Blood and Black Lace. 7/10

I almost forgot how good it is

exit through the gift shop - this was the best documentary. Man. In my top 5 ever. If you have any interest in "the art world" and it's bullshit, get this immediately. A BANKSY FILM. Blew my mind.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. 6/10

I prefer Argento's giallos (gialli?) to his more straight up horror films but I do still think he's massively overrated. This is enjoyable enough, though.

does "scenes from a marriage" count as a "movie" or a "tv series"?

whatever the case (it's really a theatre play maybe longer than peer gynt), it was great to watch. in the end, it seems to offer the curious thesis (very 70s) that it's marriage as an institution what kept these people from loving each other as they should

almost 40 years later though it seems as if the problem was not marriage itself but the fact that they let themselves be dictated into roles by "the invisible hand". ha ha ha.

depends on the version, i watched the tv series version but there's one edited into a "movie" for the usa


8/10

^Robo-Jurassic Park!

^^Itchy & Scratchy Land!!

Howl

I saw it in Prague the day before yesterday. A very nice piece of a film.

OPERA rules.

Now Argento's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA? Fuck dat.


I watched NERDS 2.0: HISTORY OF THE INTERNET, a 5 1/2 hour documentary on the internet. It was.. funny, actually.

Opera - 5/5
Phantom Of The Opera - 1/5

La Strada 8/10

PPPPPPPP

































rewatched MAN WHO STOLE THE SUN, already, with a friend. 10/10. One



A,AZOMG

amazing film!

badass film.

^sorry for that post, but I fell asleep while writing it, I just wanted to preserve its general weirdness.

Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to the theatre for the first time in 10 years.

"Falling Down"

10/10. Honestly, Schumacher never really made any other movies that I love as much as this. Michael Douglas freaks out for two hours of film. An absolute blast to watch. I've seen it so many times and I always feel like watching it again.

Yeah it's pretty funny. Feels a LOT like Why Does Herr R. Run Amok by Fassbinder -- like a super absurdist take on it.

Has Michael Douglas ever made a film where he doesn't appear in a business suit?

Accattone. 10/10

Romancing the Stone (I did have to think about it, though)

Isn't that the film that plays horribly upon stereotypes?

I watched the Social Network. I thought it was ok definitely not worth the hype though.

To quote my late friend Kevin... "Ever seen Vampires 2?"

Me: "No. The first one was kinda funny, though."

Kevin: "Wanna know how bad Vampires 2 is? I got two words for ya.. BON JOVI."

Me: "Oh."

"finally, a movie role that requires him to suck"

Toy Story 3. No I did not cry, but I still really enjoyed it.

where's marlowe - 8/10


the last polka - 7/10

and rewatched

bringing out the dead - a low 8/10

I love this film, I can see why so many people don't though.

again


love it so much, I find myself lost in weird thoughts about life and death every time I watch it.
Plus it features what's probably the nicest sex scene ever.

Glad you like it! Some of the best animation ever, eh?

re-watched




Even beyond this film just being really really surreal, endlessly entertaining, and hilarious -- one of the most overlooked, and interesting aspects, of the movie is Tom Green's DIRECTION.

While it's obviously not an art film (or a DePalma film), and not concerned with elliptical editing, splitscreens, long takes, etc. -- the film is actually really competently-made. The camera remains largely static throughout, though there are some nice tracking shots (the opening of the restauraunt scene, which goes from the cello, sweeps through the whole restauraunt, and lands on Gord's table during his date -- also, the first "Japan four" shot, where the camera runs with an energetic aplomb, though stops on a dime when it needs to), great reaction shots (one of the most brilliant parts of the movie; all the reaction shots are golden -- the "he's a child molestor!" scene for example, is built around almost nothing but hilarious reaction shots) -- and Green's use of slow motion is one of the funniest I've EVER seen (in the same scene, after Gord throws the statue through the window, and jumps in slow motion -- suggesting that he's jumping from a great distance, when in fact he's jumping from about a foot! After that, there's a few great jump cuts, showing Gord running down the stairs).

