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SF Film/Cinema Thread

Ivan Kipling

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The Bad and the Beautiful. 1951. Captivating Hollywood expose, starring Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas. Turner's wild ride on a rainy highway, just after being dumped by Douglas, is considered by some critics to be one of the most intense depictions of despair, ever recorded on film. Amazing wardrobes and sets.
Five Academy Awards.

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gdl203

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Originally Posted by Fuuma
I really like them too, although I think they're both slipping and that their best work may be in the past.
It's almost like they got hit by the Y2K virus and lost their powers... They used to make a film per year and then they essentially stopped making movies when the century turned. Still very important part of the 1990 cinema IMO. I would add Trainspotting to the major films of the 1990s too.

Looking forward to see your 2000's list and I hope to see Chan Wook Park featured in due place
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I like your lists btw
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Arethusa

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I really liked his remake of Zatoichi. Still haven't seen Chi to Hone. He was doing a lot more in the 90s, but I wouldn't count Kitano out yet.
 

Fuuma

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Originally Posted by Arethusa
I really liked his remake of Zatoichi. Still haven't seen Chi to Hone. He was doing a lot more in the 90s, but I wouldn't count Kitano out yet.

Blood and bones is not by him though (Yuichi Sai if I remember correctly). His last movie is Takeshis and here is what I thought about it:

Takeshis/Kitano/2005

I finally saw Kitano’s latest release and must say I was sorely disappointed. This is probably his weakest release to date (I’ve seen everything he’s done at least once except getting any). Here’s why:


-It doesn’t stand on it’s own as it’s too self-referential: While I’m big on auteur theory and believe cinema is infinitely more rewarding when you follow particular creators who’s work you respect, connect with and find thematic bridges from one movie to the next this one is simply unintelligible to someone who is not familiar with Kitano’s canon. Thematic connection and recurring obsessions (i.e. the beach in Kitano’s movies) is one thing but self-referential laziness is something else entirely

-It is self-indulgent and an exercise in ego stroking: Kitano’s movies are almost always about the giant presence of Kitano the movie persona, his near autistic attitude and suppressed violence. Takeshis goes one step further and refers to Kitano the entertainer and real-life person. Instead of being an embodiment of hidden urges and social malaise, placing a mirror in front of the audience and making them take a long hard look at themselves he preens in front of the aforementioned mirror, like Tom Cruise on any of his mediocre screen appearances.

-His treatment of violence is not consistent with his usual approach: Aside from Zatoichi which was a brilliant homage to traditional chambara series, violence and especially gunfights in Kitano movies is static, sad and rather anaesthetic. He really has the ability to take all the excitement and the “action” aspect out of the equation, letting you see what is really going on: pointless, nonsensical death and killing. This goes out of the window in Takeshis with a beautiful beach scene gun fight. It’s not interesting action, it’s barely comedy and you’re left with an empty scene with no apparent meaning.

-The dreamlike logic of the movie could be interesting as it allows Kitano to present individual vignettes that really show the strength of his background as a stand up comic. Sadly since these scenes are basically showcases for a particular performer and barely sustain or advance the plot; they don’t gel with the overall story or lack of thereof.

In other word watch it if you’re big on Kitano and are interested in seeing all his movies otherwise stay away as it’s simply not very good.
 

Arethusa

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I can't tell if that's completely brilliant or brilliantly marsupialed.
 

gdl203

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Tokyo Slim

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Just go back and watch Sonantine, Hana-Bi, and Brother again. It will make you feel better.

Then watch Battle Royale on weeeeeed.
 

Brian278

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Originally Posted by Fuuma
I really like them too, although I think they're both slipping and that their best work may be in the past. Aretheusa: No 400 blows but there are still 2 Truffaut films including stolen kisses...
Originally Posted by Fuuma
I really like them too, although I think they're both slipping and that their best work may be in the past. Aretheusa: No 400 blows but there are still 2 Truffaut films including stolen kisses...
Did anybody else see Eros? I thought Wong Kar Wai's was the best of the three, and yet they were all relatively disappointing. I'd love to hear how you rank his works as well. I've seen Chungking Express and 2046, an I keep trying to rent some of his other stuff (Fallen Angels and In the Mood for Love were both recommended) but the video stores never have them whenever the mood strikes.
 

