[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

I think I'm going to watch ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI's "Possession" with the old lady tonight.

You romantic, you

[atsonicpark]

Haha. The first day we started hanging out, I showed her Toshio Matsumoto's "PHANTOM" and then we watched "HOLY MOUNTAIN". Now that I think about it, we've watched almost nothing but weird, experimental, and depressing films. I showed her "BRINGING OUT THE DEAD" -- which she surprisingly loved -- a few days ago, in celebration of the fact that she is now officially an EMT!!

[EVOLghost]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Barnatt

look at 4th line. He's on Racketboy.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by EVOLghost

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Barnatt

look at 4th line. He's on Racketboy.

yeah I know. I've talked to him quite a few times on there. That's how I heard of Talking Classics, he used to plug the videos on there when he first started.

[atsonicpark]

Originally Posted by atsonicpark

 

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.

and here ya go:
http://btjunkie.org/torrent/Taiyo-o-...65385e5221036e

ESSENTIAL VIEWING.


Hey, me., since I know you've seen this film -- are you familiar with any more of this guy's stuff? Or have any reccomendations of similiar Japanese films from this time?

It's one of the few films to make me feel uncomfortable... all the stuff about nukes and whatnot was still very real at the time (hell, it's STILL very real). Also, the scene where he throws the shards into the pool and kills hundreds of laughing swimming Japanese people, mainly schoolchildren! It's a weird movie, because at times, he is clearly supposed to be a "hero", but then he does that! I like it, though, because the film isn't clear about it, and even the radio DJ girl falls in love with the sexy anti hero guy...

[!@#$%!]

the.. hm... er.. what was it. i can't remember. didn't sleep last night. oh the last one i liked was hm rrr.. "a wonderful world" by luis estrada. mexican dude. hilarious movie at times, it's like the divine comedy of mexican politics, it goes through everything (well not everything). he's got a new one called "el infierno" (hell) that's supposedly good.

[me.]

Hasegawa only directed two films,The Man Who Stole the Sun and The Youth Killer which is well worth watching too,and was released through ATG, any films related to ATG are pretty well recommended,Akio Jissoji's Mujo:This Transient Life being one of my favourites,which is part of a trilogy of films incl:Mandala and Uta.There's not really any films like TMWSTS it's unique,but I'll give it a think...

[demonrail666]

 

The Stendhal Syndrome 4/10

I've always wanted to like this more than I do. It's a neat idea for a story but the CGI is awful and I might be among the few people who find Asia Argento completely irritating as a lead actress.

[atsonicpark]

haha wow demonrail, I LOVE your posts. As much as I love Argento's Deep Red, Tenebre, Opera, and the Animal Trilogy (and think Stendhal is pretty nutty and kinda fun for such a meanspirited film), I LOVE when people tear sacred cows like Argento a new asshole. He hasn't made a truly great film in 23 years now, and he keeps remaking his films without covering any new ground, and he's ALSO directed some of the worst scenes of all time, as well as probably the worst horror movie ever made (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA). So, at this point, fuck him.

Originally Posted by me.

Hasegawa only directed two films,The Man Who Stole the Sun and The Youth Killer which is well worth watching too,and was released through ATG, any films related to ATG are pretty well recommended,Akio Jissoji's Mujo:This Transient Life being one of my favourites,which is part of a trilogy of films incl:Mandala and Uta.There's not really any films like TMWSTS it's unique,but I'll give it a think...

Thanks, me., I was really really interested in YOUTH KILLER but had no idea if it was good or not, I will get todat! I will check out Transient Life also, and look up ATG, and see if anything pops out at me. Japanese film is my favorite, thank you for reccomending Yoshida around X-Mas. In between him, Shunji Iwai, and Aoyanama.. well, my mind has been blown.

BTW, I saw Kitano's The Ourage, subbed, dunno if you saw, but I liked it, it's better than BRother at least. It wasn't as good as Achilles or Dolls, but it was a fun film -- a good yakuza film. I mean, some days, I just want to watch a fun little yakuza film y'know? And, let's face it, no one makes films like Kitano, especially his somewhat strange yakuza films.

