Movies We Have Just Watched, Volume 2 > Likes and Comments
tonight i watched THE MUMMY'S CURSE, a universal horror classic with lon chaney jr. doesn't hold up well at all - it's pretty low-budget and no frills. they chose a nice looking dame to play princess ananka, but apart from that, it's pretty lackluster. there's barely a plot in place, and it looks like the bayous are strictly back-lot universal.it's been a long time since i've seen the original, and in my memory the mummy series are the weakest of the universal horror classics. they can't compare with FRANKENSTEIN, INVISIBLE MAN, THE WOLFMAN, DRACULA (not really my favorite of the lot) or even THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, which, you have to admit, has some campy charm.
Love and Death on Long Island (Richard Kwietniowski, United Kingdom/Canada, 1997)If you loved Mulholland Drive, this film definitely worth checking. The film feels like a circle, which is the ending can be the beginning but still makes you confused and unsastified. It also does eloquently and affectingly explore Giles's situation. "Ronnie, there's nothing more solitary than an artist's life," he finally explains. "One yearns for solace without quite knowing where to look for it." Indeed.
5/5
I went to dinner and then to see Her with a couple of friends. The first thing one of them said at the end of the movie was that she wished we'd seen the movie first and were going to dinner now as she really wanted a chance to discuss the movie. We had a brief, hurried -and all-over-the-map - conversation about it as we were exiting the theatre. can technological changes/advancements be considered part of our evolution? or is the evolution of humanity confined to biological changes?
what biological changes (brain wiring) would occur within us if we developed personal relationships with our technology?
at one point the Operating System (Scarlett Johanssen) asks if her feelings are real or just the result of good programming. does it matter we wondered? if the end result is the same and FEELS the same, does it matter if it originates in a circuit board or a field of firing neurons?
would a society wherein our most satisfying relationship is with an A.I. inherently be seen as a sad development? would we be less human? or could it be a natural development in which our mental and emotional capacity -as well as our morality- is challenged to grow to be more inclusive?
and some of the questions I was asking myself after seeing Her were very much the questions I asked after seeing Certified Copy a couple of years ago. who or what defines what is real? what defines a real relationship? real love? real emotion? how can anyone say whether what an individual feels is real or valid?
the movie is set in the near future and for once the future looks pretty shiny. this is no dystopian society Jonze envisions. and he never tackles the problem of privacy or other challenges facing our near-constant connection to the world wide web - never even hints at them. it's probably just as well that Jonze stayed away from political and social issues .... it would have muddled the story he was telling. he keeps it really clean and in a way simple. he tells a love story. a very believable love story. ... one that can spark a lot of thought.
Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ wrote: "Love and Death on Long Island (Richard Kwietniowski, United Kingdom/Canada, 1997)If you loved Mulholland Drive, this film definitely worth checking. The film feels like a circle, which is the end..."
I don't recall ever hearing about this movie before. given that I'm Canadian, and we really don't put out very many movies, this surprises me. I will definitely look for it. it sounds like one I might like.
Phillip wrote: "tonight i watched THE MUMMY'S CURSE, a universal horror classic with lon chaney jr. doesn't hold up well at all - it's pretty low-budget and no frills. they chose a nice looking dame to play prince..."Yeah, the MUMMY films are pretty silly, by and large. The original one, THE MUMMY, has a lot to recommend it, of course. Good solid atmosphere and one of Karloff's more interesting performances. That opening sequence alone, man.
Love me some CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. If you get a chance to see it in 3D, grab it.
I gotta admit to liking the beginning of ZAK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO--it has that warm feel of all those 80's brat pack movies I liked. I got sleepy and didn't finish the last third, and I have the feeling it was descending more into a cliche..but the first part was pretty entertaining. Maybe I needed a little brain-numbing after 100 pgs of IJest
Tom wrote: "Okay, so this is why I continue to live in NYC:http://www.filmforum.org/pdf/ff2_cal1..."
Holy shit. And that's why I miss living in NYC and my Film Forum membership. The Complete Hitchock. Complete Truffaut. Welles' Othello. I mean, really. Goddamn.
I finally watched the end of the Taiga People---that is a wow movie. It makes you appreciate the flexibility, smarts, and tenacity of the human race. It makes you proud to be human…not too many movies do that these days. Modern life..meh.
Sooz wrote: "I went to dinner and then to see Her with a couple of friends. The first thing one of them said at the end of the movie was that she wished we'd seen the movie first and were going to dinner now a..."great review, sooz.
