Interference Random Movie Talk X: Dogs and Cats Living Together... Mass Hysteria!

[lazarus]

But it's already on Blu-Ray?

Glad I didn't get it I guess.

 

[lazarus]

The sword must be drawn HEE-AH!

Patrick Stewart of "Star Trek" receives knighthood - Yahoo! News

 

[lazarus]

Also, apparently Colin Farrell actually asked to not be featured in the trailer or marketing for Crazy Heart, wishing all the attention to go to Jeff Bridges.

Could this guy get any cooler?

 

[Lancemc]

Could this guy get any cooler?

No. No, I don't believe he could. Who would have thought looking at the guy 5 or 6 years ago he'd be one of the industry's stand-up class-act greats? Love him.

 

[LMP]

Shit yes.

Ears and noses won't be the trophy of that day, then.

Also, apparently Colin Farrell actually asked to not be featured in the trailer or marketing for Crazy Heart, wishing all the attention to go to Jeff Bridges.

Could this guy get any cooler?

That is awesome.

Picked up Raging Bull, The Shining, and Do the Right Thing in Blu today. Cool beans.

Glad you liked Black Dynamite, Lance. The last 20 minutes are completely insane/fucking astounding in particular.

 

[Lancemc]

Glad you liked Black Dynamite, Lance. The last 20 minutes are completely insane/fucking astounding in particular.

I can't remember the last movie to make me laugh so hard so consistently. Easily the most pointed and effective parody film I've seen in ages.

I watched Bronson and Police, Adjective today. The former was good. The latter was great, reminded me very much of early Jarmusch. I'm still not a huge fan of the long take aesthetic (Bela Tarr, I'm looking at you ) but there are a number of filmmakers who make it work for me (Jarmusch, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Tsai Ming-Liang to a lesser extent), and I can see this particular filmmaker falling into that latter group. He establishes slow rhythms and variations in much the same way Jarmusch works in his early films, and pays off far better than it really has any right to. The final two scenes of P.A. are sure to be near the top of memorable moments from film in 09 for me.

 

[LMP]

That and Walk Hard are the only worthy parodies of seen in a long time.

I think Adam from Filmspotting gushed about Adjective after going to Toronto, that's maybe where I heard of it. Bronson's been sitting on my hard drive for months now.

 

[Lancemc]

And quite like most films of the long-take aesthetic, I'm immediately more impressed by it now that it's completely finished. I heartily approve, and it should certainly be making an appearance somewhere on my year-end list.

 

[Lancemc]

Also, I'm tempted to watch Un Prophete as well, but this screener quality is kind of shitty. I think I'll wait.

 

[LMP]

I got that, along with Fish Tank. May wait on both.

Brothers just became available.

 

[Lancemc]

Hmm, I kind of forgot about Fish Tank. I wanted to see that one too. I shall investigate. I was also lamenting a bit last night about how boring the 1.85:1 aspect ratio is. Fuck that ratio. Not that there haven't been gorgeous and exciting films made in it, but give me scope or 1.33 any day of the week.

 

[lazarus]

I really liked Red Road a lot, and am definitely curious about Fish Tank.

I'm also not a big fan of the Jarmusch one-still-shot scene, but I've been meaning to see Police, Adjective. Just opened here, I think.

Has anyone seen Tokyo Sonata yet? I have that waiting to watch. Checked out Summer Hours a few days ago, and while it was good, am very surprised that it's getting these Best of the Year mentions.

 

[Lancemc]

I'm also not a big fan of the Jarmusch one-still-shot scene, but I've been meaning to see Police, Adjective. Just opened here, I think.

Has anyone seen Tokyo Sonata yet? I have that waiting to watch. Checked out Summer Hours a few days ago, and while it was good, am very surprised that it's getting these Best of the Year mentions.

Right, not a huge long take guy myself, but I adore Jarmusch strangely. I think it's because there's always enough going on within the structure of the frame and the structure of the film that his camera works on a different level that others. Rhythms and variations and what not. Hou Hsiao Hsien is quite a bit different, and in theory I really shouldn't like him as much as I do, but I think it's because he's a very sensual director and in his later work a fairly inventive one that makes up for it. I don't think Police, Adjective quite stand up to either of their two work (I know you're not a fan of Flight of the Red Balloon though), but it's a formidable piece of work.

As for Tokyo Sonata, that's one I've been meaning to check out too, but haven't gotten around to quite yet. And yeah, Summer Hours is a strong film, but hardly a revelation.

 

[Lancemc]

Interesting...

 

[lazarus]

This is old, but god I love this woman. She's eccentric but very witty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsojdd6fWPs

 

[Lancemc]

WTF is this bullshit?

