Seen any good movies lately? - Films you MUST see (3 Viewers)

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jerzy ,

they (mgm) just released ( couple years ago) "alfredo" in the us in a nice widescreen edition. cheap but with not too many special features - still - you should get hold of it somehow.

and dont go too hard on yourself about the social commentary claim. i think thats ok. i re-read my post and thought that comparing bukowski and sam was a little vague. oh well. they are tow people that have gone into the wild and both have given us their unrestrained vision of an often cruel and untamed universe.

may the savage god bless (destroy) us all ,

paul
 
please, everyone, stop going to the movies.

Paul,

It's not my intention here to quote and subsequently pick at what may have been a quickly written sentiment (which the spirit of I ultimately agree with), but I can't stop going to the cinema. I will always go to the cinema. Maybe that's where these Film Companies and Dream Factories have got us stuck between a rock and a hard place. The quick answer is: read a book, be alone for those moments, and think and converse with yourself. Yet it is a different media, and as much as I think books are richer and more vibrant, I still crave the moving image. I am of and in this world that I presently live in afterall.

I'll see any Spike Lee Joint, and its not because I'm a huge fan of his, but because what other options do I have? Or Michael Mann, David Lynch,David Cronenberg, Wimm Wenders, Scorcese (although I'd see his movies no matter what), etc. I'll even go to a Spielberg movie in a fix. I need the big screen, the 12 foot giants, the popcorn, the feel of it all. With this said, it's possible that if living rooms of cineaphiles could ever speak, mine would speak of indescriable moments which 2 generations ago people would simply not have had the access to. What does it mean that I've never seen 19 of my 20 favourite movies on the big screen? Without the DVD/VHS I'd be a goner.

Someone in some other thread said "everyone should have Dan Brown and Dance Hits for the 90s in their collection." I totally disagree with this. And again, maybe, maybe, I agree with the spirit of what she said, but only in the sense of not being a No-Sayer to everything this world offers. How is it possible that I know the chorus to the "Shakira, Shakira" song without ever giving 2 flying shits about it? The world will take care of the Dan Brown and Dance Hits for the 90s psyche to enter my head. I don't need to help that process along.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'll keep going to the cinema, but with caution, knowing that if crap enters my eyes I wll actually become a lesser person.
 
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Just saw "Pan's Labyrinth," the new film by Guillermo del Toro (director of "The Devil's Backbone," another really good movie). All I can say is "wow!" An amazing film.

Trailer here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/picturehouse/panslabyrinth/

Film of the year! :) Wasn't too keen on his Hollywood stuff (blade 2, hellboy) but the films he makes using the funding he gets from these films makes it worth while.

I think Pale Face should get his own television series :rolleyes:
 
I guess what I'm saying is that I'll keep going to the cinema, but with caution, knowing that if crap enters my eyes I wll actually become a lesser person.

I have to disagree with you there (kind of). If you know it's crap you can learn from it, or at least shield yourself. I had to deal with some of the worst cases of brain-squandering in Christianity's history (I like to think so anyways, makes me feel important :) ) and some of the most inbred looking co-workers ever. On at least two dozen occasions I wanted to press my coworkers down on the 500 degree grill and force feed the customers raw pork and chicken (Oh, you want your chicken WELL DONE? I NEVER would have guessed! I mean, it's not like I FUCKING COOK FOOD AS MY FUCKING JOB). Am I a lesser being? I don't think so. Just angrier.

That said, I agree with the need for cinema. Just because the biggest food companies are putting corn and sodium in their food as fillers doesn't mean I'm going to stop eating. I'm going to try a little bit of everything and evaluate if it's worthwhile; if not, I'll steer clear of it until they make an effort to improve.
 
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I have to disagree with you there (kind of). If you know it's crap you can learn from it, or at least shield yourself. I had to deal with some of the worst cases of brain-squandering in Christianity's history .

Well, let's not mix apples with pomegranates here. Film is film and applying words like "good" or "bad" although vague is at least acceptable. With people and the world at large and whatever my current environment is not only do I refuse to shield my eyes from the imperfect and un-immacualate, but prefer to take in as much as the billowing shit as possible. And not out of any saintly instinct - al contario - birds of a feather.....

Nonetheless, I enjoyed your kitchen analogy. Having been in bakeries for the past 8 years, I understand all too well the "brain-squandering." Interestingly enough it hasn't always been the naturally stupid and outsider types who have bugged me to no end, but those (for the most part) straight out of the CIA. They remind me of lifetime movies or ABC mini-series - the film crap I shield my eyes from.....
 
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a film is a dream taking place in front of you while you are awake. a film is a kind of hypnotic state, i think, and we are not always completely aware of what is going on at these times. all i am saying - is be careful. your money is like a vote - too. your money is telling the producers that more films like this should be made. be careful. be critical. you know.

paul
 
Nonetheless, I enjoyed your kitchen analogy.

For this honor, I'd like to thank my family, the SAT, and most of all my teachers and the public school system for force feeding me analogies for 18 years. I've spent 2 years or so throwing up the mixture...

With people and the world at large and whatever my current environment is not only do I refuse to shield my eyes from the imperfect and un-immacualate, but prefer to take in as much as the billowing shit as possible. And not out of any saintly instinct - al contario - birds of a feather.....

I don't try to soak it in, but it is there. Why do you take in as much of the "billowing shit" (interesting imagery)?
 
