It's The Big Sleep that has the "but who killed the chauffeur?" problem. Apparently even Raymond Chandler couldn't answer that one.

Yeah I was lying in bed last night and just before I fell asleep it hit me "It was The Big Sleep, you bloody idiot!"
Fail.

Off the top of my head, I don't think I've ever seen a 'bad' Bogart movie, but I suppose the classic ones are still Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep and In a Lonely Place. Of all of them, I imagine you'd like In a Lonely Place the best. It's probably his darkest, most minimal film and the one where he's given the most freedom in terms of acting. It's directed by Nicholas Ray, too, which inevitably puts it at an advantage. As a general rule of thumb, though, if Bogart's name is on the poster it'll probably be at least decent.

Anyway, while not really a movie, started watching



Boardwalk Empire (Series One)

I've only managed the first couple of episodes but considering it's directed by Scorsese, it's massively disappointing. It's wrong to compare TV series to movies but considering how good a lot of HBO's other stuff has been, this is way below par. I'm starting to think Scorsese has now completely lost the plot.

I tried Boardwalk Empire too. Got 3 eps in and got BORED sick. Maybe it gets better? I could care less....

Yeah, I've dropped it off my rental list. I should give it a better chance; I nearly wrote Treme off after the first few episodes and now I really love it. BE just seems like a stinker through and through, though. As you say, I could care less.

On the subject of Treme, I just finished the first series. I still think its flawed (too much music, too sentimental a view of New Orleans, too earnest in general) but it finally clicked with me. I even like the Davis character now, and started to feel something for John Goodman's character (who I couldn't stand in the first few episodes) as his fate became more and more evident. Plus I've developed a ginormous crush on Kandhi Alexander.

A few ideas about indie cinema for you:

1) Anything by Nick Gomez but especially "Laws of Gravity" and "illtown" (if you can find them) 1992 and 1996
2) Tony Drazan's films "Imaginary Crimes" or "Zebrahead" 1994 and 1992
3) Lodge Kerrigan's "Clean, Shaven" 1993
4) Greg Mottola's "The Daytrippers" 1996
5) Atom Egoyan's "Exotica" 1994
6) Michel Negropontes' "Jupiter's Wife" 1994 (a haunting documentary)
7) Michael Almereyda's "Nadja" (1994)
8) Julie Dash's "Daughters of the Dust" 1991
9) Leslie Harris' "Just Another Girl on the I.R.T." 1992
10) anything by Abel Ferrera but especially "The Funeral" and "Dangerous Game" 1996 and 1994




god this was an exciting time for cinema that I remember like yesterday.... being given a VHS copy of "Reservoir Dogs" or "Laws of Gravity" and watching cinema being changed. stumbling across movies by Hal Hartley or Ferrera daily and then homefilmfestival.com (anyone a member of that???) launching in 1996 and being able to rent Hou Hsiao Hsien and Jean Luc Godard VHS tapes through the mail!

Savages, terrible. Then Oldboy, again. It was again fantastic.

BOGART: you gotta check out treasure of the sierra madre!

BOARDWALK EMPIRE: why you not like? its pretty fucking great! ive watched 2 seasons and i really liked it-- not as much as teh wire but i liked it lots. plus great BJM opening credits

Treasure of Sierra Madre is AWESOME

Yeah, I've been trying to re-capture that feeling. Good list.

Gran Torino

Without wanting to sound like a pretentious twat this could possibly be one of my fav films along with There Will Be Blood.

^nice, how did you like it stu?

i saw Enter the Void the other day. mixed feelings overall but visually, fantastic.

It may have been me. It tends to get down played compared with his other stuff cos it's not really a typical AF film. It's not amazing or anything but definitely decent.

THIS IS 40 - If you liked FUNNY PEOPLE. I kinda like Apatow's new meandering style.

BACHLORETTE - Puts Bridesmaids to shame. Funnier, coarser, wiser.

DJANGO - Bummed me out and left a real bad taste in my mouth.

HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON - Jesus fuck, what a boring movie, which Bill Murray does not a thing to help.

LINCOLN- Jesus fuck, what a boring movie, which Day Lewis does something to help. Also Kushner's occasionally brilliant script, though there are some flat-out bad moments in there too.

ZERO DARK THIRTY - An oddly cold, emotionally vacant movie. That's the point, I suppose. Left me with a cold, emotionally vacant response.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK- HATED this movie. Quirky, attractive people initially don't get along, but they are too hot to NOT fuck each other.

LES MIS - Probably a really good movie, just not for me. I started skipping around once my eyes got used to the mindblowing effects. What'sherface is really good.

TEXAS CHAINSAW - Big surprise: it's not too bad. Well made, good enough plot, and there's a moment near the end when Leatherface is getting beat up and we feel kinda bad for him. Neat trick.

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS- I liked it a lot, particularly the ending which turns the movie's meta ways towards something deeper.

BERNIE- Almost unbearably slow for the first hour, but it's a movie that I've had difficulty shaking off since watching it. Jack Black's performance is lovable, as always. Dude'll win an Oscar someday.

SAVAGES- I guess it's dumb to complain about a movie with such a title, but this very unnecessary violence and lack of moral center (and really lousy ending) put me in a queasy, bad mood.

ARGO - This film in and of itself is fantastic. It's a classic with the same riveting pace and social/historical import as ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. But beyond the film itself I've learned that Affleck changed some of the facts. In other words, he didn't trust the drama of the story he chose to tell, so he amped up reality. I know he's hardly the first, but this time it seems so pointless. The real story is great. A film just as exciting could be made based solely on the dry facts, but Afleck couldn't do it or didn't trust himself to do it.

So the best movie of the year is actually not. Very frustrating.