Most recent fil I saw was a 1945 film noir - largely forgotten - about spies called "The House on 92nd Street."
Printable View
Most recent fil I saw was a 1945 film noir - largely forgotten - about spies called "The House on 92nd Street."
Didn't like Modern Times, Prospero? A most savoury social critic in a relatively loose succession of humorous sketches. Indeed, some of Chaplin's are terribly corny; but with the means he had, I wonder how powerful it might have been at the time. Is "Nosferatu" scary today, for instance? Yet we still admire the expressionist images and symbolism of Murnau's movies (Faust equally, for instance). I don't know; difficult to say with the time elapsed...
The original Nosferatu is no particularly scarey no - but then nor is Psycho. The remake of Nosferatu by Werner Herzog works well still. Film has to be judged in its context.
i think i have said this before but for me the scariest movie of all time has to be the exorcist. perhaps it is because i was a wee little lad when my father let me watch it.
Surprised your dad let you watch it Rally. And yes... it was very very unsettling.
"Winter's Bone", a naturalistic, low-key film about rural poverty in the US with a stunning central performance by Jennifer Lawrence.
Hoping to see the new German film, "Barbara" with Nina Hoss, about the DDR in the 1980s in Cambridge at the weekend. Reviews tip the hat towards "The Lives of Others", probably the best film of the present century so far.
my father started to take me to movies he wanted to see since i was 5 or so. i know i actually saw more R rated movies as a kid than G and PG moviesQuote:
Originally Posted by Prospero
"Barbara" is no where near as good as "The Lives Of Others" (though the setting is similar - the DDR)
Verdammt! That said, Nina Hoss is worth watching in every movie she makes. "Yella" and "Anonymous" in particular.Quote:
Originally Posted by Prospero
And nowhere near as good, well, as I said, for my money "The Lives of Others" is the best film of the present century so far.
The Lives of Others was a fascinating movie. Narrative conducted like a tragedy. Reminded me a bit of Kieslowski…
Good call. Something to do with a shared ironic melancholy for the vanished world of the stasi and solidarnosc.Quote:
Originally Posted by danthepoetman
All I can say is that I have been watching Kane for over 40 years and every time I see it I am impressed with its script, its editing, its story, its acting, the use of music -it is a multi-layered film with innovations in the use of deep focus- the whole conception is magical, as films often should be. You only need to see other attempts to make films within films, stories presented as a factual newsreel to see how thin they look next to Kane. There are also few films about political life which last beyond their age, yet you could easily see Kane in the context of Berlusconi, to a degree anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by RallyCola
As for classics that do nothing for me, I'm with Prospero on Chaplin, can't stand the man. I would also throw away all the Marx Bros films, but while in recent times the films of Gus van Sant are remarkable in being embarrasingly bad, nothing with a reputation is as vile as the cinema of Jean-Luc Godard. I think every one of his films stinks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RallyCola
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dino Velvet
That movie is supposedly about the Norwich State Mental Hospital, in Connecticut. It's about a 20 minute drive from me. It's been closed and abandoned for some time now. Pretty creepy place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxpower
OK, never mind what I said. I had heard it was about Norwich State a few times, but after looking into it, I see it's about a place in Massachusetts called Danvers State. I guess people in CT wanted to claim it as their own. Guess I should have found that out before making an ill-informed post. Norwich State is still creepy, though.
My father was exactly the same. He loved Horror but my mom hated it so he took me instead. By the time I was 9 or 10 I chose the films we saw. Saw The Exorcist at 6 years old in a theater.Quote:
Originally Posted by RallyCola
Just got back from Cronenberg's Cosmopolis. If DeLillo wanted to say the soulessness of the upper one percent infects us all, he could've have said it more succinctly.
Of Time and the City (Terence Davies, 2008)
Mistakenly described as a 'love song and eulogy' for the city of Liverpool, this film, mostly archive film with some contemporary footage, is a sour, misanthropic, sarcastic, and overwhelmingly self-indulgent piece of tosh from someone who seems to be incapable of believing he was born in the place -having abandoned it in the 1970s one wonders why he bothered to return.
Of Time and the City - Trailer - YouTube
I'll probably see that. I'm mainly into early Montreal Cronenberg but just about all of his stuff is consistently good. Keep meaning to see Eastern Promises again soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by trish
My favorite Vincent Price film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRfziUjNzEU
My second favorite Vincent Price film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5emdPYUXj8
was fortunate enough to see a sneak preview of cloud atlas wednesday night. it was quite possibly the best movie i have seen all year. i highly recommend you see as soon as possible. having not read the book, suffice it to say, i just ordered it because the story was just as compelling as the movie was visually stunning.
