"Not the art of scholars but of illiterates." (new movie thread)

[auto-da-fey]

all yours when you want it--just drop a PM with your address, or stop by to grab it sometime.

I enjoyed Blonde Venus tonight--the sheer weirdness of Dietrich bottoming out into a barely-glorified chicken coop in Louisiana while still maintaining a full lighting crew to blast her face with glamor was something to behold, practically Lynchian at times. Buzzkill was instant, though: the first student comment--and I paraphrase, but barely--was "That was racist and sexist and I hated every minute of it." I wanted to be like "duuuuuude, that was a polysemous gorilla outfit for the voodoo song, come ooon," but settled for "so you disagree with Lea Jacobs' assessment of it as a subversive text, I gather?"

was thinking of more Sternberg--checked a few out from the library--but my brain is shot and I might just return to Charles Bronson again.

[G.C.R]

We watched Cat people in film today. I like Torneur a bunch, but hadn't seen this for some reason. Wow, it was great!

[Andrew_TSKS]

I wrote about that movie on my blog a while back. I thought it was great too. I saw "Curse Of The Cat People" afterwards and thought it was equally great but way different and far more emotional and depressing, but I freaked out and quit all of my OCD writing obligations around then, so I never wrote about it. Which is kind of a shame, because it deserves to be written about.

[auto-da-fey]

last night I was 70% sure I'd pass out in my chair during whatever movie I watched, so I strove to find the least-lamentable-to-miss DVD I had and came up with Relentless, with an "intense"-looking Judd Nelson on a killing spree in L.A. It almost wasn't fair--you could chug a case of Red Bull and still pass out to this shit, it's so anemic. last time I saw it was in 1990 (right between two films I can't even recall existing: Sibling Rivalry and The Midnight Hour) and I hated it then, but I thought that maybe it would transcend my memories on the grounds of having been directed by William Lustig. No dice: he shoots like it's his audition tape to become a made-for-TV director-for-hire, with no West-Coast version of the feel for NYC urban landscapes he had in Vigilante or the Maniac Cop series.
Judd Nelson trying to look deranged was funny, though (and Robert Loggia, as one of the cops chasing him, knows enough not to bother trying and turns in a performance that often serves as running commentary on the whole tepid affair).

[Andrew_TSKS]

I just watched "Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny".  I'm still not 100% sure why I did it, but I will tell you that the last fucking thing I expected to see was a reference to Men's Recovery Project.

Here are a couple of screen grabs:
1
2

And look, there's F.Y.P., too.

You should email those to Sam McPheeters.

Ha, Robert, I didn't think you would actually send them, but it's awesome that you did.

[Snarfyguy]

The Hurt Locker 2009 USA, concerning some American soldiers in the Iraq war

Not sure what to make of this. On the one hand it takes a neutral stance and simply observes the action. This gives it a weird, disengaged tone. On the other hand it's a pretty straight-up war movie: lots of adrenaline and fetishizing battle heroics.

Does a filmmaker in this case have a moral duty to raise thorny questions about our adventure in Iraq, or does the act of filmmaking, regardless of the content, amount to an implicit statement about the war, and if so, what is that statement? Does a war movie have to also be an anti-war movie?*

The Hurt Locker seemed to undermine itself a bit by romanticizing war, which for all the film's gritty naturalism, kind of subverts any notion of realism. Something like Generation Kill seemed more realistic than this owing to its depiction of tedium and anxiety as well as things blowing up. Of course, the latter had a different agenda and, being a mini-series, had much more time to tell its tale.


* At the risk of sounding like someone proclaiming what art should and should not do or be, I would tend to think so.

[dieblucasdie]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090923/film_nm/us_cody

It's official:  God hates pollo. 

[diesel_powered]

Oh boy! Good to hear Diablo Cody's on the pot again, squeezing out another gem.

[girl]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090923/film_nm/us_cody

It's official:  God hates pollo. 

