Fillums

Don't think we've had a film thread for a while.

Saw Lost in Translation a couple of days ago. Bill Murray is excellent, does virtually all his acting with facial expressions alone, as is Scarlett Johannsen, who is extremely pleasant to look at as well as being a very good actress. For once, I wasn't disappointed. A smart, tender little film, which only trips up right at the end with an unnecessary gesture towards a happyish ending (it should end 5 minutes before it does), but well worth seeing despite that.

Anything else decent on ATM?

-- Ian

 

not on at the cinema, but i bought 'wrong turn' the other day on DVD, very surprised that it was a GOOD hollywood horror. Still think that horror films should be left to the italians, but it was good nonetheless. Also rented jeepers creepers 2 the other day, but wasn't very impressed, it was ok, but it wasn't as good as the first (which also wasn't anyway where near great).

 

Lost in Translation is a gem. Hollywood producers should look and learn from its 'less is more' approach. I don't know about the ending. I was beginning to feel let down, but then 'Just Like Honey' kicks in and dusk begins to fall over Tokyo and the taxi slowly winds its through the city to the airport and, well, the ache of it all takes over again. Besides, you get that night-out sequence and you want an ending?

The only other flick I've seen this year is American Splendour, a gruff little tale of a comic book author's struggle with life, women, cancer and, most crucially, himself. It's funny and uplifting in its own fatalistic way.

 

New here - sorry to butt in! How about A Mighty Wind? Not exactly had a nationwide release, which is grossly unfair. It's not quite as good as Best In Show, and to call it a folk version of Spinal Tap is ridiculous (I hate those kind of comparisons), but it is another low budget film which really highlights how mediocre big budget, mainstream American cinema is...and it won't win any awards either so it's condemned to obscurity

 

Last film i saw at the cinema was 'Runaway Jury', i think it was called, with Gene Hackman among others. I ventured out boldly with the missus on a weekday afternoon to the Odeon in Slough and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was being shown in a kind of private function auditorium, which has the most luxurious and spacious seating arrangements i've ever come across. The seats were completely adjustable, leg room was vast (the chair in front was a good 4" away), beverages and snacks (smuggled chocolate eclairs and liquid contraband) were well taken care of, courtesy of tables both at the side and front.......all in all it was a bit like a sex parlour. Even the decor was in some peculiar upholstered pink. Unfortunately the private bar just ourside was closed, and a young teenage couple decided to join us and make full use of the reclining chairs in the back row. It was a most peculiar, yet comfortable cinematic experience. If they invested in some ashtrays i'd be tempted to become a season ticket holder.

The film itself was pretty unmemorable. The good guys won, justice prevailed, and they all lived happily ever after, barring the nasty, ruthless and immoral Gene Hackman who was left to ponder his defeat over a glass of malt, a broken man, no doubt.

 

That reduces Asiatics to nothing more than comedy ciphers.
Come on man,you can do better than that!
Best films ever made (in no particular order):
Blimp,
Kane
Buffet Froid probably my favourite film of all - nothing else so accurately captures Paris -
Les enfants du Paradis - Carnet and Preverts' chef d'oeuvre.

 

What about Withnail, Cinema Paradiso, Goodfellas and The Big Lebowski?

I know that it's sick & wrong to dislike Citizen Kane, but after about 20 minutes I became rather bored & fidgety and switched it off. Film buffs always say that it is the greatest film ever made, so I was possibly incorrect to be bored by it.

 

nuts in may

 

No, no, no & no. Not bad, but not up there either.

Must try harder. Kane is good for you, although suitable Hollywood substitutes are acceptable.
I can sympathize, though. Ozu has exactly the same effect on me. I'll take Kenji Mizoguchi or Shoehei Imamura's work anyday.
And how could I have forgotton Tsuna no onna (Woman of the Dunes) one of the most erotically charged films ever made and a sublime masterpiece of B/W cinematography. Awesome, but unlikely to appeal to little demons.

 

unlikely to appeal to little demons

I don't know, the erotically charged bit sounds good. Do I take it that this Woman of the Dunes gets her tits out?

 

No. That's why it's erotically charged.
Anyway, they wouldnae be big 'nuff for ye if she did. She has very erotic eyebrows, though.

 

I think they were quite distinctly Japanese ciphers. And doesn't comedy trade on stereotypes for much of its effect? It also served to highlight the two protaganists alienation from their surroundings, the very thing that brings them together. Besides, I don't think it's done with anything other than affection, while its depiction of Tokyo is nothing short of reverent.

I agree with you on Kane. An endlessly revealing film, Welles' total grip on the medium is staggering and always makes me sad that Hollywood simply couldn't find some way to live with him.

A few more suggestions: L'Atalante, Night of the Hunter, The Searchers, Pat Garratt and Billy the Kid.

 

Killer Klowns from outer space

Oh - the BEST films ever made...

NEVER seen Citizen Kane - can't comment.

