The Film thread

[sipang]

Godard is probably the one with ADD though.

I also saw Godard's Breathless a few nights ago and I didn't really enjoy it. I understand the impact it had and how innovative it was but it hasn't really aged well as a film imo. Being so young, I guess my perspective has been ruined and I can't really look at it with the eyes of today. I'm going to give Godard another try though and check out Week-end and Alphaville.

Breathless is an important film but it can definitely feel a bit underwhelming and irritating if you're not in the mood. I don't think it's necessarily the best entry point to Godard's work (or his best film) either, despite the amount of hype it still generates. Not sure Weekend and Alphaville will change your mind, any specific reason you picked those two ? I'd go for Vivre sa Vie and Le Mépris instead, I'd say they're definitely more... relatable, and not as reliant on formalist experimentations (you can always go back to that stuff later).

 

[noob in 89]

Fun fact: dude had Bardot disrobe in the first few minute of Le Mepris 'cause he didn't want male viewers getting antsy the whole film wondering if she'd go nude. And they say he wasn't a considerate director!

In other news, Lone Survivor kills any possible suspense with its very title.
A better and more accurate title would have been Friday Night Lights in Afghanistan.
Apparently, we are so ripe for the rah-rah that any sort of bloody war tale, even one about a two-hour excursion where everyone makes bad decisions and gets their ass handed to them and/or dies is regarded as a *tale of heroism*.
It should have been called Opportunism: The Movie.
Most uncomfortable....

 

[Donut]



Godard is probably the one with ADD though.
Breathless is an important film but it can definitely feel a bit underwhelming and irritating if you're not in the mood. I don't think it's necessarily the best entry point to Godard's work (or his best film) either, despite the amount of hype it still generates. Not sure Weekend and Alphaville will change your mind, any specific reason you picked those two ? I'd go for Vivre sa Vie and Le Mépris instead, I'd say they're definitely more... relatable, and not as reliant on formalist experimentations (you can always go back to that stuff later).

Alphaville because I'm kind of into the sci-fi mood lately.
There was no particular reason for Week-end other than a recommendation.

I will definitely check out those two this week, thanks sipang.

I absolutely loved Brazil. The sets, costumes and overall setting absolutely captivated me. It's production must've been mind blowing at the time it was released. Gilliam's original ending was depressing but I really liked it.

What movies are you guys looking out for in 2014?

 

[Medwed]

Looking forward to re-watching my fav. Italian film "Fists in the pocket". I dare to say :it is the best film that ever came out of Italian cinema.

 

[amongyourhoundsofl]



Amy Adams was cool too.

Definitely. As enticing as Scarlett's voice is, I think Adams steals the show.

What movies are you guys looking out for in 2014?

Also liking the sound of Eden; it has Greta Gerwig in it, whom I love, and it "chronicles the rise and fall of one of the DJs who pioneered the French electro music trend known as the French touch in the 90s." I'm sure there are going to be leagues of additional films I'll enjoy...it looks like it's going to be a good year.

 

[g transistor]

I think I'm gonna go see a movie later. Inside Llewyn Davis or 12 Years a Slave, which one?

 

[RegisDB9]

I thought 12 years a slave was very good. Despite the Passion of the Christ type violence the scenery was very beautiful. Fassbender comes out of nowhere and steals the movie though

 

[cyc wid it]



Fun fact: dude had Bardot disrobe in the first few minute of Le Mepris 'cause he didn't want male viewers getting antsy the whole film wondering if she'd go nude. And they say he wasn't a considerate director!

In other news, Lone Survivor kills any possible suspense with its very title.
A better and more accurate title would have been Friday Night Lights in Afghanistan.
Apparently, we are so ripe for the rah-rah that any sort of bloody war tale, even one about a two-hour excursion where everyone makes bad decisions and gets their ass handed to them and/or dies is regarded as a *tale of heroism*.
It should have been called Opportunism: The Movie.
Most uncomfortable....

Should've just killed the gramps and kid in the beginning. Problem solved.

 

[Zeemon]

Alphaville because I'm kind of into the sci-fi mood lately.
There was no particular reason for Week-end other than a recommendation.

I will definitely check out those two this week, thanks sipang.

I absolutely loved Brazil. The sets, costumes and overall setting absolutely captivated me. It's production must've been mind blowing at the time it was released. Gilliam's original ending was depressing but I really liked it.