This was your 20,000th post. 

[auto-da-fey]

so my on-again-off-again relationship with Netflix resumed today with a movie about a girl who blows her dog and then suffers various consequences, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. Sleeping Dogs Lie. Did anyone else see this? It doesn't sound like a winning set-up--no idea why I put it at the top of the queue--but it turns out to be a remarkably thoughtful, even insightful, look at sex, shame, ethics, etc. Marred by some forced weirdness and dead subplottage, but significantly better than it has any right to be (with an assist for me in that Melinda Page Hamilton's character reminds me--visually and personalitywise and even in terms of dog-blowing potential--of someone I dated [she was a little strange]).

I hated Shakes the Clown when it came out, but I was in, what, seventh grade? I'm comtemplating a revisit, maybe when the new Goldthwait suicide-comedy hits DVD.

[auto-da-fey]

and while I haven't seen The Hurt Locker, I've always found Kathryn Bigelow kinda interesting because it's tough to pin down exactly what she's doing sometimes--this semi-Brechtian aestheticization whereby she doesn't really give a fuck who Keanu's character is, just that he's skydiving. It might just be Bruckheimerian spectacle-for-the-gee-whizzness-of-it-all, but I always see her films through the lens of that neon-soaked biker flick with Willem Dafoe that she began with, as some sort of accidentally huge-budget extension of that project.

that said, after Near Dark I think her only film I've really liked was Strange Days, but I also haven't seen anything of hers since then, so I guess I'm talking even more out of my ass than usual here. I just remember being really disappointed with Blue Steel in middle school, basically.

[G.C.R]

but I always see her films through the lens of that neon-soaked biker flick with Willem Dafoe that she began with, as some sort of accidentally huge-budget extension of that project.

I liked that film a whole lot. You are right, there's an oddness to that film that does come through in her other work - you get so hypnotised by all the shouting everyone's doing that to becomes pleasantly surreal. or surreally pleasant? Anyway, i like that her camera is just as loving of Defoe's skinny arms as it is of Keanu's brawny chest.

[Andrew_TSKS]

so my on-again-off-again relationship with Netflix resumed today with a movie about a girl who blows her dog and then suffers various consequences, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. Sleeping Dogs Lie. Did anyone else see this? It doesn't sound like a winning set-up--no idea why I put it at the top of the queue--but it turns out to be a remarkably thoughtful, even insightful, look at sex, shame, ethics, etc. Marred by some forced weirdness and dead subplottage, but significantly better than it has any right to be (with an assist for me in that Melinda Page Hamilton's character reminds me--visually and personalitywise and even in terms of dog-blowing potential--of someone I dated [she was a little strange]).

Heard about it, wanted to see it, but couldn't remember the name of it to add it to my Netflix queue. Will do so now and report back whenever it actually shows up.

[Anne the Man]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090923/film_nm/us_cody

It's official:  God hates pollo. 

I looked up Diablo Cody to remind myself that she did Juno and was not Miranda July, and found that she has in development "Breathers: A Zombie's Lament". SIGH.

Also, I've been meaning to say for awhile, so I may as well say

weird out, they've made a film of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

WHAT THE FUCK WEIRD

[Andrew_TSKS]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090923/film_nm/us_cody

It's official:  God hates pollo. 

I looked up Diablo Cody to remind myself that she did Juno and was not Miranda July, and found that she has in development "Breathers: A Zombie's Lament". SIGH.

We had that book in my store before we started getting rid of everything. It looked vaguely interesting, but not that great in terms of the recent zombie-lit trend. I can't imagine it'll work better as a film, but who knows. I will probably see it just because I try to see pretty much every horror movie.

[lastclearchance]

I will probably see it just because I try to see pretty much every horror movie.

And people wonder why so many shitty horror movies get made.

[milly balgeary]

I will probably see it just because I try to see pretty much every horror movie.

