An incredibly obnoxious and tiresome movie; it’s basically just one single joke stretched far beyond its expiration date. The only redeeming moment was that one scene where the security chief loudly swallows an orange. Now, that was actually funny. A total disappointment from Zwigoff, especially when you consider how good Ghost World was.
Richard Hernandez13 said:Regarding the more recent stuff—well, ever since Pulp Fiction, non-linear storytelling has become practically mandatory for any film even remotely aiming for ambition (I realize Tarantino didn't exactly invent it, but he certainly made it a staple).
True enough, though I would also throw The Usual Suspects into the ring as a seminal nineties film that kicked off the trend of self-reflexivity in mainstream productions. You have the unreliable narrator and that whole deconstruction of cinematic ontology. As for the classics, we haven't even touched on Hitchcock yet—North by Northwest for its play on genre norms, Psycho for that same reason plus how it blurred the lines between art house and mainstream (much like The Birds), or Vertigo and Rear Window for how they force the spectator into the spotlight—and those are just the most obvious examples.
You’ve got a point, though clearly *The Constant Gardener* didn't leave much of an impression on me—or maybe I just repressed the whole thing deep in my subconscious due to some lingering trauma—because I don't see the connection to Kristin at all. But someone like the lead actress from *Wolf Creek*? Now she would be absolutely perfect for that role.
I managed to plow through Breakfast at Tiffany's in Cyrillic in less than two days before I even hit sixteen. I also tackled Crime and The Verdict, but what’s the point if I didn't actually grasp a single thing? Total overkill.
northerncrane4 said:...Personally, I found that activist slant and the sentimentality a bit much, and after a while, the way they desaturated certain colors in specific locations really started to grate on my nerves. It’s not all bad, per se, but it certainly could have been handled better.
For me, the main issue was Rachel Weisz; she wasn't necessarily bad this time around, she was just incredibly grating in her earnestness. Someone more like Kristin Scott Thomas—someone with more charisma and perhaps less overt sensuality—would have been a far superior choice. Though, then again, such a casting change might have failed to highlight the tension between the imperialist era and the Brit-pop, post-Diana vibe of England, which strikes me as the film's central theme: posthumous emotional maturation and the collapse of the old code. I actually liked the movie, despite my initial irritation with cinematography that felt like a dressed-up TV drama. A National Geographic thriller. That opening love scene felt like a Benetton commercial. However, once the flashback concludes, the pacing picks up and the film becomes tighter, weaving its narrative and visual motifs into a cohesive whole. It still feels slightly Merchant-Ivory for the modern urbanite, but thankfully, that cosmetic camera work fades away. I found it quite fascinating how, in several scenes—mostly within his colonial estate—Africa possessed such a distinctly English, gray, and damp atmosphere.
So, if I sign up for *Sigh* and Sound, they’re offering me two films from this list for my home collection. Honestly, I don't really need any of them, and I doubt I'll even watch most of these more than twice, but since it's practically free, I might as well grab Ken Loach and Renoir; they’d probably feel right at home on my shelf.
The Leopard (Visconti) Cathy Come Home (Ken Loach) The Rule (Renoir) Under the Skin (Adler) Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa)
Has nobody seen Touching the Void? Even if it doesn't strictly qualify as a documentary, it’s pure suspense—basically a regressive whodunnit. I didn't catch it in theaters, and honestly, I regret missing those snowy landscapes and peaks on the big screen.
Crossing The Bridge didn't really do it for me—neither the depth of the research nor the execution was up to par. Cem Karaca isn't even mentioned (though I did spot him in the credits), and the Derwish influence only appears for a fleeting moment, mostly through some irrelevant interpretation by an uneducated hippie American woman. Honestly, there were far too many hippies in frame, including the director himself, whose prog-folk noodling was truly unnecessary listening. As for the rappers, they were top-tier.
quietdriver3 said:"Eavesdropping" by Francis Ford Coppola
I have no idea what I ate that day, but this movie was just straight up boring
I fell asleep so easily during this one, and that’s saying something considering I had a little help from some sake-induced sedatives. I was really hoping for something gripping, like the Conspiracy Trilogy.
As for my own picks—Shadow of a Doubt and Under Capricorn stand out as the most atypical Hitchcockian films. During the forties, Alfred Hitchcock tended to lean into more "serious" psychological themes, but here, the suspense and the buildup feel agonizingly slow, almost standard and anemic. The only significant impression left is the atmospheric cinematography, which captures the anxiety and claustrophobia of the suburbs brilliantly—far better than the overly explicit plot or the dynamics of the main characters ever could.
I mean, if we’re going to go around slapping people with claims of having a "film education" (looking at you, regarding that massive wall of text from the previous poster), then we really ought to discuss the actual culture of how movies are consumed. Most of those so-called "classics" watched on basic cable don't offer anything more than raw data. Personally, I'd much rather remain uninformed until a genuine opportunity to actually experience cinema presents itself.
miss l on the road said:4. if he isn't wearing boxers, he's wearing those hideous, old-school men's briefs.
Y-fronts are the absolute gold standard. Incredibly sexy, especially when paired with a romantic setting.
The Top 3 fashion essentials for a man (not all three at once, obviously!):
1. A crisp white button-down, unbuttoned just enough, paired with a suit and no tie. 2. A thick, perfectly groomed Billy Childish mustache. 3. That specific Hare Krishna look—hair and all.
The Top 3 absolute fashion disasters:
1. Cheap, off-brand designer knockoffs. 2. Light-wash jeans. 3. A black turtleneck.
The ultimate top three exotic travel destinations, according to the legends of pop music:
1. Bangkok (as suggested by Alex Chilton, who also pointed the way toward Indonesia) 2. Shanghai (reminiscent of Manhattan) 3. Mexico (in the style of Frank Sinatra)
stormyviper11 said:My top three covers of tracks by The Beatles:
1. Roy Orbison - Help! 2. Mississippi Rockers - Help! 3. Residents - A Day in the Life
And how about these?
Peter Sellers & Spike Milligan - She Loves You (with an Irish accent) William Shatner - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Marcia Griffiths - Don't Let Me Down (the reggae version)
I suspect this year’s harvest is proving to be quite poor. Last week, faced with a similarly lackluster lineup, I found myself forced to sit through Batman Begins.
I’m no expert on this genre, and honestly, I haven't even seen Spirited Away, but I still enjoyed it—as did the five-year-old I had tagging along with me. That said, the film could have benefited from some serious script editing, especially considering how rushed and confusing that ending felt. It’s an intriguing story, though; quite dark, actually.
I watched it a while back, but much like Bella de jour, it didn't really land for me. It feels somewhat dated in its attempt to satirize the bourgeoisie, relying on sexual themes that were already losing their shock value by then. The ambiguity would have been far more intriguing if it weren't such an obvious trick—almost like Hitchcock's red herrings. What's in the box? Who cares? Actually, it’s quite interesting to compare the two directors, given they both share those generational frustrations and obsessions, all seasoned with a heavy dose of Freudianism. Plus, Vertigo was made about twenty years earlier, back when plot coherence was still the standard at the major Hollywood studios—which honestly makes for even more fascinating implications.
I just don't get the whole Daniel Craig thing. He has this irritating screen presence, lacks any real charisma, and honestly, he looks a bit too much like someone you'd run into in Topeka.