BTW, I've probably asked, but are you into Tsai Ming- Liang? Wayward Cloud is strange and brilliant. The stuff he does with a watermelon int that one.. wow.

 

And, really, GOODBYE DRAGON INN was a remarkable film. It was a bit hard to get into, and I would agree with some of the reviews who called it kinda "pointless" (not that movies need a "point".. anyway...

 

...but by the end, I was in love with it. Very Antonioni-like most of the time, except I never felt like Antonioni had much of a sense of humor.

This movie also has the most hilarious and rude review I've read on imdb. The opening line of haisan from South Korea's brilliant review:

"At the risk of coming on too strong, I think the other posters here who disliked this film were idiots. True, Good-bye Dragon Inn is EXTREMELY slow. Almost nothing happens in the film. Nonetheless, it is truly excellent. A great, subtle ghost story... "



Hahaha. i love that. The unedited one might say "At the risk of coming on strong, the people who didn't like this film WERE FUCKING IDIOTS. FUCK THEM. MOTHER FUCKERS. Hope that wasn't too strong." Hahahaha. Man. Wow. I am actually surprised imdb let that one be posted. I actually reviewed a movie on amazon -- the brilliant b-movie "Monster High" -- where I questioned another reviewer and if he had actually watched the movie, since he had described a scene really reallylrrrrff flat-out WRONG and amazon just kinda put these: "[....]" in place of an entire paragraph where I corrected the reviewer.

ANYWAY...

Goodbye Dragon Inn is one of the best movies I've seen. I am really into his style, which is similiar to Ozu, Antonioni, and the genius Hsia Hsien Hou (Cafe Lumiere and Millenium Mambo are two of my favorite films of all time).

OH -- me., you like Fruit Chan, I know. I have been getting into him big time lately. Made in Hong Kong.. Hollywood, Hong Kong... Longest Summer.. Public Toilet. This guy does no wrong (though really, DUMPLINGS was kinda boring; as a short on 3 Extremes, it was barely watchable.. exteneded to a full length, uh, length.. it sucked!).

[atsonicpark]

Anyway, I watched TOKYO SORA..

 

Kept drifting off. Seemed like a 9/10. Will give it a more attentive watch later.

A friend on cinemageddon asked me to make a list of documentaries for him to check out. Since I've invited half the people who posted on this thread over there, here's some favs you can get on there, or on btjunkie...

- streetwise (10-14 year old kids living on the street, doing drugs and having sex. fascinating and genuinely depressing)

- american movie (dorks make a movie. well, they try to. a true testament to clueless people with dreams. Funny and entertaining as hell)

- my kid could paint that (exposes the art world as a sick, twisted place, where everyone just cares about "ideas" and "concepts", and "hooks". There is no difference between good and bad art, it's all about a good STORY. Starts like a regular old documentary on a little girl making abstract art so convincing that jackson pollack would probably be jealous, the documentary COMPLETELY CHANGES and becomes almost an anti-documentary in a way, where the documentary making kinda questions himself, perhaps questions his own stupidity.

- exit through the gift shop (another anti-art doc, in a way, about the commericalization of street art and grafitti. Seems to become a big prank/mockumentary by the end, and the way they go about this is just genius)

- nerds 2.0: brief history of the internet (about 5 hours long. Weird as hell, really, but I found it fascinating. not for everyone.)

- darkside of porn (altogether, this is about 10 hours long, and it focuses on everything from aids to beastiality. Truly some sick and twisted and hilarious people and stories. honestly, despite being "anti porn" seemingly, it comes off as non objective. It just presents this sick and twisted and crude and vile shit to you, and you make your own judgement. about as neutral as something called DARK SIDE OF PORN can be. But anyway, it's endlessly fascinating. This was shown on television, as was HOOKED, which is a GREAT documentary on drugs. It's about 4 hours long and focuses on every drug ever made. I didn't even know what GHB was until I saw this doc.)