Also, YLB, Slashfilm's Top 10 films of 2009 podcast is up. How can we not listen to this?

 

[LMP]

I wonder what The QUIG!'s #1 will be...

 

[Lancemc]

G.I. Joe

 

[corianderstem]

WTF is this bullshit?

I think you need this:

 

[lazarus]

WTF is this bullshit?

I'm not sure if seeing The New World at #2 instead of #1 is worth your indignation.

 

[Lancemc]

I'm not sure if seeing The New World at #2 instead of #1 is worth your indignation.

Oh, I think that depends on #1. But I'm inclined to say it is regardless.

 

[Lancemc]

#2: The New World
#3: In the Mood for Love
#4: Before Sunset
#5: Syndromes and a Century
#6: A.I. Artificial Intelligence
#7: L'Intrus
#8: Flight of the Red Balloon
#9: The Son
#10: There Will Be Blood
#11: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
#12: Kings and Queen
#13: Yi Yi
#14: Werckmeister Harmonies
#15: The Royal Tenenbaums
#16: Summer Hours
#17: No Country for Old Men
#18: The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
#19: Children of Men
#20: The House of Mirth

Still, shaped up to be one of the best of these lists I've seen yet.

 

[lazarus]

I liked The House of Mirth when I saw it in the theatre, but I don't think it's anywhere near the Top 20.

Needless to say, to put Summer Hours so high when it just came out...no.

 

[Lancemc]

The one I haven't seen. No comment.

 

[If you shout...]

I thought that Tokyo Sonata was pretty terrible, if anybody's interested. Really gimmicky and neither very well shot nor acted. You'd be much better served by a recent Koreeda (easily Japan's best filmmaker, I think, since the late '80s)--2008's brilliant Aruitemo Aruitemo/Still Walking. Haven't seen his newest (Air Doll or Blow-Up Doll, depending on who's translating), yet, but Japanese friends tell me that it's pretty damn good in spite of a sounds-laughable-on-paper premise. I remain skeptical.

 

[Lancemc]

I wonder what The QUIG!'s #1 will be...

OK, I tried listening. Couldn't make it to the 9th minute. These guys are just too fucking boring.

 

[LMP]

Interesting seeing A.I. so high on that list. I'd say Munich is the more complete film in Spielberg's '00s canon, and probably his most effective "serious" film, but goddammit is A.I. spectacular until the coda. We've talked at length about it, and I don't think it derails the entire film, but the ham-fisted way in which it was handled certainly dulls the emotional impact of the ending.

On another note, I caught Where the Wild Things Are again at the second-run theater last night and was incredibly taken by it this time around. Max certainly isn't a proxy for my childhood, but I can relate to his actions around the Wild Things in trying to gain acceptance, and have a firmer grasp over what those characters are supposed to represent. Once I embraced the childlike dream-logic and the connections between the Wild Things and Max's subconscious, it tightened my focus on the film, regardless of how loose the narrative structure is, if there's even one to begin with.

And between his role in this film and In the Loop, James Gandolfini's had a great year. It's some of the finest voice-acting I've seen in recent memory. Hell, I love the entire voice ensemble.

 

[LMP]

OK, I tried listening. Couldn't make it to the 9th minute. These guys are just too fucking boring.

It's going to be Observe and Report, by the way.

Yeah, fuck them. They meander and skirt around their points too long for it to be remotely interesting. It's why The Filmspotting and Battleship Pretension guys are fantastic, they can clearly articulate most of what they want to say in about half of the time of those clowns.

 

[Lancemc]

Interesting seeing A.I. so high on that list. I'd say Munich is the more complete film in Spielberg's '00s canon, and probably his most effective "serious" film, but goddammit is A.I. spectacular until the coda. We've talked at length about it, and I don't think it derails the entire film, but the ham-fisted way in which it was handled certainly dulls the emotional impact of the ending.

You're right in that we've been through this before at great length, but I also think it's a testament to the film that it warrants so much discussion nearly a decade after its release. As the R.S. article on it suggests, I do find the film's coda just bold enough and wild enough a move that the ham-fisted execution doesn't bother me in the least. It's another film full of big ideas and big cinema driven by a lot of creative energy, it can't help but tower over the rest of Spiel's work this decade. I do think the rest of the film is virtually perfect though, and by the time the coda arrives it's such a powerful conceit conceptually and visually that I really don't think some of the sloppy narrative execution is remotely enough to detract. Because by that time I hardly care about the film's fine storytelling beats that begin to waver.

 

[lazarus]

The coda in A.I. isn't nearly as bad as the sex scene at the end of Munich, that's for sure.