What movies are you guys looking out for in 2014?

i'll watch alphaville too pretty soon i think
i've seen a lot of older sci-fi films in the past months
i'm really into older science fiction, next to horror this is my favorite genre, alot of the films i like are a blend of sci-fi and horror
my favorites are probably soylent green, dark city, westworld, logan's run, the fury, scanners, shivers, invasion of the body snatchers, brazil
there a few films in this category which are kinda "cult" films but i don't like them at all, e.g. videodrome, naked lunch, eraserhead or strange days

one of the weirdest dystopia/sci-fi i've seen lately was "dead end drive-in", it's a about a drive-in movie theater which is used as a kind of prison for teenagers

 

[kindofyoung]

On a more light-hearted sci-fi note, I was pleasantly surprised by the tv-series Almost Human

 

[dwyhajlo]

Didn't like Videodrome? C'mon man.

 

[Donut]

What made you dislike Eraserhead?

 

[Zeemon]

hmm eraserhead.. there is actually not a single david lynch film i like
and generally there a very few films i like which have an overly surreal or dreamlike feel to them.
if they are like that, i think they have to have interesting scenery or stages to keep me interested, examples are the old german film "the cabinet of dr caligari" or the french film "last year at marienbad"
and i think eraserhead or videodrome doesn't have that

 

[g transistor]



Ok rubbish is a bit strong, I didn't hate the film or anything. I thought it was an entertaining piece of social science fiction (film d'anticipation doesn't seem to have an English equivalent so I'll go with Asimov's term) that ultimately falls short of its engaging premise.

I feel like Jonze never really capitalizes on this idea of a relationship between a human being and an OS. He treats the OS/girlfriend/love interest and its interactions with JPhoenix as you would in any classic romcom/drama (I get that it's kind of the point but hear me out) which is annoying because you could replace it with a long distance relationship between two human beings and the film would basically be the same. And well, it's not the same. And as a result I never buy the relationship and the interactions, not because the idea of such relationship in itself would be unbelievable (ppl develop feelings for all kinds of real or unreal things so I don't think it's inherently weird here) but because of the way the film decides to portray it.

Ok, that's not exactly true. The film does address this asymmetry a little bit in the end with the 'nature of love and exclusivity thing/realization' which is the best bit imo (but even the break-up follows a classic romcom pattern). But for most of the film, the AI angle feels a bit like a copout that allows Jonze to smoothly, and a bit lazily, sail along and leave all the thinking and reflectioning to the spectator.

@Sipang you're so great

Although I really disagree with the film being the same with a long distance relationship. In a long distance relationship, you at the very least know that on the other side there's a body, you know that if you really, really wanted to, you could go see the other person. And I think that brings up a whole different feeling/dialogue when the person you're in love with for the most part can never physically be with you. There's always a nagging feeling, you know? And although Jonze took it in a direction that kind of glossed over that, I think that Phoenix made those feelings clear really well. There's always a slight hesitation in the things he says and does with her (until he fully embraces it before the BIG BREAK UP) and that's what I liked most about it. To me it felt very much like a real relationship, that you kind of forget that she's just a computer and that maybe it's just another person on the other side talking on the phone, but I think that really plays in favor of the whole storyline (i.e. it doesn't really matter who/what you love, it's kind of all the same).

I do understand what you're getting at. It was a lot less sci-fi-y and more rom-comy than I'd have hoped, and there were lots of areas that could have been explored better. Especially some of the portions that you mentioned (exclusivity in love, surrogate body) seemed like really great ideas that just kind of get passed over and forgotten, and some of the direction in the story was a little bland (intelligent AI becoming skynet). But overall I think it was a movie that explored what it means to love and be in love rather than what it means to be human, and in that way I think a more romcom direction did it well versus a sci-fi direction. Some really great questions are brought up, you know, all of the characters are in failing relationships and develop feelings for AI that are capable of non-human things and eventually non-human experiences (like the scene when he's so crushed when she says she's in love with 600 other people, and it's a great idea about marriage and how people seem to always think there is the one).

But yeah, someone who wasn't Spike Jonez could've definitely taken it further and in a really great direction. Probably my favorite for 2013 but I am a sucker for stupid romantic comedies, and as far as romcoms go, it's the first one in a long time that's made me laugh really hard and feel a lot of emotions as well.

 

[g transistor]

Also watched Inside Llewyn Davis yesterday. Too bad it got snubbed by the academy. I really enjoyed it and it felt very Coen-esque, really funny at times with some really beautifully cinematography. The soundtrack was incredible too. It's funny to read all the reviews of people saying it going nowhere, nothing happening, everyone in the movie is boring/sucks... I really enjoyed all of it. A normal movie for a normal day type of film.

Who is excited for Interstellar? I've been watching this teaser a lot. I think I may be hyping myself up too much because I enjoy Nolan's goofy action films and McConaughey has been on fuckin' fire lately, but I am a simple philistine surrounded by all you intellects

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]



Going to check out 12 Years a Slave in a bit.