- thin blue line (erol morris is my favorite documentary filmmaker, period, and if you combine all his movies -- vernon, florida.. fast cheap and out of control ... his television show FIRST PERSON.... he probably ranks as one of my favorite filmmakers, period. anyway, i'm highlight this one in particular as one of the only documentaries that really, truly CHANGED something -- getting a man off of death row. would be my fav doc ever, except it's incomplete -- you gotta wikipedia it to find out that after getting off of death row, the guy didn't thank the director, he SUED him, for making money off of his "life story", he said!!!!! can you imagine? "you got me off of death row, but you made money! i'm going to sue you!" Anyway, required viewing)

- god's angry man (herzog made a lot of good documentaries and pseudo documentaries, like fata morgana which is really beautiful. This one just happens to have my favorite subject matter.

- AGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY 101 (i put this up on cg.. this is cool stuff, especially part 5, which is just a guy screaming about being molested and how good saved him, for an hour ... turns out this guy was a child molestor himself! no, that's not cool, but seeing this fat idiot blabber on and then finding out he's in prison sure is.

- manson (i really enjoy manson documentaries, but this one -- simply titled MANSON -- is the BEST. 1973 I believe. dark as hell. fascinating as hell, manson himself is barely in it -- if you want to see lots of manson screaming and dancing and ranting, check out CHARLES MANSON SUPERSTAR. haha.. But if you just want a great portrait of the time, and the crazy family, check into this one)

- helvetica (a doc on a font? Yeah. But it's really really great. Entertaining as hell. objectified and manfuactured landscapes are worth watching as well)

great music docs - kraftwerk and the electronic revolution, pioneers of electronic music, beefheart: under review, the artist formely known as captain beefheart, don van vliet: some yo yo stuff, jandek on corwood, the 4 or 5 harry partch, documentaries (many on youtube), the devil and daniel johnston, half japanese: the band who could be king.

great mockumentaries:
fear of a black hat
special needs
where's marlowe
last polka
THE COMPLEAT WEIRD AL which is endlessly fascinating and I'm not even a weird al fan really. But the mockumentary stuff on there is genius.
HATED (don't even like gg but this is great).

finally, i want to make a special mention of 5 mocks/docs that aren't for everyone but they absolutely blew me away. Consider this the "special mention" top 5, in that these documentaries are pretty much only for a very specific type of person, whereas the documentaries above could be enjoyed by pretty much everyone:

5 - jefftowne (focus on a mentally handicapped man. Extremely entertaining, almost makes you feel bad for laughing at times, but the documentary isn't portrayed as making fun of Jefftowne... you laugh on cue, if that makes sense. The director was accused of being EXPLOITATIVE, but he clearly was good friends with a man who loves porno, william shatner, and wrestling. Downright HEARTWARMING at times.)

4 - story of a junkie (the most brutal depiction of drug use ever. Very real. There is a real dead body. There are real junkies strung out and shooting up. It shows real withdrawal. This movie is great, but what's even more insane/greater is that the director somehow got all this footage. New York from the mid-80's, so it's scummy as hell. Peopel think I'm joking when I tell them how disturbing this thing is. I highly reccomend listennig to the commentary, where the director talks about LIVING with these people, and paying off junkies with money and junk so that they continued to allow filming. Still, the director had a knife pulled out on him and was beaten up. Again, this is one documentary that isn't for everyone, but I love looking at the sick, crude, twisted, vile part of society. And here it is.)

3 - BURROUGHS (simply titled. Burroughs was extremely cooperative during this shoot. Which led to some awesoem footage. This is on ubuweb)

2 - paradise lost (made by the director of metallica: some kind of monster, this is disturbing as hell. It shows little children dead, so it's really hard to watch. But the court footage, and the jail footage, and all the news articles, paint a picture of small town hysteria, and one of the boys' dad -- can't remember his name, but he's a physically abusive "preacher" who is clearly INSANE -- makes this film worth watching. You will sit, glued to your tv for 2 1/2 hours, no problem. Just one of the most captivating films ever, and one of the few that was really really hard for me to watch.)

2 - VIDEO DIARIES OF RICARDO LOPEZ (yes, there are 2 # 2's. this is downright the sickest, most twisted, most insane thing I've ever seen. This is the video diaries of the guy who stalked bjork, mailed an acid bomb to her, and then killed himself. I will never watch this again. I can't. It is the only video I've ever seen to make me physically ill. You literally see a man lose all touch with reality.)

