Just been watching random episodes from all 21 seasons of the Simpsons.

rewatched
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:s..._die_in_la.jpg
to live and die in la - 10/10

gettin' red



had seen this a while back, easy 10/10. just prank phone calls.

What'd you think?

Your sense of humor is unparalleled, Doc. :p

The Samurai Trilogy is really good. Toshiro Mifune for me is the best samurai. These movies are not a collection of action scenes like you'd probobly get in a movie like this nowadays. Its more about an inner journey that the character Musashi takes. As a trilogy of films I think this just as good as some of the other famous film trilogies. Not say its better but saying its one people should watch. Plus its great finding good samurai movies from the 50's that are not just Kurosawa. There seemed to have been a lot of directors making similar films during the 50's and 60's that get overlooked such as "Sword of Doom" and "Hara Kari" which I highly reccomend if you haven't seen them. I do need to see "Samurai Rebellion" though. Probobly see that soon.

It was an 8/10 for me.

EDIT: I hadn't read that post:

sink or swim - 6/10


floating weeds - 8/10

a-p a. niemi has been on a good movie run recently. Kudos to you.

Just borrowed El Topo and The Holy Mountain from a friend. I'll be back in this thread after I watch.

Simply epic.

Pistol Opera -- a 10/10 film from the director of 11/10 classic BRANDED TO KILL -- is online for free to watch at Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/86265/pistol-opera ..

enjoy!

anyway




factory girl - 5/10




affliction - 8/10




IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL... Amazing documentary you all have to see on outsider artist/novelist/etc Henry Darger, who created a 15000 page novel (single spaced, with a small font.. haha.. with hundreds and hundreds of drawings to accompany/illustrate the novel) and wrote long journal entries/made a weather diary on every single day of his life after a certain point. One of the most exciting, fascinating, insane stories ever. Read up on him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Darger




In the middle of this right now


CLAIRE'S KNEE by Eric Rohmer; so far, it's absolutely amazing.

I also FINALLY got a perfect quality dvd rip of VIOLENT COP -- the widely released one is way way way too dark; this one is crystal clear.

BTW, since we've been talking about BROKEN FLOWERS lately, it's weird I came across this today:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/liv...tolen_flowers/

about how Jarmusch was accused of stealing some guy's script. Fascinating stuff... this quote kinda troubles me: "There were differences, to be sure, but there were also more than enough similarities to convince Martin that he'd been wronged." So, what's left after the changes? He said he came up with the plot and the characters... but since the script is a very very simple story, one that's been told many times before, and this movie is more about the look, the feel, the pacing, the music, and so on, rather than some groundbreaking, inventive script... I can sorta see why the judge didn't sympathize with the original writer.. also, since it is such a simple little story, I do find it a bit hard to believe that the writer "slaved over" the script (on the other hand, Jarmusch brags he did the whole script in 2 weeks.. weird).

Still, it's not surprising, I'm sure this kinda thing happens all the time.

can't believe I'll be saying this but in an hour I'll be watching TETSUO 3 in an hour

"Mother", cool fucked up flick.

Not too original plot-wise but the interesting animation makes it worth checking out. I enjoyed it.

Whoa, that film looks badass, and I generally like anything involving Gallo, so I'm getting that right now, thanks for the tip!

Fell asleep during Tetsuo, so I'll get back to you guys on that one.

tetsuo 3 - 5/10

Well, I just got done with it, and I don't really know what to think. It was certainly a well-made film, way more entertaining than those Nightmare Detective films, and I think I even like it better than Haze... but I dunno. It just didn't feel quite right -- I can't put my finger on it, exactly, but it just felt like something was missing. I found parts of it enjoyable and was glad it was only a little over an hour long; it was certainly strange and fucked-up and so on. The acting was hilariously bad yet really enjoyable (in a very very awkward way). I tried to keep an open mind about it and approach it as if I'd never seen another Tetsuo movie before, and tried to form an opinion based on its own merits.. but man, the previous two films, in my opinion, just blow this thing out of the water in almost every way, so I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I will say that I was surprised at how decent the effects looked (I'd read that the makeup was horrible, but it actually looked impressive), and Tsukamoto certainly got some interesting looking stuff with his HD camera.

I guess I felt the whole thing was sorta silly, and there are all sorts of homages to the other Tetsuo films -- and those are the best part of this film. So, really, I didn't feel that it brought anything new to the table, and it kinda felt unnecessary. But, really, I don't mean to be harsh: it was actually a really fun timewaster, and if any other person had made this movie, it would be regarded as a new, exciting, visually explosive technical masterpiece. It's just, again, that Tsukamoto has already made two Tetsuo films -- and some other great films, to boot -- and this didn't really live up to my expectations, as a fan, which isn't Tsukamoto's fault I guess. I just felt that, perhaps, shooting it in America wasn't the best idea -- Tsukamoto's overdubbed lines and all the American actors, again, jsut felt silly and completely ridiculous; as ridiculous as the Tetsuo films were before, I still managed to take them somewhat seriously. A drill dick is honestly kinda disturbing, no matter how you slice it, even if it's silly. I laughed through most of this film.

