edit: sorry, I misread that as White Robbin, as if you were talking about jessica robbin. the porn actress. my bad.
edit 2: sometimes I wish that I could ban myself from xixax, or that I had a more sophisticated film taste, so I had anything to add about Haneke.
I really enjoyed Spring Breakers the one time I saw it. It's the only HK I've seen. Tried to watch Mister Lonely a couple of days ago and turned it off less than half-way through, I just couldn't get into it at all.
First time I heard of this one was waiting for the school bus about 2 months after its release and overhearing a bunch of kids waiting with me go on about how it's easily the best movie ever made.
In some of the scenes there's strips of bacon, if you look closely, because like, bacon was my aesthetic.
Seriously, all I want to see is pieces of fried bacon taped on walls, because most films just don't do that.
This raises a good question; are there any current filmmakers who might be considered the standard-bearer for the continuation of the Ashby aesthetic? Baumbach and Gerwig come to mind... anyone else?
i ask the question of how well these people being mentioned have depicted the working class. as to say, not those both comfortable and troubled, but those troubled and troubled.
...awesome trip down memory lane. When you revisit a favorite movie after not having seen it in over a decade, it really is like being reacquainting with an old friend, being reminded why you loved them to begin with.
Sarah: Do you consider my dad a friend?
Bruce: Why?
Sarah: J-Just asking.
Bruce: Does he consider me a friend?
Sarah: I don't know.
Bruce: Why not?
'Sarah: Cause he always seems different when you're around.
Bruce: Different in what way?
Sarah: J- Tense.
Bruce: Is that bad?
Sarah: Well, I don't really like to feel tense around my friends.
Bruce: Well, sure, yeah. I didn't like to feel tense around my friends when I was your age either.
Sarah: But you do now?
Bruce: No, it's not a question of liking it or not. It's just something that happens.
Sarah: Why?
Bruce: Um...well... as you get older…you become aware that the people you meet and the person you are... um, as carrying a certain amount of baggage. And, and that baggage creates tension. So what do you do about it? Well, you can pretend it's not there... or you can choose not to have friends... or you can acknowledge that it's there and have friends anyway.
Sarah: Like my dad?
Bruce: Right.
Sarah: I don't think that I like my dad when he's around you.
Bruce: Hmm. Well, that's...because your dad doesn't like himself when he's around me. But that's okay. That's... part of what friends do to each other.
Sarah: Good night.
Bruce: Good night.
been wanting to see Exotica long time now, Felicia's Journey too. only significant Egoyan I've seen is The Sweet Hereafter.
a conversation about Scorsese's worst movie would be just as interesting as a conversation about his best movie, maybe. it's almost kind of obviously Boxcar Bertha innit, but then isn't it maybe Who's That Knocking at My Door actually, and after that is when it gets interesting. for example, i almost want to rewatch The Aviator and Gangs of New York now, to compare them to each other, and compare them to what i watched tonight, The King of Comedy. Scorsese himself is imdb trivia quoted as saying "I thought the movie was just a one-line gag: You won't let me go on the show, so I'll kidnap you and you'll put me on the show." as in, it's not a very dimensionally complex movie. there isn't really a lot of character material, and that's almost kind of silly coming from Scorsese.
at the same time i think De Niro plays it to a perfect pitch. his mania reminds me of life choices i don't want to make. he pushes me back from the ledge because i see how crazy the ledge is. although he almost explains his entire outrageousness with a great line, "Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime." that's a pretty good point. it's also a pretty crazy point and i think it's what all the crazy people say. the movie doesn't tell me much more than Don't Be Crazy.
the fashion and interior design are atrocious, but 1982 owes some blame for that. Sandra Bernhard does fine enough but her character is rather startlingly flat, well below Scorsese's scope--what can i tell you about her? nothing. i'm not even sure why she's crazy. what can i tell you about Jerry? nothing.
it's the Rupert Pupkin show. yet somehow still i'm glad i rewatched it, for the reason i stated, about being reminded to step away from the ledge, which i do sometimes walk toward, to be frank. perhaps in fact i should watch this movie whenever i feel myself headed toward the ledge. i'm not sure why i'm calling it the ledge but i think you all know what i mean.
Always a good experience when you start a movie with the intention of only watching a few minutes, are mesmerized by those ensuing minutes, and wind up watching the whole damn thing.
Same thing happened with The Marriage of Maria Braun, that war-torn matrimonial opening was plenty of incentive to lock ass in seat.
Added to these two flicks I had to see Secret & Lies finally, and fucking loved it. No matter how hard you fight the melodrama, those tears start welling one way or another. Those long takes between Brenda Blethyn and the daughter she gave up for adoption are performance showcases to a T. Everything about this movie is just so good.
Thank you, Polka, for recommending me Coherence. It was absolutely fantastic considering its budget.
Thank you, Polka, for recommending me Coherence. It was absolutely fantastic considering its budget.