Fuuma

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2000s •\tCode Unknown/Code inconnu/France/Haneke/2000: Haneke’s masterful film on the new Europe and its impact on various ethnic groups, the movie also explores communication dynamics and mixed messages. The disjointed, unfinished scenes really add something to the whole, illustrating the vagaries of human contact in a very palpable way. Haneke’s latest opus, Caché/Hidden, revisits those themes with a particular focus on the invisible undercurrent of guilt, the hidden shame inherent to post colonialism. As Kundera had one of his characters say: “Yes, suddenly I saw it all clearly: most people willingly deceive themselves with a doubly false faith; they believe in eternal memory (of men, things, deeds, peoples) and in rectification (of deeds, errors, sins, injustice). Both are sham. The truth lies at the opposite end of the scale: everything will be forgotten and nothing will be rectified. All rectification (both vengeance and forgiveness) will be taken over by oblivion. No one will rectify wrongs; all wrongs will be forgotten.” •\tIn the mood for love/HK/Wong/2000: Languid exploration of an impossible love in the HK of the 60s. WKW reached his aesthetic pinnacle with ITMFL; looking at people smoking was never this exhilarating. •\tBattle royale/Japan/Fukasaku/2000: B-movie social critique about a high school class send on an island to exterminate each other. I love the clash of high school dynamics and repeating machineguns. Fukasaku once again lets the ugly side of post-war Japanese society fester to the surface •\t24 Hour Party People/UK/Winterbottom/2002: I never tire of watching this movie; it’s so energetic and unabashedly cheerful, even when everything crashes around the main character. I don’t have much to say about it though, contrary to pretty much every entry on the list I don’t know much about the director’s cannon (Winterbottom), I haven’t noticed anything special about the direction as I’m always so engrossed in the story I’m affected by his technique instead of analyzing it. Oh and post-punk rocks! •\tOldBoy/Korea/Park/2003: “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; cry, and you cry alone.” Korean cinema has been one of the most dynamic of the last few years, this is my favourite entry but there are plenty to explore and it goes in all directions (comedies, melodrama, genre movie, romance, historical epics, psychological drama, etc.). Since this list is finished maybe I’ll recommend some Korean movies next. •\tKings and queen/Rois et Reine/France/Desplechin/2004: Desplechin successfully melds together the comical story of a witty and instable man sent to a psychiatric institution and the melodramatic arc of a woman who must face the death of her father and the emptiness of her own life. I’d say this movie approaches very intelligently the often enormous difference between what we think we are, what other think we are and what we really are. •\tThe beat that my heat skipped/De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté/France/Audiard/2005: This movie had such a strong, visceral impact the first time I watched it the stewardess had to remind me to turn off my ipod because the plane was landing. That it can pack such a punch on a small screen in this context says a lot about its emotional charge. What it’s about: a young, restless man, torn apart by the sometimes harsh actions he thinks he must take to please various authority figures and find some kind of peace. Oh and since it’s a fashion board maybe someone will know who provided Romain Duris wardrobe, because the overall look is exactly what I like about the dressier side of clothing.
 

Fuuma

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Originally Posted by Brian278
Did anybody else see Eros? I thought Wong Kar Wai's was the best of the three, and yet they were all relatively disappointing.

I'd love to hear how you rank his works as well. I've seen Chungking Express and 2046, an I keep trying to rent some of his other stuff (Fallen Angels and In the Mood for Love were both recommended) but the video stores never have them whenever the mood strikes.


Eros is somewhat intertaining; WKW's segment is very much in tune with what you'd expect, Soderbergh's is funny and Antonioni's pointless, although there are some boobies to be seen. I'd recommend pretty much any WKW film, even his vastly different first opus (as tears go by). If you like the camera work and saturated colours of his films, you could also check Away with words by Christopher Doyle (WKW's star cinematographer), starring Asano Tadanobu.

BTW I like Mr. Kipling's list, he's very knowledgeable about Golden age hollywood and the glamourous stars of that period. Not exactly my forte but nice to know what's out there.
 

gdl203

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There is something extraordinarily beautiful in the photography of Happy Together. For some reason, this is his movie that leaves me in the most melancholic mood (even more than In the Mood for Love...). I've been haunted by the desire to go to Iguacu ever since I saw this film...

PS: did you bold Old Boy in response to my previous post re: C-W P?
 

JBZ

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With regard to more recent movies, has anyone seen Shattered Glass? I'm not exactly sure why, but I can watch this movie over and over again. I'm just fascinated with how Stephen Glass managed to hoodwink The New Republic. The performances (particularly Peter Sarsgaard's) are terrific.
 

Manny Calavera

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Ah, I have a lot of catching up to do. I always check this on the metro when I cannot type coherent responses.

Just wanted to mention that DVD Planet is now having their 20% off sale. For those not familiar with DVD Planet, the site has pretty much the cheapest prices on Earth with this sale, and the prices are especially amazing on various box sets and Criterions. I already put in a small order of stuff I've missed (Criterions Green for Danger and Symbiopsychotaxiplasm) and I think I'm going to get the ABKCO Jodorowsky box tonight. Oh, the coupon code is 20OFFSALE.
 

Fuuma

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Originally Posted by gdl203
There is something extraordinarily beautiful in the photography of Happy Together. For some reason, this is his movie that leaves me in the most melancholic mood (even more than In the Mood for Love...). I've been haunted by the desire to go to Iguacu ever since I saw this film...

PS: did you bold Old Boy in response to my previous post re: C-W P?


Happy together is indeed haunting, I guess it will remain, with ITMFL as the pinnacle of the WKW style.

PS: yeah I did, I'm a fan too, recently watched his latest work (I'm a cyborg but that's ok) and must say while it is a "lesser" Park it is still an excellent off kilter romantic comedy/drama. Park won me over with Joint security area and I've been following his movies with great interest ever since, the recognition he now gets, thanks to that Cannes prize, is heartwarming considering the low tolerance for subtitles americans usually have.
 

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