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| gromit |
 Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:13 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Mo there were a few more posts in 2006.
Billy explaining how his friend found it amoral and nightmare-inducing. Avoiding Man Bites Dog along with Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer.
I agreed about Henry and have shied away from that film due to its violence, but countered by comparing Man Bites to Clockwork Orange.
But it wasn't an extensive discussion.
I think the one on January 15, 2018 will be better.
Anyway, I was wondering how you liked it.
Seems it went down pretty well with you.
Some of the racial stuff was politically incorrect hilarious. I'm thinking mainly of the black security guard, but also the offhand boast, "I buried two Arabs in that wall over there .... facing Mecca of course."
In the film they used Benoit Poelvoorde's real mom and grandparents as the killer's family. They didn't tell them what the film was about, so they just happily chat with their son who is making some kind of film.
Maybe it would get more folks to check this film out if I mentioned it was part of the Criterion Collection. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:41 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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gromit wrote: Mo there were a few more posts in 2006.
Billy explaining how his friend found it amoral and nightmare-inducing. Avoiding Man Bites Dog along with Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer.
I agreed about Henry and have shied away from that film due to its violence, but countered by comparing Man Bites to Clockwork Orange.
But it wasn't an extensive discussion.
I think the one on January 15, 2018 will be better.
Anyway, I was wondering how you liked it.
Seems it went down pretty well with you.
Some of the racial stuff was politically incorrect hilarious. I'm thinking mainly of the black security guard, but also the offhand boast, "I buried two Arabs in that wall over there .... facing Mecca of course."
In the film they used Benoit Poelvoorde's real mom and grandparents as the killer's family. They didn't tell them what the film was about, so they just happily chat with their son who is making some kind of film.
Maybe it would get more folks to check this film out if I mentioned it was part of the Criterion Collection.
I've seen "Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer." It's tough to watch, but I thought it was an amazing film with a great performance. I saw it at Tellluride, and it really put John McNaughton on the map.
Yeah - the racial stuff about the security guard was very funny. Benoit checked him out to see how well he was hung, etc. Utterly tasteless of course.
I just read how his family did NOT know the true nature of the script. I'm not surprised.
I also thought of THE CLOCKWORK ORANGE comparison.
MAN BITES DOG's strength is that it is a piece of true ensemble filmmaking. Just 3 film students put it together with lots of help from friends and family.
I doubt it would have come across so well without the acting talents of Benoit, who is a ham with a gift for improvisation.
Unlike Henry, he isn't creepy. He's a social and gregarious guy who likes to kill people. I liked the scene when an elderly lady lets him into her apartment. He really outdoes himself then and shows how very clever he is.
I would imagine any audience at a screening of MAN BITES DOG would be walking out like crazy. THE AUDITION is the other movie I can think of where I watched an audience stream out of the theater in droves because of the gross-out factor. |
Last edited by mo_flixx on Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:54 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:38 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| I was watching old episodes of Hancock's Half Hour last night, and I realised how scarily Tony Hancock resembles Gordon Brown... |
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| Rod. I am probably the only person here who appreciates that post. At least my excuse is that I'm old enough to remember Hancock's Half Hour. I don't want this to sound patronising, but you continue to amaze with the breadth of your reading and cultural references. |
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I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
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I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:09 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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My father first introduced me to Hancock and I was actually watching a DVD set of the series I got for his birthday.
'50s British radio comedy was a real golden era - Hancock's radio show and the Goons virtually defined the sit-com and the satirical-surrealist Monty Python style. And were better than almost everything that followed. |
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:14 pm |
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| Two radio series that I am very familiar with. And when lived in Europe the BBC would play the old Hancock and Goons shows back to back very often. I used to listen to them in Canada and hearing them again was a real treat. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:47 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Finally saw The Lives of Others.
For the longest time the dvd was here without English subs.
Then an English-friendly copy finally arrived maybe 2 months back.
But for some reason I thought it seemed like a depressing, heavy film -- like some sort of obligation. Instead it's gripping right from the beginning.
Really a superb film and a real accomplishment.
I remember a lot of discussion about it and can understand why.
Still mulling it over ... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:03 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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gromit wrote: Finally saw The Lives of Others.
For the longest time the dvd was here without English subs.
Then an English-friendly copy finally arrived maybe 2 months back.
But for some reason I thought it seemed like a depressing, heavy film -- like some sort of obligation. Instead it's gripping right from the beginning.
Really a superb film and a real accomplishment.
I remember a lot of discussion about it and can understand why.
Still mulling it over ...
Maybe now you'll understand my frustration re: last year's Blanches. Check my post in the Blanche Forum.
"Gripping" is the right word for this film. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:00 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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re-posted from ZODIAC Forum:
I can recommend the extras on the Director's Cut DVD of Zodiac. I began watching them last night, but it will take more than a single evening to get thru all of them.