I’m glad you liked it! I thought of another underseen recent film that I hadn’t mentioned before: Honeymoon (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3177316/?ref=m_nv_sr_1). Tonally similar to Coherence, and absolutely gutting.
Went for The Limey over a two night period, having not seen it since theatrical release, when I was too green to appreciate it. Damn if that doesn’t deserve a slot among 99’s best. As refreshing a rinse to the revenge genre as one can hope for, Soderbergh’s use of experimental editing techniques and new ways of depicting scenes we’ve seen hundreds of times before contribute to the sheer entertainment factor of this terse, even slightly emotional, thriller. Stamp, as the mean limey bastard, rocks hard. The footage used from Loach’s Poor Cow, where Stamp was 30 years younger, have an overwhelming effect when woven into the story. Incredulously, I slept on this one for almost 20 years, shrugging the movie off as an undercooked potboiler. Soderbergh’s tampering with conventions is rarely a misfire, in fact, I can’t think of single one of his I dislike, having seen about all if them. Peter Fonda’s presence serves as an appropriate reminder of that yearning for a bygone era, here it’s the 60’s, when everything changed, felt meaningful. The Limey is tinged with these reminisces, even the driving force of seeking answers to Stamp’s daughters death has an unaddressed wonder of lost youth, an attempt to reclaim the past. Criterion needs to get on this one.
Yeah man, I've long been a fan of this one! Sod's output between Sex Lies and Erin Brok/Traffic is sadly under-appreciated. So many great little character moments sprinkled throughout (especially with Luis Guzman and Nicky Katt). "You tell him, you tell him I'm coming. Tell him I'm fucking comiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!" Good shit.
watched 35 Shots of Rum last night, and now completely understand the love for Denis, such a simple, endearing, warm hearted movie. If her other stuff is half as good I'll be a happy film camper. that sad French sounding score thumped the sympathy buttons on every cue. the understated father/daughter relationship crept in my emotional chamber, waiting for that final moment to pull levers of awe. I love movies that hit you when the end credits roll, all along you're thinking, yeah, this is good, but just as it ends you're like, fuck that was GREAT. nice little Ozu homage that carries its own weight.
also earlier this week I watched Night and the City, which is easily one of the best noirs I've ever seen. Richard Widmark is a bolt of adrenaline, just as incinerating performance.
yeah, seen Pickup on South Street, he's great in that too. haven't seen him in much else.
re: Denis. can't wait to dig through those treasures.
The Stewardesses (3D).lol!
As a healthy young man, not even the tits nor ass could keep me in my seat. Jesus, what a piece of shit.
he prefers the Experiments in Love short
i'm doing a hulu 30 day trial and at the end i will or will not talk about what i watched, this is to remind me what i've watched so far:
Support the Girls
Minding the Gap
The Beach Bum
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
eward, robyn:
Southland Tales... Salo.... Schizopolis! Kiss Me Deadly! April Story!! Y'all are having fun. These are filmz that I'll rewatch forever.
maybe the best rom-com of the past decade, or at least definitely the best directed.
Happy Birthday Christmas
Welcome Home Jesus
Diderot was probably, but not definitely, an atheist; he used the novel to attack the supposed corruption of the Catholic Church's institutions, which foster a hierarchical power dynamic between the Mother Superior and the girls, who are forced to take their vows. Diderot depicts the life in the convent as intolerable, dehumanizing and sexually repressive.
You like convent life; I hate it. God has given you favours; I have none. You would be lost in the world; your salvation is here. I will be lost here and I hope to be saved in the world.
Forsythe: Roger, I had a very disturbing dream last night. In this dream I found myself making love to a strange man. Only I'm having trouble you see, because he's old... and dying... and he smells bad, and I find him repulsive. But then he tells me that everything is erotic, that everything is sexual. You know what I mean? He tells me that even old flesh is erotic flesh. That disease is the love of two alien kinds of creatures for each other. That even dying is an act of eroticism. That talking is sexual. That breathing is sexual. That even to physically exist is sexual. And I believe him, and we make love beautifully.
-Someday I'd like to see some of this country we've been traveling through.
-By daylight, you mean? That'd be nice.
The cinematography [by Larry Pizer] is vivid … the colors are strikingly crisp and intense. The dialogue and most of the incidents have a neat, dry humor. It's a wonderful, partly true story … there are some wonderful performances. As Bill Doolin, Lancaster (who made the film before Atlantic City) is a gent surrounded by louts — a charmer. When he talks to his gang he uses the lithe movements and the rhythmic, courtly delivery that his Crimson Pirate had when he told his boys to gather round. In his scenes with Diane Lane, the child actor who appeared in New York in several of Andrei Serban's stage productions, and who single handedly made the film A Little Romance almost worth seeing, Lancaster has an easy tenderness that is never overdone. Lancaster looks happy in the movie and still looks tough: it's an unbeatable combination. Young Amanda Plummer gives a scarily brilliant performance.
11. Back to the Future Part III