I am really looking forward to seeing that film Rally. posted some advance publicity clips a few weeks ago. I loved the book - love all his books.
My most recent film was a screening of "Moonrise Kingdom" which came out a few weeks ago in the Uk. Loved that too. Very original and very funny.
one of the people at the screening said that there were subtle differences from the book (beyond the one massive change that many fans are complaining about) that was made for pacing issues but otherwise it was pretty faithful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Prospero
as I said, I have not yet started it but will tonight on the ride home so I really don't know what the differences are between the 2.
I haven't read any of his other books yet either....any recommendations?
pARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4
iT WAS QUITE GOOD MOVIE.
His first three books are his best so far - this was the third the others are Ghostwritten and Number 9 Dream.
New Yorker review published yesterday by David Denby said the difference is the film chops the narrative up a lot more than the book - cutting back and forward in time constanty. Denby found it a bit banal. It's high on my list of must sees - but no London preview screenings coming yet.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Sijie Dai, 2002)
I feel ambivalent about this film (beautiful to look at, as usual); it isn't that common to see films made in China about the Cultural Revolution and the programme of 're-education' which sent educated lads and lasses into rural areas to work on the land, and the two lads in this film don't really have it as hard as I am sure it was in reality, even though it is based on Dai's own life story. I am not sure about the way in which the boys take advantage of a simple country girl, whose life is a reversal of the boys-as a result of meeting them she abandons the countryside for the city, but one wonders if it was for the better. There is the theme of books, reading, and especially foreign reading in the context of the cultural revolution, but it isn't explored. In the end, I think I prefer Balzac.
Magic Mike with my wife. It sucked balls in every way possible. Script, Acting, Quality of video. Matthew Macconaughey is now officially useless in my eyes. And as far as Channing Tatum. His inability to spit out a simple sentence and yet the director leave it in the final cut was the most bizarre frustrating thing I've ever seen.
the last movie I watched was hitch hikers guide to the galaxy it lived up to every expectation i had
Just felt like watching films noirs, and went through a couple of great ones. Beautifully shot, suspenseful and well acted 1950 “The Asphalt Jungle”, by John Huston, with Sterling Hayden. Story of a heist, conducted like a Greek tragedy.
The Asphalt Jungle - YouTube
Marilyn Monroe in Asphalt Jungle - YouTube
1944 “Double Indemnity”, with Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson, directed by Billy Wilder and written by Raymond Chandler. This one is just great. Conducted like a symphony. Everything falls into place so perfectly there’s not a second you think about anything else than what you see on the screen.
Double Indemnity - Trailer (1944) - YouTube
Double Indemnity - YouTube
Just got a free month from Netflix...hehehehe.
So I've been busy...
The Immortals,The Expendables,a few Asian action movies,Thor,Iron Man2,and others.....
Birdemic: Shock and Terror, it was painful watch. We thought it would funny enough to make fun of, but it was just.... painful *shudders*
IMDb gives it a ranking of 1.9/10!Quote:
Originally Posted by dezz
Not a movie but a TV show about an interesting genre - continental, as opposed to UK, horror, from German expressionist cinema in the 20s, French horror thrillers from the 50s, Italian Giallo from the 60s and 70s and finally to Spanish suspense horror of the 90s and noughties, all presented by the knowledgeable and engaging Mark Gatiss, co-writer of Sherlock and Doctor Who. Recommended.
Hope Dino manages to see it - interviews with Dario Argento and Guillermo del Toro.
Not sure I follow you, Robert Louis, forgive me. The title of the show is "Continental"? Seems really interresting.Quote:
Originally Posted by robertlouis
Apologies for my convoluted syntax, Dan. The programme is called Horror Europa.Quote:
Originally Posted by danthepoetman
Gatiss also did a three part series last year called The History of Horror. As they've all been on the BBC they'll probably turn up on PBS in the US.
Thanks! I’ll be looking forward to that one.
He visits the actual castle in Slovakia where Murnau filmed Nosferatu in 1922!Quote:
Originally Posted by danthepoetman
Gatiss also wrote and starred in a very effective horror/ghost story serial a few years ago called Crooked House. That's also well worth seeking out. It may be available on DVD.
Think I found it in parts on Youtube. May watch it later on tonight! Thanks again, Ribert Louis!
Crooked House - E01 - Part 1/2 - YouTube
By the way, I love Nosferatu. Faust is also such a masterpiece. Some images are amazingly hautning, like from Nosferatu. The Devil's shadow over the vilage, for instance.