I started with a film featuring the writer and producer who explained how they got the rights and how the project got made. They discuss Fincher's method of working, the real characters of the film and victims, and each murder. The film's costume designer adds esoteric details - such as about Melvin Belli's glasses. The property master talks about recreating a stack of SF Chronicle newspapers from the period, with _each page_ being an exact replica. The paper is used in the scene with Gyllenhaal cutting clippings.
There's another piece with two of the visual effects guys. This is fascinating. They explain how they re-created the Presidio exteriors in a backlot in Downey, CA with CGI and blue screen. They also discuss some of the shots that look like aerial shots but were really CGI. Also, Fincher likes to have all the blood and gore added in later as this permits doing multiple takes very quickly without having to redress actors and clean up after every take.
Two survivors who are still living and investigators are also interviewed in a third piece. Friends of the suspect ...Leigh Allen are interviewed. They are very convincing about the man's probable (??) guilt. [Later it was discovered that his DNA did not match Zodiac's.]
Still to go are 2 commentaries with the film itself: one with Fincher and one with the actors.
These extras are a must-see for fans of ZODIAC.
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add'l. remarks --
Fincher's commentary is excellent. It turns out he grew up outside of San Francisco. His dad worked for Time/Life in S.F. His childhood memories are full of minutiae about the Zodiac killer and that period of S.F. history.
Be sure to allow plenty of time for the extras. It's taken me 3 days to see almost everything. If you have to skip something, skip the 2nd commentary with Gyllenhaal, Downey, the writer, and producer plus James Ellroy. It is the less interesting of the two. Too bad that Ellroy, the famous crime writer, thinks he's so witty. Humor is not this author's forte. His attempts to add some humor to the commentary seriously bomb. |
Last edited by mo_flixx on Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:59 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:39 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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mo_flixx wrote: gromit wrote: Finally saw The Lives of Others.
For the longest time the dvd was here without English subs.
Then an English-friendly copy finally arrived maybe 2 months back.
But for some reason I thought it seemed like a depressing, heavy film -- like some sort of obligation. Instead it's gripping right from the beginning.
Really a superb film and a real accomplishment.
I remember a lot of discussion about it and can understand why.
Still mulling it over ...
Maybe now you'll understand my frustration re: last year's Blanches. Check my post in the Blanche Forum.
"Gripping" is the right word for this film.
If we're using <the-Numbers> list, it qualifies for 2007. It's going to be on my short list for Blanche for Best Film and Best Actor, and also Foreign Film unless we nominated it for that last year. Ulrich Mühe is my first choice for best actor. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I agree.......High and Low is very worthy.
I am so excited I just got premium cable with dvr...(can I afford it.....$40 a month.....I may drop Netflix). I love being able to record all this stuff and watch it later with the simple press of a button. Already I've seen the tail end of Blood Diamond, some of Borat (I'm glad he retired the character.....it's a one-time phenom......any more of it would be too much "taking advantage of suckers")
But the biggest thrill so far......along with how great my tv reception is now....was to rewatch I Shot Andy Warhol. I do not remember liking this film or thinking it was funny.......Well Lilli Taylor does a remarkable job creating the eccentric character of Valerie Solanis (sp?) I always like Lilli (maybe I should have nominated her for a Blanche for Starting Out in the Evening)......but this might be her BEST performance. After watching Factory Girl and Basquiat........this rounds out the Warhol world trilogy. And Candy Darling is one of the characters! Lilli plays Valerie as a wacky, lesbian, feminist with a high IQ.....and a low lifestyle. Her manifesto, SCUM, Society to Cut up Men......proclaims that the world would be a better place without any men... |
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| chillywilly |
| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:58 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8251
Location: Salt Lake City
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Finally was able to sit down for more than a couple of hours without interruptions and watch Eastern Promises.
Gritty and well done movie. I liked it, but liked AHoV better.
The story line grabbed me good and it was pretty easy to follow what was going on. Naomi Watts character was convincing as was Vincent Cassel playing Kirill.
I must say I was quite impressed with Viggo's fighting abilities with his manhood out and about in the steam room. It was a bit predictable, but overall pretty fun to watch Viggo kick the asses of the two thugs.
Viggo, as always, was smooth and slick in his role. |
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Chilly
"If you should die before me / Ask if you could bring a friend" |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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| I didn't find AHoV half as good as EP. As far as EP being considered predictable? Hmmmmmm, I reckon I'm just a gullible Cronenberg fan, cause I really didn't see the final outcome, but was digging the clues throughout. |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:35 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I too liked EP better than AHoV, though not that much more. Loved them both, and Viggo in them. |
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| chillywilly |
| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:13 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8251
Location: Salt Lake City
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ehle64 wrote: I didn't find AHoV half as good as EP. As far as EP being considered predictable? Hmmmmmm, I reckon I'm just a gullible Cronenberg fan, cause I really didn't see the final outcome, but was digging the clues throughout.
I guess I should have clarified I thought the lead up to the steam room fight scene was a bit predictable, but overall the plot was not predictable, but exciting. |
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Chilly
"If you should die before me / Ask if you could bring a friend" |
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