This film is actually a great feast for the eyes; the camera isn't shakey... there is a care, and artfulness, to certain scenes, that really suggest a truly GOOD director here. All those shots with the helicopter? Great.

So, if one were to overlook all the so-called "offensive" content, there'd still be a truly well-made film.

But you know whaT? The content is what led me to give this a 10/10. this film has:

- no gay jokes
- no fat jokes
- no drug jokes
- no bodily function jokes (aside from semen, from the animals)
- no disability jokes (in fact, the lone "Disabled" character is the smartest character in the film, a true inspiration to everyone else, who never lets her disability get in the way -- she inspires Gord to become a better, more successful person)

Without adhering to ANY filmmaking cliches, and STILL managing to make a truly BRILLIANT film in the process? Great writing.

Honestly, the hatred for this film was clearly the critcs' reaction to the hype, the "product of MTV", since critics don't represent the opinions of moviegoers in the least. I've never met a single person who HATED this film, and in fact, this film has one of the more fanatical followings I've seen. It's not even a cult film -- this film made its budget back, and sold nearly 2,000,000 DVD's so far. So, this is, honest-to-god, a true mainstream success.

And one can easily see why: what is going on here is in the vein of John Waters, and even the absurdism of Buneul. At times, of course. Other times, this is pure TOM GREEN; 100% original.

Over the years, Green's reputation -- and the reputation of this film -- has only improved. Green seems embarassed by some of his old stunts, but not this film. He spent 2 years on it, put up a lot of his own money, worked with lots of great people that were almost as talented as him, and spent 8 months editing it. It's a true labor of love. Rip Torn even said Green is one of the best directors he's ever worked with, and Rip Torn has worked with tons of cinematic heroes, from Dennis Hopper to whoever made "Coming Apart" (one of the best independant films ever made).

It's only a matter of time before a Criterion release really does happen. The greatest mainstream film of the past decade. In need of a serious critical reappraisal, too; considering stuff like Superbad is not only mainstream multi million dollar movie making sensations but also worldwide award winning hits, despite being far "grosser", cruder, more vile, and not even as fun or as well made as FREDDY GOT FINGERED (and don't get me wrong, I love Superbad, but one of the biggest complaints about Freddy.. was that it was plotless; what exactly was the plot to Superbad? Kids say a bunch of insane shit, try to get alcohol, and then go to a party? Since when is a comedy about a storyline anyway? It's all about setting up the next hilarious scene). I bet I've seen this film 100 times, and it gets better with every watch.

10/10. Easily.

Funniest thing about Freddy is how damn SMART the thing is. It's a brilliantly intelligent film, masquerading as a dumb comedy. Not unlike Beavis and Butthead plus Ren and Stimpy, in that regard.

Director's Cut release

On March 9, 2010 on Loveline, Tom Green officially announced that a "Director's Cut" will be released.[16] On a December 2010 answer to a fan question on his website tomgreen.com, Green said that there was no progress as of yet in regards to the director's cut.

hahaha....I owned Freddy Got Fingered. I lost it a few years ago...in my friends garage...oh man...the time spent in that garage gettin' high and watchin' movies.....heh.