And people wonder why so many shitty horror movies get made.

nah, i do the same, because when they are good, they are good. a good horror movie will always collapse the lung of a mainstream movie or whatev. hey, so apparently that paranormal events or paranormal activity what's it called -- is supposedly a GOOD horror film. anybody live in one of the cities it is getting limited release in. there's an internet meme about spielburg watching it and getting freaked out and thinking someone was in his house and buying the movie but sending it back to the dreamworks offices in a trash bag.

[Andrew_TSKS]

I will probably see it just because I try to see pretty much every horror movie.

And people wonder why so many shitty horror movies get made.

I see them on netflix years later most of the time. Believe me, I'm not driving the horror box office take. Well, not usually, though I did see "Drag Me To Hell" twice.

[girl]

I just watched a documentary on Valentino. Mixedcats, did you know that one of his dogs is named Maggie? (None of them are named Andrew.)

[Ignatius]

I once ate at his former house in Queens for my cousin's first communion. I had swordfish rollatini and it was delicious.

[elpollodiablo]

D wants to see the new Michael Moore flick for some ungodly reason, and even offered to pay for my ticket.  I think someone would have to talk me into watching it for free in the comfort of my home.

[auto-da-fey]

I'd watch it. I know, I know, that doesn't say much. But I don't think I've ever disliked a Michael Moore film, really.


also, Shanghai Express: worth seeking out, since neither Netflix nor campus library carries it? I've really gotten into my Sternberg/Dietrich films; The Scarlet Empress was some loopy, amazing business, I can't believe it received the Production Code seal (there were chained-up women with exposed breasts in the early conquest montage, I'm certain!).

[auto-da-fey]

oh, and I guess Warner Bros unceremoniously dumped the poorly-regarded 1982 Hal Ashby film Lookin' to Get Out onto DVD just recently, in an "expanded version" that I think Jon Voight found in his garage or something. I hadn't seen the DVD mentioned anywhere, just randomly came across it at the library and checked it out. Not sure when I'll get around to it, but I'm kind of curious--sounds like a downbeat gambling movie, I generally go for those.

[Snarfyguy]

oh, and I guess Warner Bros unceremoniously dumped the poorly-regarded 1982 Hal Ashby film Lookin' to Get Out onto DVD just recently, in an "expanded version" that I think Jon Voight found in his garage or something. I hadn't seen the DVD mentioned anywhere, just randomly came across it at the library and checked it out. Not sure when I'll get around to it, but I'm kind of curious--sounds like a downbeat gambling movie, I generally go for those.

I saw it a couple of months ago and I thought it was okay, but a bit of a vanity project for Voight. It seems to divide viewers sharply; the comments on IMDB are pretty polarized.

For a better take on downbeat looks at small time losers, check out The Friends of Eddie Coyle.

[Andrew_TSKS]

Dude, we were just talking about that film a couple months ago. I saw it for the first time around then, and I think maybe Whit did too? I know we both thought it was awesome. So yeah, good call.

But I don't think I've ever disliked a Michael Moore film, really.

Me neither. I realized last night that if I go see "Capitalism" it'll be my sixth Michael Moore movie. He's one of the only directors that I consistently make it out to see all of their stuff. I'm aware that I have to take his stuff with a grain of salt, and that he sometimes distorts things to make his points more powerful, but his filmmaking talent is beyond doubt if you ask me.

also, Shanghai Express: worth seeking out, since neither Netflix nor campus library carries it? I've really gotten into my Sternberg/Dietrich films; The Scarlet Empress was some loopy, amazing business, I can't believe it received the Production Code seal (there were chained-up women with exposed breasts in the early conquest montage, I'm certain!).

I've only seen his "Blue Angel," which I loved. I really want to see "Shanghai Gesture" and I thought you were confusing the two, but it turns out this is a totally different movie from 10 years earlier. Wish I could tell you anything about it, but I can't. This post is pointless, I know.