I like it more than I don't like it...

6.5/10

Without Fred Durst... well, I would have never rented this, but even if I did, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it at all. Durst makes the film, literally. Just check the IMDB page for this one, everyone is praising the hell out of Durst's performance, even those who hate Limp Bizkit. He did a decent job in Population 436, but he really proved his chops with this one.

The movie is bearable at best, but Fred Durst's performance is AMAZING! I'm not even exaggerating! If you enjoyed his Kirby Chitwood character on Tom Green Live, you're going to adore his role as Ledge in this film. I'm definitely going to have to check out The Education of Charlie Banks (which Durst directed) ASAP now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS2gBVYjgu4

Very funny.

First time I saw Slow Motion, I gave it a solid 8, but it just stuck with me and stuck with me, and now it's my all time favorite. You have to keep in mind it was the first film of his "2nd period", after not making any real films for 14 years (his last film of his brilliant 1st period was Weekend). He came back like a completely different director.. dark as hell.. but just as brilliant, if not more so. Godard's the director when talking about "Watching once is simply not enough."

story of sorrow and sadness - 10/10

A psycho-sexual drama about GOLF by Seijin Suzuki, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time (and is a huge influence on Takeshi Kitano, so you know he's gotta be good). This was his one film of the entire 1970's, and this is one truly mindblowing flick.

Frustrating. It was pretty great, and had some FANTASTIC scenes and beats, but I couldn't help but feel that it kind of succeeded in spite of Schumacher and it's time of making. Like the script and central performances could have made it a true classic, but there are just all these little bad 90s touches in the way it's shot, or the totally over the top music at points, various other things. Also there are certain characters (I'm thinking mainly of the 'annoying' cop and the latino gangsters) that are just suddenly so characture and awful that they really pull you out of the film. I don't know, it was a great idea, kind of an American 'Weekend', and it so almost gets it right that you end up slightly angry at, even though on it's own terms it's still a solid film...

Inception.

Well I'm a bit disappointed actually, it's good but I don't think it's a masterpiece (or maybe I expected too much). I'd give it 7,5/10.

yeah, didn't think Incept was all that good either. Liked most of the actors but Ellen Page and the 3rd rock from the sun kid were poor choices, IMO.

Saw Disgrace, which I would recco for the Malcovitch portrayal of Coetzee, but the story is pretty hard to take (as was the booK)

Yeah, Inception was a letdown.





7/10

Enjoyable. Lots of homages to Ren & Stimpy, Looney Toons, and even School House Rock. Plenty of monsters, gore, and tits. Great cast. The short running time works in it's favor. I had a good time.

Manic
6/10

I love Falling Down but I haven't watched it in years... It reminds me of good times. Not the movie itself but when I was younger, there was a music video on heavy rotation on TV at late night by a French rapper (Disiz la Peste) that parodied parts of the movie. When I finally watched the movie, I was like "That's where it comes from !" so yeah, good memories.

For those who are interested, this is the music video I'm talking about :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D3_Bp5YyUU

Scream 2 y'all.

2nd disc, behind the scenes stuff, while I brainstorm, write, and gnaw on my inner right cheek 'cuz of the adderall.

Do you own Inland Empire, or did you borrow it or netflix it or something? I honestly am thinking of getting rid of my copy. I don't like that movie, it's just taking up space.

Own it. Paid 2.99 at a vido store for the 1st disc. Bought a 2nd copy for the other disc for $1 at a flea market.

Yeah, my friend came down from Indy last night and we had a long discussion about Lynch -- his onetime favorite director. He said, "Yeah, you know, I was thinking -- Inland Empire is probably the worst film ever, isn't it?" and we had a really great, long conversation about why the film doesn't work at all and just feels like some immature, amateur DV experiment... The biggest problem, of course, is how Mary Sweeney didn't edit it. Since she edited everything from Blue Velvet to Mulholland Drive -- taking Lynch's 4 or 5 hours of footage and always chopping it down to compelling 2 hour films -- she was the biggest contributor to how his films look and feel. And since she wrote Straight Story, she is responsible for his best film, period. Lynch shots 65 hours for this movie, and, uh, good sense must have prevailed -- I am guessing she looked at the 65 hours he had shot and was like, "There's nothing I can do with any of this!" If anyone's ever curious about how important editing it is, look at Mary Sweeney's masterful editing versus Lynch's sloppy jarring cuts. Also, if you watch any of Lynch's old films, there are so many little things going on -- characters in bars sitting around and chatting, you know.. all kinds of little details, since there was, like, a script. Since there was no script -- either things were improvised, or wrote on napkins -- there isn't much to the film besides Dern walking around a movie set, with extreme close ups of her face. Also, the Beck scene is probably the worst scene ever filmed by anyone, ever. I used to respect the film as a big fuck-you -- like, "fuck plots. Fuck characters. Fuck studios. Fuck development. Fuck my fans." You know, like the whole point of the film was to just destroy everything -- almost like how Kitano made the challenging, impenetrable Takeshis' immediately after making his biggest success, Zatoichi (and he also made his insane, ridiculous Getting Any? after the HUGE success Sonatine); he designed these films to fail, like big jokes, very cathartic for him. The thing is, they ended up being great films, but naturally they bombed. Inland Empire, to me, was almost like Lynch having a great big laugh, while playing with his DV camera. "Let's see what I can get people to buy, heh heh heh." The film has haunted me for years -- I've had it since it was released (purchased from Wal-Mart -- with a discount car!). It's always stuck with me -- like, I had to keep rewatching it.. I was trying to figure out why it didn't do anything for me... it just has this cold, weird atmosphere. I've watched it 7 times now -- obviously, it's not that big of a failure, or really the worst film ever (I didn't say I agreed with my friend, though I do agree the film doesn't work), if I have felt compelled to keep watching it. I guess the biggest thing that confuses me is why the Rabbits footage he used in the film is the best-looking, -feeling, and -sounding part of the movie, when it was shot like 2 or 3 years before the rest of the movie. Strange.









