentation (if only marginally in terms of how they each experiment) though that Malick does it on an even bigger scale with big-name actors like Christian Bale is surreal. A great vivid experience, and it quells any worries I had after To the Wonder. Can't wait to see what he has in store for Weightless, see if the early talk that he's done something entirely different and unexpected is mere hype or another late period curveball. Also can't wait to see this again.
I think people did Malick rankings recently but I'll add mine:
Tree of Life > Thin Red Line > Days of Heaven > New World > Badlands = Knight of Cups > To the Wonder
I think people did Malick rankings recently but I'll add mine:
Tree of Life > Thin Red Line > Days of Heaven > New World > Badlands = Knight of Cups > To the Wonder
Rhomega Beta
Member
Starship Troopers: I'm doing my part! I did like this movie. Good amount of world-building, I especially like the newscasts. The practical effects are cool, but the CGI effects...not so much. I also like how the movie doesn't end at the end of the war. Yes, I am aware of the notion of the humans being the invaders, and thus the bad guys here.
True Savior
Member
Have you guys read Armond White review of Hateful Eight? Some next-level projections.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428923/hateful-eights-racial-insults
The rest is pure vitriol. A very funny text.
I saw the movie last night and it's surely the worst "Tarantino" movie (I exclude Jackie Brown from this criteria, as it is "merely" a directorial effort). I would be lying if I didn't found it extremely entertaining, but Quentin seems to have a hard time to really put his writing in favor of his stories. All of his movies are becoming more and more transected (which is odd considering his starting point and the structure of both reservoir and pulp).
H8 is a strange long movie, one could say it's runtime allows for the crescendo of the suspense...but that's not the case, as the (simple) mystery is quickly unraveled (with some very lazy plotting based on foods and mundane habits). Then he invites us to look behind the curtain and see how it happens, in a "chapter" strangely devoided of any suspense or even useful information. We go back to the final confrontation as he presents us the unavoidable demise of the characters. Considering how The Thing was mentioned by him as a big influence, it's interesting to note Carpenter takes 2 and half minutes to succeed similarly.
I liked it but perhaps more simplicity in it's structure might have helped it quite a bit. It would still be a fairly simple movie, but a more concise one. As it is, it's an inappropriate mammoth.
Walton Goggins is a fucking american treasure.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428923/hateful-eights-racial-insults
Wtf....
The rest is pure vitriol. A very funny text.
I saw the movie last night and it's surely the worst "Tarantino" movie (I exclude Jackie Brown from this criteria, as it is "merely" a directorial effort). I would be lying if I didn't found it extremely entertaining, but Quentin seems to have a hard time to really put his writing in favor of his stories. All of his movies are becoming more and more transected (which is odd considering his starting point and the structure of both reservoir and pulp).
H8 is a strange long movie, one could say it's runtime allows for the crescendo of the suspense...but that's not the case, as the (simple) mystery is quickly unraveled (with some very lazy plotting based on foods and mundane habits). Then he invites us to look behind the curtain and see how it happens, in a "chapter" strangely devoided of any suspense or even useful information. We go back to the final confrontation as he presents us the unavoidable demise of the characters. Considering how The Thing was mentioned by him as a big influence, it's interesting to note Carpenter takes 2 and half minutes to succeed similarly.
I liked it but perhaps more simplicity in it's structure might have helped it quite a bit. It would still be a fairly simple movie, but a more concise one. As it is, it's an inappropriate mammoth.
Walton Goggins is a fucking american treasure.
Eightful Hate - I'm no big fan of Tarantino, but i at least find some enjoyment in his films.. except this time.
It felt like 6 hours of meandering and never getting to a point, filled up with not-as-sharp and not-as-interesting dialog, a drab location and visually nothing that interesting in general.
Music was good, a couple of gags made me laugh, Sam Jackson and Kurt Russell were both good, Jennifer Leigh was great, but fuck was it boring as shit.
Didn't find the twist clever, either (was that even supposed to be a twist?).
Definitely the worst thing i've seen from him, so far, if this was 1:40 minutes, i probably would've appreciated it more.
Say what you will about Django, but at least that movie had some energy and variety to keep you interested.
It felt like 6 hours of meandering and never getting to a point, filled up with not-as-sharp and not-as-interesting dialog, a drab location and visually nothing that interesting in general.
Music was good, a couple of gags made me laugh, Sam Jackson and Kurt Russell were both good, Jennifer Leigh was great, but fuck was it boring as shit.
Didn't find the twist clever, either (was that even supposed to be a twist?).
Definitely the worst thing i've seen from him, so far, if this was 1:40 minutes, i probably would've appreciated it more.
Say what you will about Django, but at least that movie had some energy and variety to keep you interested.
Have always felt Ponyo was probably Miyazaki's most underrated film. I think it's absolutely wonderful.
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