Alex DeLarge's comments (member since Jun 15, 2008)

Alex DeLarge's comments from the Movies We've Just Watched group.

Did Bakshi do the original LORD OF THE RINGS? I thought COOL WORLD was pretty neat when it was released and had a great soundtrack. It brings back memories of the girl I dated who went by the name of "Fire Woman" from the Cult song.

Tom, great to mention Chuck Jones! I'm still working my way through all 8 volumes of the Looney Tunes Collection and it is heaven on earth. It's funny how the collection was in the children's section at Best Buy yet the box clearly states that these cartoons preserve their original edits and are not suitable for children!! Even Whoopi Goldberg introduces every disc to explain that the cartoons are a product of their time and examples of racism and prejudice exist, as well as rather extreme violence. I give WB props for releasing these unexpurgated editions.
But I can't forget Friz Freleng...THREE LITTLE BOPS is an all time fave:)

Sooz, I'm interested in the new Herzog film too. I really don't like Nick Cage but he sometimes nails a performance: BIRDY, RAISING ARIZONA, LEAVING LAS VEGAS, ADAPTATION.

Gilliam...I just don't know anymore. His films are visually exciting but like Tim Burton, the story almost always suffers. I'm afraid the days of BRAZIL and TIME BANDITS are far behind him. But I'll see it anyway:)

All fave's of mine too (except Luhrmann)! I'll add Michaelangelo Antonioni, Robert Bresson, Robert Wise and Joseph Losey. Oh, and Dalton Trumbo though he only directed one film, though was an excellent screenwriter.

Tom, a few stills from THE WHITE RIBBON also looks much like the horror film VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED! Hmmmm...wonder if that's intentional.

I'm excited to see John Hillcoat's THE ROAD. I love the sparse prose of the novel and combined with the talent behind THE PROPOSITION...this could be a winner. Can't wait to hear Nick Cave's score.

The film I want to see the most is Haneke's THE WHITE RIBBON, winner of the highest prize at Cannes this year. Living in rural PA, I'll probably have to wait until March for the disc release.

Tarkovsky's film would make a good campanion piece to Klimov's COME AND SEE. The Criterion disc is very good quality.

I watched IVAN'S CHILDHOOD the night after seeing this: what a different view of childhood!

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this. I was in San Antonio this weekend and caught it at a tiny theatre packed with children...who did everything but watch the movie. I came away with the feeling that this isn't a children's movie at all because they seemed bored: it is for the comatose child whose imagination has atrophied that resides in the spirit of adulthood, but often never wakens. It made me feel good.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (Spike Jonze, 2009, USA) Max learns that growing up doesn’t mean you have to lose all your baby teeth. Director Spike Jonze adapts the Maurice Sendak classic about the child who lives inside us all, filled with wonder, terror, anxiety and, most of all, love. Jonze expands a few hundred words into a feature length narrative, adding depth to Max’s family drama and allowing his wild rumpus upon the island of misfit monsters to become an extended metaphor concerning parental angst. The wonderful cinematography utilizes hand-held cameras and focuses from Max’s powerless perspective, shooting from low angles so the world of grown-ups seems large and domineering, and a crushing weight upon his maturing psyche. Max has his tenuous hopes crushed like a fragile snow fort, vying for his family’s attention but always being pushed aside: he’s a little boy competing with older men (his mother’s beau and sister’s boyfriend) for the love he so desperately needs. But this isn’t really a children’s film; it is a story for adults who desire to recapture the quicksilver imagination of youth, who have forgotten that dreams can conquer fear, and happiness is but a simple bowl of warm soup…and a mother’s smile. The film’s power is in evoking these childhood musings, and I was flooded with forgotten memories of a Maple tree that scraped ominously at my window like a monstrous claw; playing games as we embarked upon the great Arctic trek walking deftly on the slick ice that coated the snow, and if we broke through we’d die; trying to walk from one end of the house to the other without touching the floor because it was filled with lava; or the endless dirt-ball battles that would leave us crying and laughing, still young enough to be bathed together by our parents. It also reflects the dark fears that haunt childhood, ones which we often repress; those of loneliness and misunderstanding. Max runs away and creates his own world, but soon discovers that being a parent is difficult business because he can’t make his disciples happy: they must find their own way, though love is an integral integer in life’s equation. Jonze’s film is arguably plotless and composed of emotional vignettes, but that’s how children view their routines when life is taken moment by moment. The major flaw I find is in the depiction of Max running away instead of escaping in his own bedroom: what mother would sit idly by when their child disappears into the dark snowy night? The soundtrack is playfully unique, a helter-skelter of driving rhythms and angelic harmonies. The final mise-en-scene is delightfully subdued, without words, emotions expressed with the subtlest of gestures. Life is good. (B)

Cool:)

The original ending, if my friend was telling me the truth (and he usually does...:), is much more nihilistic but believable. I know that seems strange talking about a "haunted house" story, but the true horror (not shock) comes from those things that walk the boundary between possible and impossible. Most modern horror writers/directors don't seen to understand that shadows are more frightening than monster masks...no matter how good the spfx.