Tracy wrote: "I finally watched the end of the Taiga People---that is a wow movie. It makes you appreciate the flexibility, smarts, and tenacity of the human race. It makes you proud to be human…not too many m..."i had the same feeling about some of the "technology" that those trappers created with natural objects. it somehow made me proud to be human.
the things that most impressed was how awake these cats are ... how in tune with their environment and not wanting to overstep the balance by over-hunting (more than the individual or family needs).
Tom wrote: "Okay, so this is why I continue to live in NYC:http://www.filmforum.org/pdf/ff2_cal1..."
ack! complete hitchcock! - nice. i just saw most of those this past spring at PFA ... so good. and ALPHAVILLE! - i know you're not such a fan, but that's also golden for me.
well, i'm moving there in september ... soon filmforum will be my backyard! mmwwaahhhaaaahhaaaa!
speaking of really cool french films, i pulled RIFIFI off the shelf tonight and gave it a whirl. this is one of my favorite jules dassin films, made after he was blacklisted in america and came to france and got busy with this masterwork.the story, if you don't know it, involves a fellow named tony, an aging hood just out of prison who bands together with some younger thieves for a jewel heist.
word gets out and a rival goes in pursuit of the 240 million the lads picked up and ... boom, it's on. classic honor (or lack of) among thieves ensues: the jewel heist opens a pandora's box of intrigue and results are the stuff the film is made of.
one of my favorite noir classics. don't miss if if you haven't seen it. criterion sports a great print.
urrrg ... I really want to see Happy People: A Year In The Taiga. Even more so if it makes you feel good about humanity. You're right Tracy ... that is a rare quality! I don't have Netflix though so not sure when that will happen.LOVE LOVE LOVE Alphaville.
Saw ALPHAVILLE a couple times in college -- I might give it a whirl again, but I'm not particularly eager.
Phillip wrote: "well, i'm moving there in september ... soon filmforum will be my backyard! mmwwaahhhaaaahhaaaa! "Are you really moving to NYC? Cool.
I'm not a huge Alphaville guy either but I think it might work better on the big screen.
Sooz wrote: "urrrg ... I really want to see Happy People: A Year In The Taiga. Even more so if it makes you feel good about humanity. You're right Tracy ... that is a rare quality! I don't have Netflix though..."tell your library to get busy with the herzog docs!
Steve wrote: "Phillip wrote: "well, i'm moving there in september ... soon filmforum will be my backyard! mmwwaahhhaaaahhaaaa! "Are you really moving to NYC? Cool."
yes. in september. i'm going to have to make a lot of money (somehow) in order to see all the films i want to see at filmforum. i was in nyc for a month during december and saw 5 stanwyck films there, and 2001 over at ifc, and STALKER at bam ... that's more than i usually see here over the course of a month.
that said, there is a satyajit rey retrospective at PFA right now ... gotta get busy with that.
Stupid PFA doing their stupid S. Ray retrospectives...There's a real feast/famine thing in NYC retro-movie going. Weeks even months of nothing followed by a great mad avalanche of Gotta See At All Costs.
I recommend a membership at Film Forum. They're pretty affordable, and they generally pay for themselves.
speaking of satyajit rey, here's the retrospective coming up at PFA - if you live in the bay area, it should be clear where you need to be hanging out over the next few months:http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmse...
soo jealous of all you city people. And, Sooz, really want to see HER. Even more now.
yeah, the sooz review made me want to see HER. i'm free tonight, so it's on. it's playing at the multi-flux in emeryville, which is less than a mile away.put harriet andersson, my car, in the shop today. please pray for her soul. i can't afford major work right now!
thought that i ordered CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON from netflix, but instead, they sent THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US and REVENGE OF THE CREATURE ... (disc 2 from the universal box set) ... oh well, the sequel isn't quite as good ... and there is so much male pissing contest material (even the female lead take part in it - fun) that, well, it's a more than a little bit silly.
the creature looks good - but not in medical garb. he is wrapped from head to toe in bandages for a while, not sure that's his best look either. but there is, thankfully, a bit of classic creature lusting after female lead - i mean, it wouldn't be a monster movie without it, right? the medical crew, without really trying, transitions him to be more adaptable to land (some yarn about his lungs "reverting" ... uh, yeah; right) and it's possible, i suppose to see the whole affair as a kind of measuring stick between humans (males in particular) and "beasts" ... not sure who is who by the end.
anywho ... i remember now that i saw both films - this and the original in 3-D years ago at the castro ... i'll try to hold that memory and keep it safe.
