Fear Of A Blank Planet

[Jake Aesthete]

How is the voice-over pretentious (precious possibly, but that's something else)? Malick always uses pretty basic language, the characters never speak in a way that doesn't fit who they are. His characters are average people trying to articulate very profound things, but using the everyday vocabulary that they have. It's always simple, never verbose or long-winded at all. It's poetic, sure, but akin to the everyday, plainspoken poetry of Robert Frost.

[Passenger]

Y Tu Mamá También – Alfonso Cuarón - 2001

Cuarón and Lubezki must be the best director/cinematographer team working today, the film is elaborate to the extreme but yet completely adequate for the enthusiasm and fast pace of the story. The 3 main actors live their characters with unbelievable intensity. It’s like everyone involved in the making of this film completely trusted each other and just wanted to make a film that was extremely honest and still had something to say about the contrasts in a society as idiosyncratic as the Mexican one. I’d say mission accomplished. Maribel Verdu isn’t exactly pretty but she has a fabulous body and a lot of sex appeal

silicon tits that look stiffened swollen tumors is not what i'd consider part of a fabulous body.
but the film is great, i agree.

[kiddo]

I liked some stuff about it, the structure and the realism are impressive, but if I look at the film from any other perspective it's not different from so many other negligently made Italian horror films. It's not because Deodato is a good director that this works, it's just that the violence is extreme, and the case with these films is that the most extreme eventually becomes the most notorious.

So Deodato had nothing to do with the film's structure? Sorry to nag, but your argumentation doesn't make much sense.

Glad you enjoyed Night and Dawn! Now watch the third one - one of the most perfect films ever made.

[Jewellrunner]

Glad you liked Great Expectations and felt it was underrated as well. And, of course, glad you loved The Thin Red Line!

Booo, for your thoughts on All the Real Girls though.

[Passenger]

I liked some stuff about it, the structure and the realism are impressive, but if I look at the film from any other perspective it's not different from so many other negligently made Italian horror films. It's not because Deodato is a good director that this works, it's just that the violence is extreme, and the case with these films is that the most extreme eventually becomes the most notorious.

So Deodato had nothing to do with the film's structure? Sorry to nag, but your argumentation doesn't make much sense.

Glad you enjoyed Night and Dawn! Now watch the third one - one of the most perfect films ever made.

I was talking about the screenplay's structure, not design.

Will try to watch Day, I know you have it on your list

Glad you liked Great Expectations and felt it was underrated as well. And, of course, glad you loved The Thin Red Line!

Booo, for your thoughts on All the Real Girls though.

[Passenger]

11/07/2009 - Charade – Stanley Donen - 1963

Fun.

8/10

10/07/2009 - The Beekeeper – Theo Angelopoulos - 1986

Strong and vivid portrait of alienation and solitude. Angelopoulos’ characters seem to be always going through phases of intense introspection and their behaviour can appear erratic. Sometimes they may find other loners in the process, which can lead them to fall deeper into melancholy and suffer with confrontation or abandonment or to find some peace of mind through simple gestures of compassion or solidarity. In The Beekeeper we get the first scenario. Spyros’ family is disintegrated. They all seem to be distant or even want distance from each other, but there are presently no real problems between any of them. Spyros undertakes a journey through Greece with his beehives to collect honey from different regions of the country and, in the process, meets a frivolous girl, whose life seems to be composed of constant travelling, never settling down in one place. I don’t know if anyone has ever mentioned this, but Spyros seems very attached to his younger daughter in the beginning. She weds and is about to leave the family house forever. Her older sister went away many years before. Their brother is studying in Athens. Before we see the bride go away, Spyros takes her in his arms like a baby, sings her a lullaby and embraces her with love. When he meets the girl in his trip, his adoration for his child seems to be the main reason why he beings to care for the girl and wanting to protect her, feelings that intensify with time and proximity, so much so that he starts to try to keep other men away from the girl, wanting to keep her closer and closer to him. She likes it and teases him. Spyros is mostly silent yet clearly doesn’t have any idea of what he’s doing or what he should do about the girl, but eventually gives in to his sexual urges (urges he might have for his daughter as well, but has constantly tried to repress?) and the balance is shattered. Everything seems so fragile. Comparing it to Eternity And A Day and Landscape In The Mist, it’s not as allegorical as the first nor as poetic as the second, it’s not as complex in technical terms, there aren’t nearly as many sequence shots, it’s a more restful film on the surface, but it’s still definitely an Angelopoulos film. And it’s probably Mastroianni’s best performance ever. It's probably a 9/10, but I liked the other 2 a little bit better...

