i loved this movie. performances were amazing. i'm finding myself rewatching certain scenes over and over again

GotG is a very fun film. The jokes hit harder than the plot was engaging, but I could definitely see why some are hitting up the theaters multiple times to re-live the experience of this one. I'm a bit blockbuster-fatigued at this point, as they seem to be the only flicks which grab my attention in theaters anymore, but I'm also a huge James Gunn fan so my bias is neutralized. My favorite part however may be the after-credits tease, which has me drooling.

Hopefully will see new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this weekend.

^ What did you think of Giallo?

ha ha ha ha. i love that you called sean penn a ham. only nic cage surpasses him in the overacting department.

and thanks for the warning about gangster squad!

I've only seen this one time. Stumbled upon it while flipping channels late one night.

Remember thinking this was one amazing movie......wouldld love to see it again!

I've watched Taxi Driver first thing in the morning and this time I liked it. I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep and I feel like watching it again.

ah not that great really, not a patch on his early 'giallos' some great cinematography shots but it wasn't really my kind of thing. what did you think? nice to see you back on here! have you been movie making recently? :)

Oddly enough, the only thing I remember about Giallo is it leaving absolutely no impression on me. I did watch it mid-Argento Netflix DVD binge, but it's the only film I couldn't tell you a single thing about (Adrien Brody's starring role aside). Seriously. Giallo may be his blandest work, there really is no character to it whatsoever, which is highly unusual for even modern Argento. I'd recommend Jenifer, Sleepless, The Card Player, and even Dracula 3D way before Giallo. It is unfortunate, given the film's cognizant title.

And thanks! It feels good to post on here again. I've recently fallen back in love with SY. Sorta fell off after the hiatus announcement. I haven't been doing any filmmaking lately. Too busy with college stuff. Interested in business marketing atm. My buddy wants me to make him a music video, and one of my actor friends has asked me to write/direct something for him. But I'd rather just get a degree, lol. I'm a realist now... :p

Yeah, it's not a disastrous movie or anything, just really really bland. Nothing stands out at all. But to be honest I could say that about a lot of even his more popular films. I like Bird, and Deep Red and Suspiria and Tenebrae but I'm really struggling to remember a single moment from Demons or Opera (besides the bit with the needles - which I only know is from Opera cos the poster's probably more memorable than the actual movie.) Even during his supposed peak I think he was very hit and miss, and probably more miss than hit. I certainly think that of all the big horror directors from the 70s-early 80s, his reputation has been the most over-inflated. Although I can't deny the greatness of Suspiria - even though I sometimes try.


Yeah, missed you here. Glad things are going well

I don't think it's a film that hits you immediately. It certainly took a few watches before it really sank in for me. It is very slow paced and much of its iconic status really only refers to the final quarter of the movie. I love it more and more but it almost had to stop being 'Taxi Driver' before I could really appreciate it. Take away the post-Mohican stuff and it's arguably one of his gentlest films.

I'm going to have to agree to disagree with you on that one. If anything, I believe Argento deserves even more credit. He's easily in my top 5 of all-time (if not my top 3). And I'm not just talking about the horror genre.

I even loved his much hated take on Phantom of the Opera - remember that part in the sky? Shit was like the beginning Lynch's Dune - with rats! Or what about Stendhal Syndrome? Also Cat O' Nine Tails and Inferno. Just classic, after classic. His style is so wild and all over the place. Do you not remember that 'crow shot' from Opera? Dude slaughters the tracking shot. Then you have his obvious love of heavy metal which bleeds into all his work. To me, Argento is like a more gruesome (and Italian) Brian De Palma. Both directors took where Hitchcock left off and just ran with it. The dude is bat shit, visually brilliant, and I love him all the more for it.

That's why a film like Giallo is so disappointing to me. To me, Argento is a man of spectacles, and that film is completely lacking in that regard. The guy has fallen off pretty hard as of late, I have no qualms admitting that. But it does come with age, ostensibly. I think he has at last one more masterpiece in him - somewhere.

Also in speaking of Demons (which Argento only produced) - what an awesome movie! Once it kicks in, it's like non-stop action. Maybe it's been a while since you've seen it, but I find it hard to believe you consider it to be so forgettable. I bought the limited edition Synapse steelbook blu-ray when it came out, of that and the sequel (which I still haven't watched - shame on me). The dub is especially entertaining to me, and the transfer is impeccable! Clearly, I'm not the only one who loves that film lol.



Tomato/Tomatoe though, eh?