Phillip / Tracy / Any/Everyone: i am so curious to hear what others think of Her. i am sure there are viewers who found it stupid. boring. or both. i am sure there are viewers who thought it was a dystopian version of the future despite shiny city buildings, clean streets and the lack of visible homelessness, poverty, invasion of privacy and other current tech issues. i am sure there are viewers who saw the apparent lack of human contact as very dystopian. that's the mark of a great movie right? when there can be so many different takes on the same material? when there can be so much discussion of ideas and view points?
p.s. good luck with your car Phillip! and yes i will exert whatever influence i have to get more Herzog in public libraries!
Sooz wrote: "Phillip / Tracy / Any/Everyone: i am so curious to hear what others think of Her. i am sure there are viewers who found it stupid. boring. or both. i am sure there are viewers who thought it wa..."I am going to try to go to see it this afternoon, Sooz, if I get done with my travel prep--going to Savannah next week--cool, spooky old city, if you've never been, like a clean N'Orleans…I will report back!
Phillip: I too, tend to hang onto and have romances with my cars…my present one was new in 1998 and I'm thinking of adding some sort of odd liner to the interior roof that is imploding , like a jungle print! rather than ditch the car, which has given me little troubles. But, I spent the majority of my adult life in cars from the 70s that gave me molte probleme : Dodge Swinger, a Rabbit--ugh! the worst! a Plymouth Fury (missing the passenger side window), a 73 brown Nova with one green door, a copper colored Mustang II (I cracked the block on a looooong trip), a big ol' olive drab LTD that got about 8 mpg and took only regular gas…then I graduated to 80's Toyotas)))) Удачи!!
car: harriet andersson is unwell. i have to lead her to pasture. her potential repair bill is larger than her worth - if i had limitless financial resources, i would encourage her to have the operation she needs (basically, give her a new motor from the ground up), but alas, i am unable to authorize said repair.she has served me well. i can still use her to drive to the store and such, but she cannot go out on the open road and take me to los angeles, or, as i need to do next month, the indian lands in the southwest.
and so, it's a new car. i'm looking. i think i've found one. it may be that, for a moment, i polygamous, and will love two vehicles at once. i'm not sure i can handle it.
ok, thanks for surviving that last post. i apologize and offer to atone by discussing, or describing, or sharing my thoughts on HER.i thought, apart from one or two moments where the delivery system got a bit wonky, that it really worked. it's possible you know the set up for the film, which is set in the future, and features a man who has a relationship with an "operating system" .. which is, basically, a personality construct that lives in a computer. you can have a male or female voice accompany your operating system and it will speak to you. it knows you, because it can read everything in your computer - so it knows your contacts, it reads all of your email, your correspondence, papers or letters that you write, it is privy to your photographs - it sees experiences that you have chosen to document.
and the more that it knows, and the more that you communicate with it, the more "alive" it becomes. the more information it has to access, the more it can tune into you.
that's the set up.
joaquin phoenix is the perfect guy for the role - he is somehow able to bottle up a lot of emotions we never see or experience - not unlike a computer - you look at it, and you know it has a lot of information in there and you may never know all of what it knows.
scarlett johansen, whom i normally have issues with, was really excellent as the voice of our protagonists' operating system. you feel her presence, you feel her engage with our hero in ways that seem human. the way that that the two characters engage with one another seems real, feels real.
rooney mara and amy adams (again, someone i usually can't stand, but thought she was quite good here) have fine supporting roles that play both sides of the past/future fulcrum of man vs OS in present tense.
and spike jonze seems the right director for the job. he's able to create a reality on screen that seems embedded with fantasy and fiction - where anything can happen.
so it's a nice mixture of elements and i think it works. again, there is one scene in particular where i wasn't feeling something they were trying very hard to make me feel, but apart from that, i really enjoyed the film. don't want to say too much about what happens, because, you know, i'm the kind of guy that thinks the less you know about a film before you go in, the better. but i will say that i thought they did a good job of taking the story where it would go if it were "real life" ...
check it out.