Part of me knows it's completely disappointing in every way, but most of me is just glad they kept it short and not completely embarassing.

Watched El Topo.

It was pretty awesome, silly at times, visually fun, and pretty fucking powerful at others.

I wish I could have seen it in it's day, as my generation is kind of used to some of the things that would have made it even more shocking...

Holy Mountain tomorrow.

I'd easily give both of those films 11/10. They're 30+ years old a piece and still feel so fresh, unique, energetic, visually explosive.. so much more so than 99% of films coming out nowadays.

DDD, make sure to check out Fando Y Lis too. That one can't be missed!

^^I would agree with that for sure. (referring to asp)

But I think things like access to internet porn and all of the violent films our generation has lessens the impact...

If I would have seen this movie a few years ago it would have shattered my mind. But I did enjoy it. And it was powerful.

Definitley unique.

Will do, thanks for the heads up!

I was already into fucked up films and music and so on when I saw HOLY MOUNTAIN -- and it still blew my mind more than any other film ever made. That film is so good that it SCARES ME.

And yeah, Fando Y Lis is nice, as is Santa Sangre. All of Jodorowsky's other films -- all 2 of them -- are absolute fucking garbage.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 1

film socialisme - 10/10

what the hell is so good about holy mountain?

mystic bullshit and then "the adventure, IS LIFE!"

cop out

its like a 7/10

its no masterpiece

i just watched audition.

my mum asked me to burn her inception on dvd, so what do you reckon? shall i also burn a copy of audition and tell her and her bf its a "nice adult romantic drama type thing, very intelligent, very light, the kind of thing i thought you'd enjoy".

lol.

Nah, just burn her Inception, since it's a much better movie.


TRUST - 7/10

am now watching



demons dance alone dvd

it's, uh..

what's the deal with Film Socialism atsonic?

It's on TPB, NR. You just gotta google up an .srt file for it.

but wt f is it?

Godard's new flick!

Red Angel

I've not watched many of Masuruma's films,this was great,next Giants and Toys.

Surrogates

7/10, I guess

I get what they were trying to say about how even though modern technology allows us to communicate more (email, texting, cell phones, etc.), we're still not really connecting with the people we're trying to communicate with unless we actually take the time to actually physically be with them, but they kind of sabotaged their credibility by letting Breaking Benjamin do the main theme. The acting was kind of stilted at times, but I chalked it up to the characters being robots and trying to further the whole "disconnected" angle. I have to say I saw the whole "twist" regarding the leader of the anti-surrogates a mile away, though. Overall, probably a better film than its box office returns would've suggested, but still not a standout in its particular genre.

serious man again - 7/10

Has its moments but still feels like its missing something.




rolling thunder - 9/10

wow. Exactly my kinda film.. gritty, dark, and without any filler. Some of the shots in this were mindblowing.

Otherwise, I've mainly just been watching



DELOCATED SEASON 2

even better than the first season!


Been thinking about FACTORY GIRL a bit and am going to lower my grade to a 5/10. The way it dramatizes warhol and the factory is so cliche and ridiculous, also... was that REALLY supposed to be bob dylan, played by the darth vader kid? HE WAS HORRIBLE. I don't think they ever said "bob dylan" by name, he was just some guy with a harmonica and an acoustic guitar. First of all, was he really that big of a dickhead in real life during this time period? Second of all,c ould have they have chosen a worse actor to portray him? Just embarassing.

Finally saw 'The White Ribbon', so fucked up. Might be my favorite Haneke film I've ever seen.

I thought the White Ribbon was alright, kinda got tired of it by the end. I'm not the biggest Haneke fan, since his films all seem a bit too long; I think he's smart, conceptually his films are great, but I'm not too into watching most of them -- I honestly do really like Code Unknown, the Seventh Continent, and really really love especially 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance., but that's about it. Hated both versions of Funny Games. And I am probably the only person in the world who really doesn't like Cache at all; have sat through it 3 times and just never saw the big deal. *SPOILERS* "oh wow, a mystery that is never solved." Big deal. */SPOILERS* I guess it has to have some merit for me to sit through it 3 times, but I think it was mostly me going, "So, uh, what's the big deal with this movie?" His films often feel gimmicky to me, fun to talk about but not much more. He is a competent director, as far as shot composition, and stuff.. but something always seems to be missing, and he often treads on too-familiar ground in his movies. I think the 3 films I mentioned are his most successful -- the PIano Teacher is, too, but it's not anything I ever want to sit through again. Of all the current big-name directors (as far as the international circuit goes), he's probably the one who compels me the most at least.

.......