8/10

Eternity And A Day – Theo Angelopoulos - 1998

Slow and lingering, Bruno Ganz is wonderful and Angelopoulos’ directing is masterful, just perfect. I loved the little details like the cyclists in the yellow suits and the unidentified neighbour, you know when a film is full of stuff that contributes with little to the story but somehow elevates the film to a more personal and unique level? This is full of that.

9/10

Landscape In The Mist – Theo Angelopoulos - 1988

Feels like Fellini and Tarkovsky doing a film together, if you’re a fan of both you have to see this. It’s incredibly beautiful and it features some incredible long takes. The film is very agile in dealing with very mature subjects and present them through the eyes of children. The scene where

[Reveal] Spoiler:

the little girl is raped by the truck driver

is one of the most chilling scenes I’ve ever seen, and you don’t see or hear anything at all. Loved this!

9/10

The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow - 2008

I don’t get the hype around this, it’s basically half a dozen sequences, each portraying a different way a bomb squad’s mission can end. In one the bomb is defused, in another one someone from the team dies, in another one etc, the next one this and that and the last one yada yada. And someone is addicted to war. And there are irrelevant cameos by Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse and Evangeline Lilly. And the directing is just about as random and unremarkable as it gets. There’s a scene involving a regretful suicide bomber that’s worth watching – you can do it outside the context if you want, it’s near the end.

4/10

Rosetta - Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne - 1999

The abrupt ending (something that exists in The Son as well) didn’t work for me and I didn’t feel the same intimidating atmosphere I felt in The Son. I did care for Rosetta, she tries to stabilize her life in honest ways, but eventually decides to betray what she believes in in order to get a job, it’s tough, tough life, tough choices, but there’s so much in between besides that and some things, while clearly important, didn’t interest me much, like her feud with the guy who runs the camp she’s in and the clothes her mother repairs so she can sell them. Both this and The Son present a simple dilemma, but that’s not the main focus here in Rosetta, and the film loses steam because of that.

6/10

The Son – Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne - 2002

Minimalist to the extreme. Even though I usually don’t consider myself a fan of hand-held camerawork, the way its used here brilliantly exteriorizes the silent suffering of the main character and his solitude I really like how the past is revealed to us in little pieces, one at a time, until the end comes and the characters confront that very past in the present. The atmosphere, the textures, are captivating and claustrophobic. Olivier Gourmet’s performance has to count as one of the most hypnotic ever, excellent work.

8/10

[drone]

I like your reviews of Theo Angelopoulos' work. I look forward to finally watching some of his stuff.

[sardis]

Looking forward to the Beekeeper. Also can't wait to hear about The Traveling Players. I am not sure if the download was a complete film yet. It is quite long and I scanned to the end but didn't see any credits? Anyway thanks for letting me download with you.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

Sardis, that's actually the complete film. Amazing film, wasn't it?

[sardis]

Sardis, that's actually the complete film. Amazing film, wasn't it?

So you have seen already.

[Jewellrunner]

I don't know why I still haven't seen any Angelopoulos. I need to get one that. I also need to see Rosetta. I haven't seen a Dardenne film in a while.

