Last movie you've seen? (3 Viewers)

[lessthanthree]

i tried watching this one day, but i wasn't in a mood for zaniness, so it rubbed me in the wrong way and i turned it off 30 minutes in. still, i will give it another go.

have you seen kusturica's underground? i liked that one very much.

yeah, definitely give it another go, it's just one of those movies that revives yr faith in humanity. haven't seen underground yet, but the download is about halfway done


also watched Fucking Åmål / Show Me Love(Lukas Moodysson) again.
8.5/10

great movie about a teenage / lesbian romance. features probably one of my favourite first kiss scenes OAT, where the two girls try to hitchhike, and make out in the back of the car while foreigner's 'i wanna know what love is' plays in the background.

foreigner, man, fucking foreigner.

 

[sanshi]

night at the mueseum

 

[icecreamdisco]

i certainly will revisit it; those kinda films can just be abrasive when yr mood doesn't gel (eg, gremlins 2 is one of the best films ever made, but only in a very specific mood).

fucking amal is good too; i was a bit disappointed when i first saw it after hearing it was a teen lesbian movie, and it didn't feature some chick called amal who gets fucked... but it's touching nonetheless.

 

[_dhj_]

I saw Moodysson's Lilja 4-ever the other day. It's definately one of the more brutal films I've seen. I find Fucking Amal slightly overrated (too upbeat for my liking) but still a good film.

 

[s-p-a-c-e-d]

Mysterious Skin (2004)

Definitely one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Also, the final monologue fading into 'Samskeyti' was beautiful, and unlike most films, this one really stuck with me.

 

[lessthanthree]

^y'know, i like 'fucking amal' for its upbeatness. i can't think of many gay love films which actually end well.


'phenomena' dario argento
9/10
probably the craziest, and my favourite argento from what i've seen of his. this has everything, maggots, more maggots, deformed kids, chimps with razors, iron maiden, and a barely legal jennifer connolly. giggity.


'the hole' tsai ming-liang
8.5/10
odd little 'musical' about the end of the world, loneliness + isolation, featuring amazing music by the lovely grace chang. this film is utterly absurd, drawing a thin line between comedy + dead seriousness. sometimes slow (like most tsai ming-liang films), but ultimately, very rewarding

 

[Kujah]

Under the Radar

 

[icecreamdisco]

'phenomena' dario argento
9/10
probably the craziest, and my favourite argento from what i've seen of his. this has everything, maggots, more maggots, deformed kids, chimps with razors, iron maiden, and a barely legal jennifer connolly. giggity.


'the hole' tsai ming-liang
8.5/10
odd little 'musical' about the end of the world, loneliness + isolation, featuring amazing music by the lovely grace chang. this film is utterly absurd, drawing a thin line between comedy + dead seriousness. sometimes slow (like most tsai ming-liang films), but ultimately, very rewarding

man, i need to see more tsai.

have you seen tsai's the wayward cloud? it's also a musical, and supposedly it's the culmination of his motifs and themes, and has hardcore porn and something to do with the watermelon industry. or something. i haven't seen it, but it sounds intriguing. what time... is still the only of his i've seen, but it ruled.

phenomena sounds awesome; i usually find argento is usually hit-or-miss (tenebre and bird with the crystal plummage] rule, but suspiria and deep red just doesn't work for me, for some reason), but your description makes it sound awesome.

my recent viewings:

thieves' highway (jules dassin, 1949)
not what i expected from the rififi director; this is more a low-key character study than the noir/crime-thriller it's advertised as. still has the requisite femme fatale (valentina cortesse, being totally slutty in a discreet way) and dark, squalid urban setting, but it's set amidst a produce factory and focuses on rivaling truckers. strikingly unconventional and emotionally resonant, with richard conte perfectly poised between badass and vulnerable. 8/10

blissfully yours (apichatpong weerasethakul, 2002)
i really liked mysterious object at noon, but it lacked a point. i loved tropical malady, but it felt a little academic in construction, which clashed abrasively with the playful, unpretentious vibe weerasethakul was seemingly aiming for. but this blew me away; a film where practically nothing happens (plot = road trip, picnic, sex, nap) and yet so many ideas and emotions are conveyed nonetheless; sexual jealousy, heartbreak, and the importance of being at peace with our physical environment, political ignorance, the co-existence of good and evil, etc etc. also features the most erotic handjob scene i've witnessed in the movies, and an opening credits sequence that kicks nearly halfway through the film. heh. 9.5/10

 

[disputed]

the pursuit of happyness, on some dodgy pirated dvd haha
shit quality so it made the movie bit less enjoyable but it was still good

 

[!! CaR`JiE !!]

Arthur & the invisibles.

8/10

 

[Punctuation M]

A movie with Demi Moore in it called Half Light, and before that I watched Hard Luck with Westly Snipes.