Bladerunner is the most boring film I've ever seen all the way through (total crap - sorry!), next to the first hour of The thin red line - a film so slow it was backwards, and I turned it off just before it got interesting, according to my mate - but an hour of brain atrophy is enough for me!

I loathed and despised Spawn when I saw that in the cinema - a waste of £4.20 and the only film I almost walked out of (I'm too tight to actually WALK out of a movie though!). Made The Chase (the one with Kristy Swanson in) look like My Fair Lady for acting quality and script!

Withnail, Goodfellas and Big Lebowski are some of my fave bests as well. What about the Hitchcock ones like Rope? I think the way he makes that film look like one long reel is pure class.

I reckon Fargo should be on the list too - even better when you realise every scene has something amusing in it. Love the bit where the kidnapped wife's running around, blind, in the snow, and the foot in the woodchipper. Oh - and the bit where Shep Proudfoot whips the crap out of Steve Buscemi's (sp??) character "HEY - I was bangin' that bird" "Oow oow aaaah oww!!!" - excellent!

Best use of hifi in a movie - the use of a crappy 1960s Compact Cassette in Diamonds are forever

 

"Down by Law" : Jim Jarmusch's best film.
"Gost Dog - Way of the Samurai" : Jim Jarmusch's second best film.
"Fight Club" : David Fincher at his best and is as good as the book.
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" : Gilliam on acid; need I say more ?
"The Kingdom" : Lars von Trier does sci-fi/horror. Scary as f*ck !
"Casablanca" : A film that has everything.
"Hana-Bi" : A quite stunningly beautiful film.
"Salvador" : If only he'd [Oliver Stone] released this after "Wall Street"
"Band of Outsiders" : definitive Jean Luc Godard. The cafe scene is breathtaking.
"Chinatown" : Jack Nicholson at his snidiest.
"One flew over the Cuckoo's nest" : Jack Nicholson at his best.
"Citizen Kane" : I spit at thee who dare criticise this film.
"Glengarry Glenross" : If you like dialogue - you'll love this; eats "pulp Fiction" for breakfast.
"Pulp Fiction" : So good I'd eat it for breakfast.
"Intacto" : Very original (much like Memento).
"Johnny Stechino" : Roberto Benigni proves that he was the Italian Chaplin.
"pie" : (Sorry couldn't find the symbol) Darren Aronovsky's stunningly uncomfortable debut.
"Requiem for a dream" : VERY dark, not very funny, very good.
"Sling Blade" : Billy Bob Thornton writes, directs and stars in this this stunning tale.
"The Straight Story" : Had to get David Lynch in here somewhere .
"The Thing" ; Scared and fascinated the crap out of me since I was a kid. Carpenter at his peak.
"NARC" : best cop flick in years.
"Wings of Desire" : A toss up between this and "Down by law" as my favourite film. Anybody mentions "City of Angels" :chunder: and they get it :clint: .

 

"Citizen Kane" : I spit at thee who dare criticise this film.

It's terribly dull. Makes ennui seem interesting. Nothing seems to happen. Like Jane Austen without the jokes. A big yawn. Everyone says it's great, but no-one says why. Filmic equivalent of Lord of the rings. Etc.

Spit ..

 

It's just one of those films where you have to be open to the layers of it and enjoy it for the grand spectacle that it is. Use your eyes as well as your ears.

 

Dom reminded me of the only film I ever walked out of: Pasolini's 120 Days of Sodom.

Just couldn't bear it.

 

Re: Re: Fillums

A few people have commented on this. It didn't really bother me, the central relationship was so well done I could forgive a bit of stereotype comedy. After all, aside from the two main characters, everybody in the film, including the westerners, is a cipher, particularly the photographer boyfriend and airhead actress. Not all the Japanese were presented as ciphers either, the cool friends Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannsen meet up with for drinks and karaoke seemed pretty likeably drawn.

I didn't say it was the best film ever made, but it is the best film I've seen for a while. If you want a list of my greatest films ever made, it would mostly be made up of the Marx Brothers, I suspect.

Recentish classics would include Lars Von Trier's The Idiots, which is a seriously grown-up film and clever as feck, and made me laugh like a drain; and The Unbearable Lightness of Being, for Juliette Binoche if nothing else. Oh, and I really liked About Schmidt, the best film I saw all last year, but Jack Nicholson (when he isn't overdoing it) has always been one of my favourite film actors.

-- Ian

 

Because of its innovative photography. Because of the daring film and sound editing techniques Welles employed. Because of the extraordinary framing. Because of the radically naturalistic acting (for its day). Because of its intelligent script. But primarily because of the way all these things come together to serve a timeless parable of a man who gains wealth and power and loses much more in the process.

I have a book with some frames from this film. I always skip those pages.

 

...naturalistic acting (for its day).

Oh yes, that's another thing: it did seem dreadfully dated & old-fashioned. Maybe I'll give it another go. The lead-in long take was good.