[Passenger]

I should mention something else, I go to the swimming pool twice a week and a few months ago, for whatever reason, I was the only person there and had this whole semi-olympic pool for myself, and it dawned to me that there’s nothing I find more comfortable than big, empty public spaces. I was reminded of that as I was watching these Angelopoulos films because there’s always an empty road, a deserted beach, a bus with no passengers that his characters go through and I’m reasonably sociable but I do like some solitude sometimes and I just connected strongly with the characters because everything they think or anywhere they go to seemed like exactly what I seek when I’m alone. It can be unbelievably fulfilling to have a scarce or no company at all and go by places you normally associate with big crowds and with fraternization when the aren’t in use, you’re seeing them in a different way and that immediately makes me think about whatever I have in mind at the time in new ways too. Truth be told, what I really like are tits, but since they’re attached to women in order to have some in my line of sight sometimes I have to pretend I like people too, so I naturally compensate that with these moments where I have to have no one around me but not be stuck at home avoiding contact on purpose and I’m pretty sure Angelopoulos would understand exactly what I’m talking about (and Fellini would too). I will most definitely watch more of his stuff in the future, because, basically, I feel like the guy is reading that part of me like an open book. I can recommend Landscape In The Mist, I can recommend Eternity And A Day, I can recommend The Beekeeper, but, be warned, they aren't easy films.

[G.M.]

I had a fantastic nighttime drive yesterday and was thinking along the same lines. Absolutely deserted roads for almost two hours. Just wonderful. I will have to check out one of these films.

Truth be told, what I really like are tits

[warthog]

deserted roads are fun when you breath em, smell em and can choose where to look...watching a 10 minute shot of it not so much =)

[G.M.]

deserted roads are fun when you breath em, smell em and can choose where to look...watching a 10 minute shot of it not so much =)

Maybe so. In any case, I always make sure to drive with the windows down at a time like that. In the country during the summer there is almost always the smell of fire (also the smell of shit in certain places).

[Passenger]

Night-time drives are the best, maybe stop at some sleazy gas station along the way... That's half of The Beekeeper, G.M. you'll like that one

[sardis]

[quote="G.M."]:praise: I had a fantastic nighttime drive yesterday and was thinking along the same lines. Absolutely deserted roads for almost two hours. Just wonderful. I will have to check out one of these films.


I experience this every night. Usually listen to a jazz station on the radio.

[Jos]

[Passenger]

16/07/2009 – Few Of Us – Sharunas Bartas - 1996

I much preferred Three Days, its bleak urban environments and the alienated youngsters wandering around to this, although it’s yet another completely unique and very evocative film by Bartas. I also thought Golubeva’s character was more mysterious and compelling in Three Days, and I was waiting for a moment like her breaking into tears in that film to come up here, but it didn’t and that left me feeling cold.

6/10

16/07/2009 – The African Queen – John Huston - 1951

Huston has these naturalistic films where it’s all just about the characters and the environment they’re in, like The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre and even Key Largo, and I’d put The African Queen on that list as well, even though I think it’s a lesser film. I guess Bogart and Hepburn are okay in this, but it just drags and drags, first there’re some rapids, then they stop for tea, then some more rapids, then they stop for tea, then some more rapids, then they stop for tea and love-making, and lastly, and this is the highlight of the film for me, they’re captured by a German boat, the captain marries them and gives order for them to be killed, uttering the delicious line “I pronounce you men and women; proceed with the hanging”. Still, not a very good classic.

6/10

15/07/2009 – Twilight – Catherine Hardwicke - 2008



2/10

12/07/2009 – Midnight Express – Alan Parker – 1978

Very intense, despite some dead moments. Some good interpretations, especially John Hurt. It’s based on a true story, I don’t know to what extent, but if someone managed to escape a Turkish prison like Billy here, what a lucky bastard he was. What’s interesting about Midnight Express is that it clearly establishes that the main character is guilty and the question is more about how the law handles the punishment.

7/10

[warthog]

That scene when his girlfriend visits him is fucking priceless man

[wigwam]

2/10

[Simon M.]

frankly i would've preferred the Picard...

[Passenger]

There you go stealing bandwidth again Mr. M.

That scene when his girlfriend visits him is fucking priceless man

Damn, that was terrible. And then there's the baseball scene. My brain has been permanently damaged.

[AgentKnight]

this one is great

[Passenger]