Do you like The King of Comedy? I've been getting super into Jerry Lewis, and I decided to finally watch that one a while back. It's De Niro who really knocks it out of the park though, very similar performance to Taxi Driver, but I honestly feel it's stronger.

giallo is so much better than jenifer, or the other masters of horror one

Interestingly I clicked with this movie in one watch, and actually have only seen it twice yet vividly recall its details and underlying symbolic critique of society as a whole. Its a brilliant film whose genius gets lost if we get caught up in anachronism viewing it through a contemporary lens. We need to transport ourselves back to the time when it was one of the first truly gritty and honest reflections on the darkerside of urban life. It was almost like a film noir revision of some kind of turn of the 20th century muckraker pamphlet

Whelp... my favorite actor, Robin Williams, just killed himself. It's time to watch The Birdcage in his honor.



I'll miss your talents, Robin. You were a gift to Hollywood; extremely versatile and talented beyond your years. I don't give a rat's ass what motherfuckers say about RV or Patch Adams.

R.I.P. my brotha.

Tomato/Tomatoe indeed. I almost wish he'd never made Bird or Suspiria so I could write him off more easily but he obviously has something about him that people like yourself have picked up on that I just don't see.

I agree with the DePalma comparison but he's another one, despite liking some of his films a lot, that I struggle to get into more generally.

Robin Williams is your favourite actor?!?!

Are just saying that because when some people die suddenly everyone realises they actually hold the opposite opinion of that person to when that person was alive?

Lol, it has nothing to do with his death.

He's been my answer to the, "Who's your favorite actor?" question for a while now. It's his flexibility as a performer which I admire(d?) most.

Agreed. For those who think he has no range as an actor, watch Patch Adams, the guy goes from total shtick comedy to totally convincing drama in between single scenes!! Same with The Fisher King..

Also for the most serious side there was The Awakening (which I still really can't watch is so damned depressing)..

One of my favorites was What Dreams May Come, I think that movie was ridiculously underrated and under appreciated yo

finished watching lars von trier's nymphomaniac (or "nymph()maniac" to make it more pretentious). what seems like the 4-hour version (vol 1. last week and vol 2 last night)



when i saw vol 1 it felt like a good and important movie, i loved the story and the digressions. vol 2 however felt a lot less fresh and propelled more by logical inertia than inspiration. i probably fucked up by watching them separately instead of together. the element of surprise was gone. unfortunately i cannot go back in time.

it's not really a horny movie at all. it's a fucking sad and depressing and weird movie-- at least the 4 hour version which doesn't have all the porno fucking.

it's still a good movie though-- charlotte gainsbourg as this twisted but very lucid creature and stellan skaarsgard as his nerd story sidekick make a solid pair. the girl who plays young joe does a good job acting. shia labeouf is adequate. uma will surprise you. the other guy from the 90s who plays the dad does great too.

the camera is, as usual with him, great & gorgeous-- and it even quotes other lars von trier movies from medea to kingdom hospital to antichrist and i'm sure i've missed others. if you watch it, do it all in one session or pretty close (e.g. 2 days) or some of the magic will be gone from it.

also try to watch the 5 hour version if you can-- not for the porno which i'm sure will only add to the sadness, but because in the 4 hour one it feels like the movie has some plot holes and disconnects. regrets...

what's the point?


That is what I think every single time I have to watch a Von Trier bullshit film.

the same point as the spinning of any yarn--to keep the audience entertained. plus in a movie like this you get the bonus

it's an intelligent movie! it has good characters! and the time passed quickly while watching. i liked it. honest. i was just recommend it people don't wait too long for the 2nd part.

speaking of spinning yarns, this movie now i realize parallels in many ways 1001 nights-- which actually gets a mention in the dialogue. holy shit it does. ha ha ha ha. awesome!!

thinking again, to confirm my first impression, i'll say it's a good and (somewhat) important movie. i think, anyway. for me, not for the politics, but for the style.

i'm looking forward to watching the director's cut.

i'm also looking forward to the day when (if) "until the end of the world", the wim wenders movie, finally get released in complete form. it's been like 2 decades! and it's still hard to figure out what happened with the dream machine.


he can be a bit of a sadist towards both characters and audience, i'll give you that. i can handle it okay though at times i have to look away.

I just think that entire premise was stupid and gratuitous and any attempts to claim it was a film with substance is wasted by the porno. It would have possibly been a brilliant flick sans the porno, but trying to make some kind of thought provoking film where graphic sex scenes are a major part of the plot and story seems trite at the least, and misogynistic at the worst.

Sure, the porno adds to the sadness but only because of how sad and utterly destructive porn is in real life. By the way, I'm not a prude, but having never even remotely seen this film it still really really bothers me..

porno only makes me sad when i get soft.....
;)

I think the complete "Until the End of the World" is out there. I got hold of a 5 hour version of the film several years ago. Honestly, I don't know if it adds anything to the film, though. I remember being much more impacted by the 2.5 hour version when I saw it ten years ago than the 5 hour version. There's ALOT of fluff towards the end between Von Sydow and Hurt that never really deepens the relationship. Still, as a Wenders completist, I was happy to finally find it.

have you watched it though?