I've really been getting into the films of Philippe Garrel now, I'd say he's my favorite director next to Godard, Kitano, and Jost. You can view his classic Les Hauts Solitudes here: http://www.ubu.com/film/garrel_solitudes.html and Le Reletateur (which is a 10/10 if I've ever seen one; it's a silent film but NEVER boring, and it's got the most beautiful cinematography for a black and white film EVER) here: http://www.ubu.com/film/garrel_revelateur.html

He's got a lot of films, most can be found on public torrent sites -- none really have many seeders. I'm getting his rarer films from KG, though my ratio is a bit fucked up. I highly reccomend:




I Can No Longer Hear The Guitar (J'entends plus la guitare)


and




Emergency Kisses

which are both masterpieces. Absolutely some of the best films I've EVER seen. Nico is in a few of his films, if that matters to anyone.

I watched this one last week:



REGULAR LOVERS

which I'd give a 9/10 to, maybe even a 10/10.

So, I'm slowly delving into his work; much of it reminds me of early Godard. Beautiful, energetic.. every shot is composed with care.. truly a genius. If you're interested in someone who is absolutely making some of the purest. most invigorating cinema in the world rgiht now, check him out. He seriously made me go, "FINALLY!" and breathe a breath of fresh air. Besides the always-reliable Takeshi Kitano and Aki Kaurismaki (let's face it, FILM SOCIALISME is a masterpiece but Godard's 88 -- he ain't going to be making too many more films), I can't think of any other directors who really excite me nowadays.. Lumet's dead, Solondz's last film (Life During Wartime) kinda sucked, Gallo takes many many many years between films (though I think BRown Bunny and Buffalo 66 are important, brilliant works). As much as I loved Enter the Void, Noe doesn't thrill me, and I kinda hate Von Trier (aside from Elements of Crime). Even Giuseppe Andrews and Damon Packard retired. I guess I do really like Lukas Moodysson, though (director of Containers, Hole In My Heart) and, of course, Hsiao-Hsien Hou and Katsuhito Ishii, Shinji Ayonami, Ming-Liang Tsai, Abbas Kiarostami, and Atom Egoyan... but that's about it. Where are our Sogo Ishiis, Seijin Suzukis, Sidney Lumets, Antonionis, Bergmans?

EDIT: I guess I should also add Kiyoshi Kurosawa to my list of directors I really like, since Cure, Bright Future, Charisma, and Tokyo Sonata were all really interesting, even though many of his films feel the same; moody, atmospheric, dark, overlong, usually convulated to an insane degree, all ending in a non-reveal. I thought Pen-Ek Retanaruang was onto something with "Invisible Waves" and "Last Life in the Universe" but "Nymph" was one of the worst films i've ever seen... I think Ki-Duk Kim is one of the most consistent directors in the world; I've seen 11 films by him and each one has been dark as hell and brilliant, yet they all feel really really different. For some reason, though, I don't find myself wanting to rewatch any of his films. Also, obviously, JOHNNIE TO is incredible, and anything Milkyway releases is worth paying attention to, since he is constantly reinventing the crime genre, though his last few efforts have felt samey and tired. Most of the best directors come from Asia, it seems, which is how it's always been... (though I used to think Tsukamoto was a leading light in cinema, but Nightmare Detective 1-2 were horrible, Haze was boring bullshit, and Tetsuo 3 is the most disappointing film of the year.) mainstream American cinema is a joke, though there are some underground directors doing some amazing things -- Ronald Bronstein's "FROWNLAND" is one of the best films I've ever seen, and his girlfriend's film "YEAST" is excellent; both feel like really really dark versions of the mumblecore genre (which frustrates me, occasionally, but more often than not, I find myself compelled by many of the films related to it).

I'd say, of all the mumblecore dudes, Andrew Bujalski is the best, FUNNY HA HA/MUTUAL APPRECIATION/BEESWAX are all great films, in completely different ways than most of the other mumblecore dudes, and indie films in general. Gotta love his endings, which always end on some weird note (in the middle of a sentence or whatever).

I guess the saviour of underground American cinema would pretty easily be James Fotopolous, if one were to just judge him by Zero, Back Against the Wall, Christabel, and Migrating Forms -- unfortunately, that's the only way to judge him, since those are the only films of his that have been released on DVD! Dude has made over 100 films in 11 years (!). I've seen clips of some of his other work, and some of his shorts, and they all look incredible. I think, once more of his stuff comes out, people will really start to stand up and take notice. But, yeah, if you were to ask me the absolute best independant American film of the past decade, BACK AGAINST THE WALL would probably be # 1 (REFLECTIONS OF EVIL would probably be tied with it though). I emailed him recently and he said he has plans to re-release all his films -- thank god! -- as well as FINALLY release some of his other 100 (!) movies. So, look for that... sooner than later, I hope.

All in all, we're living in a really exciting time for underground cinema, especially if you are on torrent sites. DVD's? No. Nope. Nah. DVD companies simply are NOT releasing movies from overseas or indie films as much as they were 10 years ago. My local theatre didn't even have the Bad Lieutenant reboot, for Christ's sakes!