Tom wrote: "Stupid PFA doing their stupid S. Ray retrospectives...There's a real feast/famine thing in NYC retro-movie going. Weeks even months of nothing followed by a great mad avalanche of Gotta See At A..."
i'm a PFA member, and i always think it's a great deal. i'm sure i'll become a FF member. positive. something you can bank on.
speaking of PFA, i'm off to see THE MUSIC ROOM tonight at 6:30. can't tell you how happy i am about that. i've never experienced rey on the big screen, and i think that film is a great opportunity to get a foothold. lots more to come over the next few months.
Saw HER and loved it. Marvelous. Moving, funny, thought-provoking, understated and restrained in all the very best ways. Beautifully done on every level. The romance with the OS is handsomely done, never descending into mere sitcom cleverness. Worked for me.The sci-fi elements are remarkably muted -- you kind of gradually realize that certain elements seem rather unusual, like the extensive train system that L.A. suddenly possesses.
You could tug at certain elements in the movie, if you've a mind to -- I think there's a terribly funny comedy to made somewhere about what's going on at the offices of the company that made the OS. But no, don't go there. Just go and be surprised and moved, and surprised at how moved you'll be.
Comparisons are odious, and all, but damn -- why on earth is anyone bothering with that AMERICAN HUSTLE shit when glories like BEFORE MIDNIGHT, GRAVITY, WOLF OF WALL STREET and HER are available for your viewing pleasure?
Phillip wrote: "ok, thanks for surviving that last post. i apologize and offer to atone by discussing, or describing, or sharing my thoughts on HER.So P, you must share with me what scene didn't work for you. Tell me in a private message, if you wish.
I have failed…I went to see HER, and, can you believe it? It was sold out!! I haven't been to a sold out movie in 8 years here--usually it's just me and maybe 20 others tops. I guess it is because my town is going nuts with tourists since we got a write up in the New York Times and a London paper about being a great secret destination…I will try again tomorrow in the afternoon, less movie traffic.Sorry about Harriet, Phillip. New cars can be exciting?
Tom, missed any post of yours about Wolf of Wall Street. You liked? I recall you haven't been nuts about Scorsese lately.
Tracy wrote: "I have failed…I went to see HER, and, can you believe it? It was sold out!! I haven't been to a sold out movie in 8 years here--usually it's just me and maybe 20 others tops. I guess it is becaus..."go see it. it's worth fighting the crowds.
had a really shitty film experience - went to pacific film archive 30 minutes early for satyajit rey's THE MUSIC ROOM, and it was sold out (when the hell are they going to stop talking about it and actually build that newer, bigger theater??? ). and so ... frustrated, pissed off, muttering the word fuck over and over again, i rode my bike down the avenue to the landmark shattuck to see what was happening there. i almost saw HER again, but i thought, no, don't go there. it was really good, but move on. so, what did i do? i saw AMERICAN HUSTLE and had to force myself to sit through it. seriously - i kept thinking this is bullshit, PG - walk out of the theater already.
i am mindful that it may have been that i was in a frustrated mood, but really, there was almost nothing going on in that movie. it felt like a couple of high school kids wrote the script (no disrespect to any of the young folks who populate this discussion group!). there was a lot of talent on the screen but nothing was happening. jennifer lawrence had three scenes that she just knocked out of the park - but the rest of it felt incredibly flat. i was bored stiff ... all style and no substance.
the real shame - for me anyway - is that the era they are spoofing (or whatever the hell they're doing) is the 1970's, which, imo, was one of the most fertile periods in american cinema - directors were going out on limbs and the studios were mostly keeping their hands off the projects - just letting directors do their thing, and lots of great things happened: CHINATOWN, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, NASHVILLE, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, TAXI DRIVER, THE CONVERSATION, THE GODFATHER and the list goes on and on. so, for me, if you're going to play around with the 70's, and why not? DO SOMETHING WORTH WHILE. don't make a hack film without tension that looks good but sits there, dead in the water.
Tom wrote: "So P, you must share with me what scene didn't work for you. Tell me in a private message, if you wish..."SPOILERS of a most private nature afoot ...
well, the sex scene. i liked that it was presented in the dark and you couldn't see anything, but i don't know - it felt weird to me - i mean, it was funny for a second and then it wasn't. that was the one moment in the film when i was squirming and wasn't sure why. maybe i'm prudish? but i don't think so. i'm very picky about sex scenes, i will say that. i tend to think most sex in cinema doesn't work - it might just be my hang up. i think the dark screen was the right choice, but the dialogue and/or the lack of dialogue ... i don't know. i really want to see the film again now.