 

[lessthanthree]

i need to see more tsai ming-liang too, the only others i've seen besides 'the hole' are 'what time is it there...' and 'goodbye dragon inn', both of which i loved.

'underground' emir kustarica
10/10

whoah, this movie took me by surprise, especially after watching black cat, white cat. the first two thirds were extremely funny + bizarre (the scene where they're filming the movie and the nazis were jumping around after being 'shot' had me in stitches). the last third probably contains some of the most touching and heart wrenching scenes in the history of film, like jovan seeing the sun for the first time, ivan being reunited with his monkey/hanging from the church bell, and the beautifully surreal image of the wheelchair on fire circling the crumbling crucifix. a wonderful allegory for the fall of yugoslavia squeezed into 3 hours, but really, i didn't feel that it dragged at all. fucking epic. i'm gonna have to watch this again, because i'm sure i missed a lot of things.

oh yeah, and the soundtrack is amazing too. goran bregovich is the shit.

 

[icecreamdisco]

and the beautifully surreal image of the wheelchair on fire circling the crumbling crucifix

one of my favorite scenes ever.

glad you liked it; i taped it off sbs a year ago but missed the first 10 minutes or so and the tape screwed for about 10 minutes in the middle, so a dvd rental is in order.

btw, have you downloaded most of the movies you've mentioned here?

 

[lessthanthree]

yep. unemployed + bored at the moment, so i've got a lot of time to watch movies these days. let me know if you want a copy of anything.

where'd you see 'blissfully yours'? it sounds great

 

[icecreamdisco]

yep. unemployed + bored at the moment, so i've got a lot of time to watch movies these days. let me know if you want a copy of anything.

where'd you see 'blissfully yours'? it sounds great

ordered it off amazon UK for 8 pounds. i'll lend it if you want. tropical malady is equally worth checking out; it'd be easier to find on the net as well.

i'd love to see the hole and hausu. i'll be buying a dvd that can play divx soon, since my computer can't.

 

[nwatts]

joyeux noel - bit disappointing really, turned really contrived and silly when it could have just been really sweet

 

[ccc123]

Well i'm pretty darn bored so i just thought i'd quickly review the last movie i saw..

REVIEW OF THIRTEEN

‘Thirteen’ is in many ways a parallel to its protagonists; intimidating, transgressive, but ultimately sympathetic. The movie opens with a shocking scenario, showing protagonist Tracy in the throes of apparent self-immolation; a sadomasochistic bout between her and Evie, who are literally beating each other up while in paroxysms of drug-induced hysterics.

Then it flashes back to the justifications behind this disturbing behaviour. Tracy comes from a mangled, dysfunctional household shaped by a single mother recovering from an alcohol addiction, and an absent father.

At first, Tracy is portrayed as a seemingly well-adjusted seventh grader, whose penchant for poetry and scholastic gifts have captured the attention of her teachers. But Tracy yearns for a larger, bolder status, and is enticed by the provocatively popular, seductively sexy Evie, whose skimpy attire, snotty allure and multitude of admirers have given her a status of social superiority amongst her peers. So Tracy brazenly befriends the salacious Evie in desperation to be recognized as ‘cool’.

Almost overnight, Tracy assumes the same sultry persona as her new chum, and is drawn into a tumultuous world of sex, drugs, crime and self-mutilation. As we follow Tracy’s involvement in one perilous situation after another, we watch her life spiral hopelessly into chaos.

However, ‘Thirteen’ transcends merely showing girls behaving badly, but vividly depicts, with unnerving accuracy and convincing complexity, the conflict between parents’ and teenagers’ needs and priorities.

‘Thirteen’ is definitely not your archetypal teenage drama. What elevates ‘Thirteen’ to distinction from its inferior counterparts is its relentless refusal to conform to clichés that so many other teenage dramas rely heavily on. ‘Thirteen’ compellingly sheds light upon a terrifying world, and reveals how the precarious imbalance of family dynamics can so easily lead to destruction and tumult.

‘Thirteen’ never offers any miracle solutions or pop-psychology quick fixes to Tracy’s dire predicament, but rather, leaves it unresolved. This great lack of resolution is perhaps one of the elements that make ‘Thirteen’ so powerful and haunting. At first, this atypical absence of resolution will frustrate us; but ultimately we should realize that in reality, there are often no fast and hard solutions. And it is this realization that unveils the veracity of ‘Thirteen’s cautionary message to parents and teenagers alike.

8.5/10

Hmm yeah, well thats my 'quick' review.

 

[SoCal]

Stay (2005) - It was really good!

 

[goan_crazy]

Babel.

 

[s-p-a-c-e-d]

Palindromes...

Didn't like it at all - after it had finished I just felt like I had wasted my time.