[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

 

6/10

 

10/10

 

9/10

 

9/10

Glad you liked Shock. There's nothing spectacular about it, just really well done, I think. It's Daria Nicolodi who really stands out in it for me. And Vigilante!! Blimey, I've not seen that in years. I remember liking it but can't remember much about it. I can't believe I still haven't seen Spasmo.

[Genteel Death]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Glad you liked Shock. There's nothing spectacular about it, just really well done, I think. It's Daria Nicolodi who really stands out in it for me. And Vigilante!! Blimey, I've not seen that in years. I remember liking it but can't remember much about it. I can't believe I still haven't seen Spasmo.

I hadn't watched ''Vigilante'' in a few years and I have to admit I am a sucker for the sort of movie where an entire city seems besieged by out of control gangs. Add to that that it's filmed in what looks like a derelict NYC and I am bought in a second. When you eventually get to watch ''Spasmo'', let me know if it was just me hallucinating while watching movie after movie in a row, or the first scene seems to have no particular relevance to the whole film at all. It's the one where the amorous couple get out of the car and are confronted by the hanged doll. I am not one to object to nice touches the director uses because they add to the atmosphere of the movie, but that seems like a whole scene aimed to serve a purpose the film doesn't really need. Of course it would be a different story if the director was someone like David Lynch or Werner Schroeter, but not ''Spasmo'', which is a very plot-dependent movie.

[Genteel Death]

After re-watching ''Christiane F.'' I decided that what makes me love this movie more than anything is how it portrays Berlin as this very urban, nocturnal place inhabited by half-dead smackheads. I don't think the book is better, it just contains so much more dialogue which Uli Edel left out in favour of the cliched language you'd normally associate with someone naive falling flat on their arse because of drugs. Some of the humour on the book, as well as the mean language, is so cut out it always makes it more enjoyable for me to watch as a landscape sort of film.

[demonrail666]

Yeah, I've also got a thing for 70s urban dereliction. And I know what you mean when you talk about them as sort of 'landscape films'. There's a specific atmosphere to those settings.

I remember as a teenager going to the Scala in Kings Cross, when that area was still really sleazy. I'd never seen a prostitute or a junky before I went to Kings Cross and I'd always love coming out of the cinema after watching something like Maniac or Vigilante to see my own equivalent on the walk back to the station. It's criminal how clean Kings Cross now looks. Along with Soho it used to be my favourite part of London. (Soho's another area that's had much of its soul polished out of it now. Vegetarian options at the Coach & Horses?!?)

[Murmer99]

Maniac was filmed in NYC wasn't it? in 1980 I think. I've only seen it once, but loved every second of it. From the number of movies I've seen from that decade, there was a real murky and surreal atmosphere that emanated from that place... I'm not sure if I'd enjoy a number of films as much if it weren't for that mood. I've always related to that ugliness (for lack of a better term, I mean this in the best way possible). Add the solitary approach with those gritty cityscapes and it's what I look for. Interesting that you mentioned it... I think it's the only release I've seen by the director. Great movie that goes beyond the surface, how the hell did I forget about it?

[Murmer99]

I'm very disappointed that I may never experience things like that in an actual theater.

[demonrail666]

Yeah, there are loads of movies from that era which really focused on that seedier side. Besides the ones already mentioned my favourite ones centred on NYC would be Mean Streets; Taxi Driver; Basket Case; Midnight Cowboy; The French Connection and almost anything by Paul Morrissey or Abel Ferrara. A lot of blacksploitation movies from that era also have a lot of that atmosphere.

For a similar sleaziness but from a more European perspective, some Fassbinder and very early Almodovar are great. Also, albeit more recently, Gary Oldman's Nil By Mouth has that atmosphere in spades.

Another great one is the Brazillian film, Pixote.

[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

Daaaammn.... Genteel's getting the job done.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Murmer99

I'm very disappointed that I may never experience things like that in an actual theater.

It is a shame that those kinds of theatres have now pretty much vanished. The great thing about the Scala in particular was that it was really cheap and used to do all-nighters so half the audience would be tramps who'd use the place as a cheap warm shelter or insomniacs just looking to kill time. It was great watching a film like Basket Case surrounded by people who looked like they could've had a part in the film. A genuine grindhouse experience.

[Diesel]

I saw this Japanese film called Love Exposure, it's running time is like 5 hrs. Great film.

Also another Japanese film called Confessions. Depressing and ace!

[Torn Curtain]

Dr. Strangelove.

9/10

[Murmer99]

Stanley Kubrick is the best

[gast30]

 

a lot of artwork put into this movie
very good

[Murmer99]

The problem with it is how nothing of much importance really takes place in it. It is strictly the "beginning" of Batman, and nearly the entire film is centered around this. I don't know, obviously things started to get going in The Dark Knight, and I expect it to reach it's highest point in the next (last) one. It's an excellent cast, well written, some of the action scenes were very well crafted. For some reason, its art direction doesn't hold up too well for me since the time I saw it initially. It certainly feels a lot.. smaller than the other batman movies (good or bad thing?). It has a special place for me because despite being too long, there are many promising moments and I easily expect it to be the best live action adaptation we'll ever get of Year One (yeah, it isn't identical, but it takes a lot from it... at least from a thematic stance). Christopher Nolan is very clever, and usually delivers enough to entertain me to some degree.

[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

 

Awesome shit right here, even the Jarmusch parts. I think I'm gonna back off on hating him so much, despite his goofy haircut and dull pacing in his films. I actually did enjoy Stranger Than Paradise and Dead Man, for what it's worth. It's fun to see Buscemi, Thurston, Kern, Lunch, Nick Zedd, and John Waters all in the same doc.

Also really makes me wanna check out Amos Poe and Eric Mitchell films. I had never even heard of them before.

[Murmer99]

I hated Dead Man, well.... it wasn't terrible but I just thought it was boring. Limits of Control is my favorite from what I've seen, but I haven't seen stranger than paradise or ghost dog yet. I agree about the pacing... a lot of his work is too dull and stagnant for me. From the looks of it, he's a decent guy who seems to like great filmmakers. He definitely has my respect.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Dr. Eugene Felikson

really makes me wanna check out Amos Poe and Eric Mitchell films. I had never even heard of them before.

I've not seen any of Amos Poe's films but I think you'd really like Mitchell's Underground USA.

[foreverasskiss]

 

this morning..

[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

 

I'd only seen bits and pieces of this before. Great to finally watch this in full; a wonderful introspective look into the craft - which is especially helpful when I'm currently in the process of editing myself. Nice big-name cameos, as well.

Originally Posted by foreverasskiss

 

this morning..

This is still easily one of my absolute favorites of John's. I fell in love with this movie when I was about 6 or 7 years old, making it my introduction to the man I'd now (probably) consider my favorite director of all-time.

[foreverasskiss]

^^^^Crybaby is excellent. there wasn't a preteen school girl i knew that didn't have it on VHS at the time.