I don't like Skinemax kind of movies no matter how critically acclaimed..

I also didn't watch 12 Years A Slave because I can't watch depressing as movies, so if Nympho is both Skinemax AND depressing? Fuck that shit I wouldn't bother.

lol i could tell from your comment that you hadn't seen it. you missed the mark big time.

this is why i refrain from commenting on the horror film posts-- i don't like watching them much hence i don't know them.

I very well may have, but I based my opinions on several well articulated reviews/analyses about it from reliable sources. To be sure, a lot of people thought it was good, but I understand that graphic sex scenes played a significant part of the movie and in all irony that is a turn off for me and movies..


True dat, and I totally respect that. Indeed, that is why I said my critique was on the premise of the film itself and not any particulars about it because I hadn't and wouldn't see it.

To be sure, I understand it is a film with a lot of substance.

yeah it's "heavy" and it delves into all sorts of stuff-- theology, fishing, mathematics, you name it. it's really pretty great but also pretty grim. not a feel-good movie. but an intelligent one. in spite of the surface brutality etc i think in the end it's pretty compassionate towards its main character. but i could't say. this is why i love european movies over americans-- it's never the goodies vs. the baddies and there is ample ambiguity and room for interpretation.

What did you make of the character Liz?

liz… i can't remember that name… was that the receptionist at the print shop, i think?

eta: you mean the character or the actress?

i my version (4h) the character didn't have a big role (gatekeeper, then we're told about her, but her main role is briefly as jealous rival, kind of?)

Shia LeBouef's character's secretary, the one who interviews the young Charlotte Gainsbourg's character for her first job.

I'm intrigued by Necromaniac. Never watched much Von Trier stuff or really got too into his schtick. I also prefer my movies to be a neat 90 minutes - 2 hrs at most. Still, I'm intrigued by Necromaniac. Must be the porn.

yeah, "Good job, Liz!". i called her the print shop receptionist--hard to tell who was doing what in that office.

i didn't understand your question because it didn't seem to me a remarkable character in any way. perhaps i didn't notice something. the actress who played her did a great job reacting/relating to joe (great body language) but i don't have any thoughts about the character herself. what version have you seen?

i'm really curious about the longer version. for example, the posters show udo kier getting off with his eyes rolling behind his eyelids (great look for him ha ha) but in what i saw he's only a waiter. maybe something happens after that was cut out? or maybe the poster is just a gimmick. i wondering if the same thing happened to liz, or "the piano teacher".


ha ha ha ha. nice trollin'!

5 minutes of GET ON UP, the James Brown biopic.

Took that long to hit at least 3 major biopic cliches. Why do I get the feeling there will be little discussion of the music? Any scene where Brown tells the band the emphasize the one-beat to make it funky? Do we get to see the moment Clyde Stubblefield comes up with the "Funky Drummer" beat and the part where Brown takes credit for what turns out to be the most sampled beat of all time? Doubt it. But wouldn't that be an interesting flick?

Several people told me it was good but I detest biopics on principle, its a total waste of what could have been an otherwise great actual documentary.

THE SEARCHERS



i had always rejected this unseen --- because i assumed it was just genocide apologist propaganda, and to an extent it is that... but not quite. amazingly beautifully shot film, great acting, compositions, dialogue-- goes from gut-wrenching to hilarious… john ford was amazing, really, and john wayne was pretty great here in spite of the often nefarious symbolism attached to his image.

i don't know how to explain this movie yet because to me it's not as clear-cut as people want it to be. it could be an acknowledgement of guilt, or it could be a justification for extermination, depending on how you read it. but it's definitely not a rah rah cowboys movie.

still, if you're willing to stomach such uncertainties for the sake of watching a masterpiece (way more entertaining than anything leni riefenstahl ever made), this is a great movie. epic in every sense.

Woodstock, the extra long version (6 hours?) I am only 3 hours in.

dang, Ritchie Havens still rocks harder than a magic kiss, Joan Baez is still boring as all fuck, ending her set to near silence from a crowd bored to tears, the Who still seem more engaging visually than musically (BORING FUCKING SONGS), Sha Na Na seem a little more like a fun gay camp take on what was oldies at the time than I remember as a kid, Wavy Gravy seems more like a CIA undercover disinformation agent than I remembered, Canned Heat still rock hard, and the hippies still look crusty and like they are having the fucking tgime of their lives.

(The squares who went just to be hip all left once the rain started, because it was just not "comfy" enough. fucking squares)