Underworld Beauty - 7/10









eros plus massacre - 9/10



Yes, Scream 2 -- absolute garbage!

Hahaha, I have a film called DON'T GIVE A DAMN playing on tv, and it's kind of a badly dubbed Hong Kong martial arts film, and some dubbed guy just said "YOU MAKE FART STINKY AND WET." Er, I think that's what he said.

For, I dunno, the 15th time? 10/10.

Yumeji rules! I've seen Zigeurnunerweisen also but not Kagero-za yet.

i am on a major horror film kick right now, just watched the first three saw's. onto the hills have eyes and devil.

I really only liked Saw I and IV.

Weird, NR, I actually thought Saw 4 was the best out of all of 'em. But I think they all suck (granted, I never saw 6 -- I'm sure it isn't much different than the rest). I've seen 1-5 and couldn't tell you anything about them, they're confusing and ridiculous, Jigsaw died in, like, the 2nd one but is somehow in all of them .... what a mess! The first one just seemed like the director/writer had watched Se7en a bunch of times ("guy punishes people by killing them in ironic ways" -- oh, and the look of the film seems to ape Se7en's style at times, but makes it a lot more ridiculous and ugly, compared to Se7en's beautiful cinematography -- btw, I think Se7en is one of the greatest mainstream films ever made, an easy 10/10). Also, the Saw films get the award for the worst mainstream acting I've ever seen -- especially in the 2nd one. The acting is SO bad. Fucking funny!

...Anyway, JON, if you want to see some great horror films, here are 4 of my all time favorites!... All of these are worth a 9 or higher. (I'm doing this post out of boredom and to post cool pictures)


MANIAC (1980) - Super violent, genuinely depressingly film goes well above and beyond the call of duty in every respect -- music, atmosphere, kill scenes, everything about this film is well-made, and insane! This is the first horror film I ever truly loved, bought it on VHS at Big Lots when I was 13 or 14, for $5. Me and my girlfriend at the time were going through a lot of bullshit, and it got me through....... I watched it every day after school.. so good.

If you like Maniac, I also reccomend: MANIAC COP 2 (by the same director as Maniac -- extremely gritty and fun stuff; a whole police station gets shot up and bodies are thrown 50 feet... there's a scene where a girl and the maniac cop fight in a car as she's outside of the car, going 70 miles per hour -- so well-done, there's nothing lazy about it at all, and it's gritty as hell). DON'T GO IN THE HOUSE (mean spirited horror that is genuinely hard to watch... creepy as hell!). THE DEMON (not very well liked but it is absolutely brilliant! Dark... there's psychic powers... Cameron Mitchell! Just something about this genuinely creepy film. Still one of my all time favorites, and Robe. played many shows where movie this was projected in the background...).



TENEBRE - There are many great Argento films (and sometimes I feel like Deep Red, Terror at the Opera, and his animal trilogy might be a bit better than this one, but eh..), but this one has some of the best scenes (see the picture above... the "cutting through the bedsheet" scene... the masterfully looooooooong tracking shot of the house, and all around it... the "BEHIND THE BACK!" scene.. just so, so, so many iconic, brilliant shots in this one) and best music (kind of a death disco) and is also Argento's most violent (well, Mother of Tears actually might hold that crown, but that film... well.. yeah.. .don't bother). A brilliant movie in every way, gets better and better with every watch. Looks good, sounds good, that's that.