yakuza demon - 6/10
...Another kinda-compelling, kinda-boring Miike yakuza film. I HIGHLY reccomend DEADLY OUTLAW REKKAH and FUDOH, those are topnotch films. I also reccomend the 4 hour AGITATOR cut, and part 1 of FAMILY. Also, his BLACK SOCIETY TRILOGY is probably his best work, period. Also, BLUES HARP is top fucking notch. That seems like a lot of great yakuza films by this guy, but trust me, in the grand scheme of things, it barely scratches the surface, and he's made some truely truely bad yakuza films to boot. BODYGUARD CHIBA 1-3 are horrible. GOZU turns the yakuza genre on its head, but its way way way overrated (2 1/2 hours long but only has about 20 minutes of compelling scenes). NEGOTIATOR is boring as hell. Also, Miike uses the "guy bursts into a room, shoots a guy in the head, and the blood sprays on the camera" thing in like 4 of his yakuza films. I continue to be confounded by Miike, overall; he will release absolute awful garbage (GOD'S PUZZLE), and then immediately followup with something super entertaining (YATTERMAN) and then something right in the middle (CROWS ZERO). It's been harder and harder to keep up with his new releases, since his fanbase keeps dwindling, so people aren't subbing his films, or releasing them over here. I did manage to see ZEBRAMAN 2, though, and while I enjoy the first one (despite its length -- can anyone explain to me why every Miike film is usually well over 2 hours long? And that's not counting FAMILY and AGITATOR, both 4-5 hours....), this one is garbage. I love the pop songs in it, and the ending scene, but it's just too ridiculous and crappy and tired and takes way too long to get going. Anyway, if you want Miike films, go with Dead or Alive 1 and 2 (avoid 3, it's horrible), Izo (his best film BY FAR), Visitor Q, Happiness of the Katakuris, and some of the yakuza films I just mentioned. I also have a great love for the underrated Bird People in China. Avoid Andromedia, Silver, Sabu, and especially One Missed Call. I've never really been into Ichi, it's always left me cold, though I do enjoy the cop-out/fuck-you ending. Audition has enough compelling stuff to make it worth a watch, but subsequent viewings also left me cold. I'd say Imprint is his absolute worst film, though he did make another short film called "Box" that is INCREDIBLE. But, yeah, here's his best work:

If you have the patience, and some mind altering substance, watch these back to back to back. I'm sure you can find 'em cheap.

Anyway, I watched these last week and forgot to write about them. I know there are some Aoyanama fans on this board so I figured someone would appreciate:

HELPLESS - 5/10

A decent Aoyanama film, topnotch direction and full of energy. Takes place completely over the coruse of one day, and mostly in a diner. The cover is misleading -- Asano is never shirtless, in fact he wears a Nirvana "Nevermind" shirt through the whole thing! This is Asano's worst film, and Aoyanama's worst, also, but it was also his FIRST film, which makes the restrained intensity of the thing all the more compelling. What a "first film" for a director! You know? I mean, the direction is, straight-up, topnotch, even if the story is a bit middling. There just isn't much going on, and nearly the whole film is just some people sitting in a diner, without anything else happening.


CHINPIRA: TWO PUNKS - 7/10

A lot better than HELPLESS, feels very influenced by Kitano. A straight to video yakuza film, the kinda that are a dime a dozen in Japan, but it's entertaining, and the soundtrack has a lot of weird, loud distorted guitar stuff on it.


FOREST WITH NO NAME - 6/10

Compelling as hell at first, but doesn't add up to much. About an hour of the film is Mike Hammer in a facility, trying to figure out why people are mindless zombies. These scenes are weird and don't add up to anything at all. Nothing is ever solved. Though the film does seem to revolve around the secrets of the forest, specifically the main character's obsession with a tree. In that sense, it is very similiar to Kiyoshi Kurosawa's CHARISMA. The scenes OUTSIDE of the facility -- only about 10 minutes of the film -- are TOP FUCKING NOTCH. The direction, the cinematography, the editing, the atmospheric-as-hell music, the weird characters... everything about these scenes are great. Still, this film doesn't feel like much of anything, it seems like there could have been a lot added to make this one feel a lot more interesting.

These were early films from Aoyonama, who later did classics like WILD LIFE, SAD VACATION, DESERT MOON, ELI ELI REMA SABATCHTHANI, and the masterpiece-above-all-masterpieces EUREKA. I HIGHLY reccomend those films, especially EUREKA (yes, Jim O'Rourke's song is in the movie). You will have your mind blown.

I've really really really been getting back into Japanese cinema again, has anyone ever noticed how incestuous the Japanese movie industry is? Like, despite there being a LOT of people in Japan, it seems like it's the same 30 people starring in every film? I don't always know there names, but there's that one dude with the fucked-up teeth who looks like Steve Buscemi, who's in SURVIVE STYLE 5+ and SCRAP HEAVEN and about 500 other films. He's a favorite! Haha. No, but seriously -- it isn't just Japanese films, it's Hong Kong films, Chinese films, etc. And these people work hard. I am talking, 20-30 films a year. Pretty insane/awesome.