1 - PERVERSE PREACHERS, FASCIST FUNDAMENTALISTS, AND KRISTIAN KIDDIE KOOKS... okay, this is by far and away my favorite documentary/mockumentary/prankumentary/WHATEVER. It's 2 hours long, and it's more like a video mix tape. There isn't anything setting up what you're seeing. So, it's actually a bit sloppy. But this is the most fascinating thing I've ever witnessed. And everyone else who has seen it has agreed. Basically, you can't really put this thing into words, it's hard to do it justice, but ... it's mostly "random" clips of television news reports (anti-religious ones, of course), Christian television shows, Christian commercials (including a super creepy anti abortion ad with "the termintor" shooting a little child in the head!), sermons... I mean, it's the whole 9 yards, literally EVERYTHING -- EVERYTHING -- you would ever want in something like this. I mean, wow, I just can't d othis justice, 10 minutes of footage covers like 30 commercials and 40 random weird ass clips from crying preachers and stuff... it's just SO absurd, SO ridciulous, SO completely fucking INSANE -- but endlessly watchable and fascinating. And it's downright creepy! I had a million thoughts running through my head after the first viewing. This is on cinemageddon, as well as stumpydisks.com (which is where I bought it a few years ago), and other bootleg sites.. here's a more detailed description:

" the editors of Boston's Zontar magazine painstakingly sat through hours of cable xian programming and news stories to extract the weirdest, scariest, and wackiest bits that make up this classic compilation, one of the all-time great party tapes. Watch a rapping pirate puppet, revelation doomsayers, airbrushed pulpit bullshit artists, scumbag shysters begging for cash, Illuminati/CFR conspiracies, bizarre new-age organizations, plus a big section covering the most embarrassing moments of Robertson, the Bakers, Oral Roberts, and Swaggart (his famous, teary post-hooker confession; just simultaneously beautiful and horrifying to watch). If christianity is starting to look appealing in your old age, watch this tape for a shock back to reality."



...another one, closely related, I reccomend on cinemageddon is "FIRST FAMILY OF SATANISM, which is a 2 hour interview with lavey's daughter and her husband, and they just rant and rant and rant about Satanism. Finally, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, the lavey documentary made by lavey, is brilliant as well.



I LOVE documentaries, and there are TONS of great ones on torrent sites, most of which have never come out on DVD for some reason. Hope this list was useful to someone.

[sonic sphere]

 

[me.]

Goodbye Dragon Inn and Wayward Cloud look really interesting,i've seen What Time Is It There?. I need to sit down and watch a whole stack of films, def more Miike...

[atsonicpark]

eh, yeah, miike's alright, I dunno. The more I see by him -- and I've seen just about everything ever at this point -- the less excited I am by him. I still count myself as a fan. I LOVE the book agitator -- have you read that? It really kinda steers a person in the right direction, as far as interesting films to check out by him.

I HIGHLY reccomend "Box", probably, honestly, his best work, next to "Izo". But he's really done so many films I just absolutely hate. Hes kind of a hack, doesn't really have a style, is kinda artless and silly, he just kinda is a director for hire who happens to have interesting projects chosen for him quite often. But I'm def. a fan, he's participated in soem cool stuff. But also some bad bad bad stuff.

BTW, did you see Tetsuo 3 (Bullet Man)? I felt realy bad for the peopel involved in that one. Really depressingly bad film right there.

[deflinus]

 

[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

Haha, I love Angus! My friend and I must have watched his VHS of that film 1,000 times over since we were tots.

[sonic sphere]

 

[a-p a. niemi]

 

[atsonicpark]

watched that PERVERSE PREACHERS doc with my girlfriend last night, while drunk. she agreed that it is the most fascinating, hilarious, creepy, and insane documentary ever made.

[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

 

Aside from Part IV, this is my favorite in the series.

[demonrail666]

 

The New York Ripper. (5/10)

I really can't defend this film on any level and yet I do quite like it - maybe because I can't defend it on any level.