Tonight, I think I'll watch Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING for a truly fantastic ghost story. The breathing door...shivers down the spine:)

I just discovered tonight that the theatrical ending is not the original ending. The studio made Peli re-write the finale to appease a mass audience. My friend described the original ending to me and it was very good: I may change my grade to a solid B if the original version is released on disc!

A low-budget horror film that starts out well but stalls in the final act. I don't believe the subtext was intentional or that the movie tried for some higher purpose, but it's interesting what we see when filtered through our own particular experiences.

Minor Spoiler Alert!

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (Oren Peli, 2009, USA) Micah struggles for possession of his girlfriend, his ego exacerbated by the camera’s lens, while Katie is slowly consumed by the presence of two fiends: one flesh & blood and the other inhuman. Director Oren Peli uses the standard horror conventions to create a tableau of domestic terrorism, as a young woman is emotionally battered by her boyfriend and stalked by a demonic presence. Filmed in the first person without credits or soundtrack, introduced with a brief acknowledgement of the survivor’s family, Peli seeks to transform a fictional narrative into reality by not severing the audience’s suspension of disbelief. The film is entertaining though it fails to sustain its burden by breaking its own unwritten vow: what could have been a chilling ending is reduced to trite shock tactics and needless explanation. The sheer terror is hidden in the minor occurrences; knockings and footsteps at night, an eerie shadow or soft whisper, or the flicking of lights. We are experiencing the film in real time and are sure that these things cannot be naturally explained, so we expect the bogeyman around every corner. Even a back story concerning Katie’s childhood births the frisson necessary to keep our attention, our imagination racing like a wild pulse, but it’s when Peli must objectively show us the evidence that the illusion becomes a thin ghostly vapor. I think there is a legitimate subtext in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY regarding domestic violence, the all-to-real demon of power and control. Micah sees Katie as an object to own and place in his house; he isn’t as concerned with her welfare as he is in guarding his possession. He is threatened by another force for control of Katie who is torn between the two, a woman whose choice has been exorcized and like any battered woman can’t run away because the abuser will only follow. Micah mugs for the camera, his Cheshire cat persona dominating while Katie is relegated to a subjective pronoun. He lies and breaks his promises then blames her when violence is their domestic equation’s sum total. Their relationship disintegrates within the three weeks of activity but it seems to be on that long road to nowhere, reflected in the scene with the psychic when Micah says “We’re engaged to be engaged”: obviously a reference to his unwillingness to commit. Katie begs him to contact the Demonologist or turn off the camera but only HE knows what’s best for her…and it leads to murder. A modicum of horror homage adds spice to this delectable stew with references to both POLTERGEIST and PSYCHO (with MONTY PYTHON’S HOLY GRAIL thrown in for good measure). The fear is in the things not seen or understood, and Peli begins to show us the monster lurking under the bed…but we’ve all seen that creature feature before. (C)

I recommend de Sica's THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS. I also liked Costa-Gavras' film AMEN. Of course, Resnais great documentary must be seen though it is only a half-hour long.
George, thanks for mentioning ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR! I had never heard of it but it looks very good: hope it's available on DVD.

My wife and I laughed during the first five minutes of the dance sequence...then wanted to punch the guy who kept repeating the same word over and over and over...But the middle sequence with the girl and her cat is indelibly printed upon my psyche.
The Focus DVD (US version) is just awful. I could tell that Tarr's slow tracking shots were using deep focus, but the image was all fuzzy in details and contrast. The UK DVD is much better but this must be seen projected, or released in high definition someday:)
Tarr definitely pushes the boundaries of editing! His film THE MAN FROM LONDON doesn’t cut until approximately twenty minutes into the first act. And he sure does like to film people walking.

Tom, I'm sooooo jealous :) I watched the film in 3 different sittings but I really think it needs to be experienced in one long viewing. The cinematography is hypnotizing...

Good point about the waitress in SHADOW...I know the exact scene and it's an excellent counterpoint to the Coen's style.

Understood bro, though I can only imagine the anger that you feel. In the other post on the film BILLY JACK, this is the anger that Laughlin, who I believe is part Cherokee, uses as a template for the late 60's counter-culture and the clash with a corrupt power structure. I just realized that I spent the weekend watching two films about the genocide of the Native Americans. I'm glad my job doesn't recognize Columbus Day as a holiday...because I sure don't!

All good points Adam! I enjoy many of their films (MILLER'S CROSSING is still my favorite) but my point is how their camera lingers upon these folks, just a bit too long so we get the punchline, who (to me) don't seem real but masks of real people. As in FARGO, making fun of their accents got old very quickly.
But film is representational and not "reality"...so I'm arguing against myself!

Phillip, have you read BLACK ELK? What a great book!