Anyway, like I said, the best film I've seen recently (besides the Banksy "documentary" EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP) is the MAN WHO STOLE THE SUN. I didn't really expand upon my thoughts for it on the previous page, but it's a clear-cut 10/10. It's 2 1/2 hours long and I was tired, not really feeling up to watching a long film but within 30 minutes, I was hooked. The film is edited and directed in such an exciting way.. really mindblowing.. and there are weird stop motion scenes, and scenes which basically amount to 1-frame-a-second. Action scenes filmed in very experimental ways. The film itself is kinda like a dark comedy, at times, but the whole thing is VERY nihilistic. It called to mind something Miike said... "all Japanese art since WW2 has been a response to the nukes." I dunno if ALL art has been a response, but you can definitely see how nihilistic and cynical and pessimistic "entertainment" has become since then. Look at this cover, btw:

This film really has nothing to do with this cover. But what a cover, nevertheless! THIS FILM IS NOT A PSYCHADELIC WESTERN. Hah. It's more like.. the darkest comedy ever, with lots of weird experimental stuff, a pointless romance that ends tragically -- almost seeming like a parody -- the whole thing is thrilling as hell, dark as hell, and kinda insane. I bet there's 40 minutes of the movie just showing a guy building an atom bomb, step by step, which apparently is why the film is banned in Japan (it might still be, or the ban might have been lifted; nevertheless, the film remains largely unseen, despite obviously costing a LOT of money to have been created, and having won "film of the year" at more than one film festival).


Definitely a strange film, there's another 30 minutes or so of the film devoted to a bus hijacking scene (I've seen many Japanese films with bus hijackings -- what's the deal?). The way this scene plays out -- the editing, the acting -- is what really makes this film stand out. Shortly after, the lead character -- a nice teacher -- seems to go insane, but remains likeable. He just happens to have an a-bomb. It's never explained why, though it's safe to assume that he's just boring and annoyed with contemporary Japanese culture. He uses his a-bomb to get things from the government, like longer baseball game screenings on television. And he gets the Rolling Stones to play the Budokan! Haha.

An insane, essential film. Should be easy to find on DVD, and torrents, and is required viewing. I don't just hand out 10/10's, and this is probably a bit of a low 10, but I mean, there just flat-out doesn't exist films this damn compelling, entertaining, and insane.



...BUT YEAH. See that Banksy documentary, too, guys. In my top 5 docs ever now. If you're interested in street art, grafitti... hell, art, PERIOD.. check this thing out. Also his book WALL AND PIECE... Banksy is a clever-as-hell talented prankster, and is completely brilliant, and a bit of a smartass. He's a big inspiration.

My friend is a subscriber to Tom's online channel, and apparently he's having a heap of trouble trying to keep things afloat financially. I guess he posted a video which was practically begging for someone to sponsor the show, claiming that if he had just that little bit extra $ to take care of his talent booker for the show, etc., then things would be fine, humorously adding "I've already blown through all of my Road Trip money..." When my friend tried to show me this video, Tom had removed it from the site - so hopefully he found a sponsor. Maybe he was just embarrassed, who knows. I really hope so, because if TOM GREEN LIVE goes under, then Tom pretty much drops off the face of the earth.

Oh yeah, and Keith Apicary made an ICO video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIDiXoW2-Mw

how'd I miss that???

BTW Nathan Barnatt (aka Keith Apicary) told me that he reads my blog and tried to buy my Hyper Boy off me :)

I think I'm going to watch ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI's "Possession" with the old lady tonight. As many of you know, it's in my top 5 films of all time.





"As far as I'm concerned, I don't make a concession to viewers, these victims of life, who think that a film is made only for their enjoyment, and who know nothing about their own existance." Andrzej Zulawski