Tom wrote: "Saw HER and loved it. Marvelous. Moving, funny, thought-provoking, understated and restrained in all the very best ways. Beautifully done on every level. The romance with the OS is handsomely d..."i'm so glad you liked it!
Steve wrote: "Tom, missed any post of yours about Wolf of Wall Street. You liked? I recall you haven't been nuts about Scorsese lately."indeed. he raved. which got me out of the house to see it, and i was so glad that i did. it's fantastic, see it if you haven't yet had the chance.
Beau Travail / Good Work (Claire Denis, France/Djibouti, 1999)Maybe there are no other films that spurt out the word "Testosterone" than this film. Denise mixing her sense of poetic, music, and the daily live of French Legion in Djibouti into a beautiful rythmical editing. The scene where Denis Lavant dances ecstatically in the end of the movie justify a great comparison in his previous role in an interesting movie by Leos Carax, titled Les Amants du Pont-Neuf.
5/5
Steve -- yeah, I dug WOLF OF WALL STREET, for me Scorsese's best film in decades, a brutal satire on American love of money and lack of basic human decency. Go and enjoy.
In re: Phillip's spoiler --Yeah, I know what you mean. I thought it was handled as well as it could be handled. I'll cop to occasionally thinking that Phoenix's character was a little too utterly spineless. He never seems to be aware that he's falling in love with a product.
I didn't look. and I'm going in T minus 59 minutes...
Tom wrote: "In re: Phillip's spoiler --Yeah, I know what you mean. I thought it was handled as well as it could be handled. I'll cop to occasionally thinking that Phoenix's character was a little too utter..."
which kind of makes it work ... i liked rooney mara's reaction when he tells her he's dating. he doesn't begin to get the irony. her reaction, and the way it changes through the scene was great.
Tracy wrote: "I didn't look. and I'm going in T minus 59 minutes..."go tracy!
Ok..now I can read the spoiler, uh huh, uh huh, hmmm. Wow, Phillip, maybe there's a reason you and I both had bad movie karma last night. After being SOLD OUT, I also ended up so disgruntled that I didn't see ANYTHING--too grumpy to wait 2 hours. Then, I lost my parking garage ticket, and got an old movie ticket stamped instead, but the garage wouldn't take it and made me pay full price, even though I'd only been there 15 minutes.
I completely agree with you about movie sex/romance scenes in general Phillip--I am picky, too, and really can't think of too many good ones, that I like. I'd rather see Lauren Bacall say, "You know how to whistle, don't you Steve?" or the wife at the end of Stalker. To me that's hot. I especially don't like talky ones. I'm trying to think of one I like-maybe the love scene in the Russian musical SWINGERS (Стиляги)--they sing during it, which seems like it wouldn't work, but it does!
Well, someone jar my memory with a good one. When I was a kid, I liked when Paul Newman snuck up on Katherine Ross unbuttoning her blouse and said "OK, teacher lady…jus' keep goin' " in Butch Cassidy but that was probably because it was the first suggestive movie I ever saw--I was 9, went with my Grandma Lou, and she tried to cover my eyes))))
I figured I needed to make a separate box to discuss HER. The sex scene first, and I'm assuming you don't mean the surrogate sex scene. I do agree with Tom: it was handled about as well as it could be. However, improved writing in that scene could have made it more subtle??
Before the movie, I was trying to imagine how they were going to handle the sex scenes. I was picturing something like this Sci-Fi show I have been watching called Black Mirror (check it out everyone) where the main guy's apartment walls are like a giant 3-D monitor, and when I saw Joaquin's apartment where he played his video game I thought, Uh, oh, here comes Barbarella..
So, I thought they handled it better than that. (Did I avoid Spoilers?) Anything that even mildly smacks of a bad porno goes south for me. I think that's why I didn't like the talky part at the beginning before the empty screen. I LIKED the empty screen effect….
In total, I loved the movie. It had a good vibe, and I think better than his other experiments, Adaptation and John Malkovich. I also like that there was little question about the reality of the romance.
The photography was quite beautiful, and I kept wondering how much was CGI, but I waited around to watch all the credits, and I think most of the city scenes were filmed on location in Shanghai--which if you've ever seen pictures, is a crazily futuristic looking city. Some of my students live there.
I watched Dreyer's VAMPYR today, in the lovely Criterion dvd. Such a strange fever dream of a film -- there's not much of a plot, just a lot of strangeness that more or less works, as you like. I liked.
ok, as you were ...