If you like Tenebre, you have to check out all of DePalma's thrillers. Yeah, they're not horror, but just like Argento is inspired by Hitchcock, so is DePalma. While DePalma's best film is Blow Out (and despite tons of lame people liking it, Scarface is a masterful epic of the highest regard -- wellmade and mainstream but defiantly nasty and artsy at times; a true masterpiece), his most "horror-ish" is stuff like Blow Out (which just fucking rules in every way a movie can rule), Dressed to Kill, Phantom of the Paradise, and Sisters. Tenebre is widely considered a giallo (even though the most traditional "giallos" in Argento's filmography were his first 3 films), and that's my favorite type of horror genre -- the best giallos are the ones made by Sergio Martino, stuff like Torso (AMAZING atmosphere, and though there are only few kills, they are all memorable as hell -- it is is Eli Roth's favorite film of all time, if that means anything to anyone, it doesn't to me!) and All the Colors of the Dark (dreamy and beautiful -- the colors resemble a Godard film, but the content is just fucked-up). Also worth checking out are Fulci's surprisingly well-directed LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN and the disturbing as hell DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING.



DEAD ALIVE/BRAINDEAD. Simply the best zombie film of all time, the best gore film of all time, Peter Jackson's best film, arguably the best horror film of all time. I mean, this is all you need really. THis is the goriest film ever, but it's hilarious. The camera is spinning around, zooming in and out constantly... it's artsy, it's genuinely hilarious, it's so, just... ON. Great comic timing. So many moments that make you just go "YES!"

If you like Dead Alive, obviously check out Peter Jackson's other films Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles (I don't acknowledge any of his work past Heavenly Creatures -- especially not King Kong, what the fuck was that shit?). Also, check out weird-splatter/melt classics like Body Melt, Street Trash, Slime City... also check out weirdo horror like Brain Damage, Frankenhooker, Bad Biologyand Basket Case. All the films I just mentioned are just a damn good time -- icky, gooey, slimey, unique, and fun to watch. If you just want some zombie films, I guess my favorites are Dawn of the Dead (the only film I like by Romero from beginning to end) and, of course, Wild Zero (a biker/sci-fi/transgender/rock n roll/zombie gore horror comedy with space aliens and starring Guitar Wolf, who cuts a UFO in half with a guitar).



Finally, SCHRAMM. This is "art horror" to the finest degree. Often advertised as just a slasher film, it's so much more than that, and while being a bit hard to take, it's so fast paced (and only an hour long) and loaded with so many brilliant images, you'll likely be in love.

If you like Schramm, obviously check out this director's classic Der Todesking (which made me sick to my stomach to watch) and Nekromantik 2 (the first one is alright, too, I guess). If you want some another "fun" art horror film, check out Begotten. That's one you'll never forget!

Have fun!!!

yeah the Saw's do suck. But 1 was fun for the time it came out. One of me & my wife's first dates. It seemed different -- pre-torture-porn.

IV was the only interesting plot. My fav.

i was really only into the saw movies for the schlock effect, wanted to relive my friday the 13th teenage years.

one of my favourites is:

Anyone into Svankmajer? I've been looking into his work lately, and could use a few recommendations.

this may be next.

I like Alice and Faust best but I have a feeling that's the generic opinion about him.

Has anyone seen this?

Saw 'Enter the Void'. A very interesting journey but I'm really not sure it was worth the trip. I'd go see it for the visual impact--only on a BIG screen. Just don't have your expectations too high as it being a great movie.

1. Maniac Rules
2. I can't watch Audition
3. Human Centipede was entertaining

alice and little otik are great. i havent seen any of his other features, but his shorts are fantastic. i havent seen all of them, but i think you cant go wring if you just watch all of his short films...

Eh. He's alright. His shorts, Alice, and Conspirators of Pleasure are worth getting. Stuff like Delirium, Faust, Little Otik -- they have cool scenes in them, but they all kinda feel samey, and get old by the end. That's why his shorts work best -- they get in, do their thing, and get out. And some are creepy, genuinely!

I wanna see Little Otik. And Alice.

Little Otik is just too long to be effective. Alice is a perfect film, basically.

Thanks everyone!

Free hats for all.


`


Errr... don't mind me, I haven't even woken up yet.

You can get all his shorts on btjunkie, check em out. There's one at the end of Alice (usually) that is probably the best he did, so Alice + that short after the credits = awesome.

I LOVE Conspirators of Pleasure. All of his films have such a weird atmosphere.. no music, usually. Very weird. Ultimately, some of his films are just too murky and ... they kind of DRUDGE awkwardly, if that makes sense. Joe, you should really just get some Andrzej Zulawski if you want to see some insane movies with high production costs. Get "Possession" if you haven't seen it.. top 5 movies ever.

Yes. Possession is simply one of the best movies ever, and Zulawski is one of the most underrated directors I can think of. The Third Part of the Night and Diabel are two incredible movies with a really unique atmosphere. I mean, just check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQmJHglMbU

And The Silver Globe, even though Zulawski never finished it the way he wanted to and it's not very structured at all, is amazing as well. I found it extremely fascinating. Those are some insane movies for sure. Even his more, uhm, ordinary movies like La femme publique and Szamanka are pretty fucking strange... but also very good.

Still, nothing beats Possession. Zulawski's a genius.