I don't try to soak it in, but it is there. Why do you take in as much of the "billowing shit" (interesting imagery)?


lol... Just got through writing about the last cheap room I lived in. 210 a month, the lowest of the totem pole for even Birmingham, Al. Of the 10 occupied apartments only the African exchange students seemed sane. They were smart, didn't mingle with anyone. The rest...billowing shit.... Seriously though, how I feel about people depends on which day it is.

I seem to need (or at the very least observe and think about) the lowest common denominator of our race. No matter what form they (or we) take.

"Why" is a different question. One which I am just as uncomfortable talking about as I am with my own writing.
 
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a film is a dream taking place in front of you while you are awake. a film is a kind of hypnotic state, i think, and we are not always completely aware of what is going on at these times. all i am saying - is be careful. your money is like a vote - too. your money is telling the producers that more films like this should be made. be careful. be critical. you know.

well said.
 
three dream circus :

a bresson double feature, poor quality bootlegs (?) - hard to find stuff i rented at a place nearby - "a gentle woman" and "the devil probably". also watched sokurov's doc. on tarkovsky "moscow elegy". all very fine.

happy viewing to you all ,

paul
 
Donnie Darko

Wow,
I finally just saw this sci-fi cult hit
And really loved it.
(and the ending.... man)
Man, can relate to Jake's perceptive in way too many ways.
Anybody else here know this flick?

Just blown away by this,
Like Heathers on steroids with a time-travel spin.
Just Awesome.
They made me do it :)
 
YES!!
it's one of my all-time favourite movies, love the soundtrack too. i don't think i really "got" it, but i loved it anyway - which to me is the sign of a great film.

just watched "Chumscrubber" yesterday - the promo describes it as "donnie darko meets desperate housewives", which i thought was reasonably accurate. great film.
 
"why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?"
"why do you wear that stupid man suit?"

donnie darko is my favorite movie with a demonic bunny; sexy beast is my 2nd favorite.
 
2v0opoo.jpg
 
just watched 'stranger than fiction', it was much funnier than I thought it was going to be. If you liked old Charlies previous surreal tales (ie, being John Malkovic) then I'm sure you'll enjoy this.
 
The last two flicks that have stayed with me:'Searching for the wrong eyed Jesus'.........Jim Whites homage/road trip to the deep south.And Ivansxtc,loosely based on 'the death of ivan ilyich'.Houston is superb in this.
And let me just add that jim whites 'Christmas Day' is a song from the very top drawer.
 
The last two flicks that have stayed with me:'Searching for the wrong eyed Jesus'.........Jim Whites homage/road trip to the deep south.

Loved it, loved it and erm loved it :) I liked the old poet guy with the walking stick talking about how when he was younger he couldn't relate to the Sears catalogue because the models didn't have any parts of their bodies missing :D Oh and the bit with the Handsome Family playing to one little kid in a car park.
Thanks for bringing back happy memories Mercury
 
donnie darko is my favorite movie with a demonic bunny

I have to be in a pretty dark mood to watch donnie darko, but I do love the argument he has with his teacher about fear - love.

I finally knocked out Blade Runner while I wasn't doing anything at work. I need to watch it a couple more times, though. I feel like I missed something.
 
"Children of Men" --wicked set pieces; excellent cinematography. plot was pretty good, although nothing outstandingly original.

"Unknown White Male" --documentary about an English guy who comes to on a New York subway with utterly no memory of his own existence up to that point. the film (directed and shot by his close friend) follows him over a period of about 2 years, as he reacquaints himself with his old life and tries to start a new life. this isn't your regular 'man loses memory' doco -- it really explores questions of how identity is so tied up with episodic memory, and how losing one's episodic memory (our personal experiences) can cause huge shifts in our personalities. definitely worth watching.
 
Not new movies, but recently saw "Nine Queens", and loved it, and then got an invite to watch "Touch Of Evil" on one of them newfangled flat-screened 400 horsepower, HDTV type things. This is one of my favorites, and the big television made 'ol Hank Quinlan chewin' those candy bars just a bit more ominous.

oh yeah, and the documentary "Okonos". Just fabulous
 
roni, i just watched 'lawn dogs' on your recommendation - fantastic film! esp the ending - so well done, i was a bit caught off guard by that. i think you'd like 'paris, texas' if you haven't seen it already; watched that one on the weekend too - harry dean stanton at his finest.
 
The Big Lebowski is a great movie.
 
You're watching some classics right now bongobill.
 
Just got through with "The Departed" pretty amusing stuff, Massachusetts State Police killing each other off.

Matt Damon, although a Cambridge native, forces an accent, not realistic enough. Jack was real good, and you can't miss with Ray Winstone in there.
 
Ray Winstone was one of the stars of a great punk rock B movie called Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains that is well worth a look if you can find a copy.

It also starred Diane Lane and featured a young Laura Dern, along with Paul Simonon from the Clash, Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols and Fee Waybill from 70's weirdo band the Tubes.

Waybill is very funny as a has-been 70's arena rocker on a low budget club tour, with supporting punk band The Professionals (Winstone, Jones, Cook and Simonon), and the Fabulous Stains (Lane, Dern and some other actress whose name is lost to obscurity and my poor memory).

It was never commercially released, so the quality of the bootlegs out there ranges from pretty good to unwatchable. Caveat emptor.
 
I'll have to look for that. What a cast, Clash, Pistols AND The Tubes. I was a big Tubes fan years ago.

Just saw "Born Into This" last night. We ordered it off Netfix, and were pleased. I thought it was very well done.
 
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