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Zogo posted:new #19 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - I finally finished watching the first two seasons of the show. 5/17/24 I love this now but when I first watched it I had the typical "that's it!?" reaction of many Twin Peaks fans before it was reappraised, especially after the new season came out. Feels silly of me in retrospect! Hope you can enjoy it without issue now that it's free from that baggage. 16. Alice dir. Jan Švankmajer (1988) I've returned! Sorry for the delay on getting tot his pick. Really enjoyed this! Lots of wonderful little freaks. It's been a long while since I read either Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass, but this really takes the more menacing bits I remember and runs with them. I think I would have really enjoyed this as a child, very morbid and fun. Big contrast between this and the Tim Burton film, which might be my least favorite film ever made. My biggest complaint is there was no Cheshire Cat, a shame to leave a cat out of a movie that should have one. I was intending to watch this on a DVD that I stole from netflix but that was an english dub, luckily I found a version of the original Czech on youtube. That was also in better quality so win-win. My List - Ownership Shame: 1. A Room in Town (Une Chambre en Ville) (1982) - The last film to watch from my Jacques Demy criterion set - 1/14/24 4. Murs Murs (1981) - Never met a Varda I didn't like - 1/14/24 5. The Round-Up (1966) - Got this (and The Red and the White) to fill out an order from Kino Lorber, have been interested in Jansco for a while but never tried - 1/14/24 6. Revenge (1990) - From one of the World Cinema Sets I own - 1/14/24 14. The Baron of Arizona (1950) - Sam Peckinpah directing a western with Vincent Price, what's not to like - 2/8/24 Other: 7. Coeur Fidele (1923) - A french silent from a filmmaker I've liked several shorts from - 1/14/24 9. High School (1969) - I've seen several of Frederick Wiseman's films and liked them a lot, but he has so many it's kind of daunting to pick one specifically to watch. So do it for me! - 1/14/24 17. A New Leaf (1971) - I love Mikey and Nicky, I figure it's about time I got to seeing Elaine May's other films - 3/4/24 18. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) The first is one of my all time favorites and this has Dennis Hopper, but I guess its kinda mixed reputation has scared me off for a while - 3/13/24 19. The Leopard (Il gattopardo) (1963) - I've been meaning to watch this basically ever since I first found out about the Criterion collection but have just not gotten around to it - 5/19/24 Deshamed (9): Far From Heaven (2002), To Die For (1995), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), The Night of the Hunted (1980), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Legend of the Mountain (1979), Ran (1985), Wavelength (1967), Alice (1988)
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May 19, 2024 05:52
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 18:44 |
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On that note, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a masterpiece! Much like Fire Walk With Me, and anything, a mixed reception doesn't tell me much. And maybe this is bias of looking for stuff I wanna find, but I feel like TCM2 has been considered a beloved cult classic for a long time. And these two flavors coexist nicely, since Blue Velvet and TCM2 are both 1986 Dennis Hopper comeback movies!
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May 19, 2024 05:55
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Dennis Hopper is one of the all time, greats crazy career full of bonafide classics and weirdo low budget stuff. I'm looking forward to TCM2 when someone picks it for me. Another youtube find find: watch him out of his mind in 80s Berlin in White Star (1983) I watched this a few years back and I wouldn't call it great but he's pretty magnetic in it. Oh, and I'll also second The Fablemans being really good. I'm honestly not the biggest Spielberg fan but that one really works for me.
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May 19, 2024 06:24
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Scones are Good posted:18. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) The first is one of my all time favorites and this has Dennis Hopper, but I guess its kinda mixed reputation has scared me off for a while - 3/13/24 "Dog will hunt." Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - If I had to pick one way to summarize the first two seasons of the show I'd say it was about eating pies and donuts and drinking coffee.* Not a murder mystery, not chess, not cocaine, not fashion, not aliens, not serial killers et al. Anyway, when the second season ended it brought to mind Us (2019). But this film brings to life many allusions from the beginning of the series. Lots of slow FBI investigatory work and the familiar surreal stuff. It conjures up the spirit of the first few episodes of season one. And it touches on the content found in many other Lynch films. Basically the darkness lurking within quaint people and quaint locales. It brought to mind Eyes Wide Shut as well. *The Log Lady introduction from episode 26 being the thesis: "Pie. Whoever invented the pie? Here was a great person. In Twin Peaks, we specialize in cherry pie and huckleberry pie. We do have many other types of pie, and at the Double R Diner, Norma knows how to make them all better than anyone I have ever known. I hope Norma likes me. I know I like her and respect her. I have spit my pitch gum out of my mouth onto her walls and floors and sometimes onto her booths. Sometimes I get angry and do things I'm not proud of. I do love Norma's pies. I love pie with coffee." James Bond versus Godzilla (52/66 completed): Hesitation (168 completed): #158 Running on Empty - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFQKvtbD6Kw 11/8/23 #161 An Actor's Revenge - This one gets glowing reviews from the critics but doesn't get mentioned that often. 11/27/23 #169 Coming Home - I haven't seen a Hal Ashby film lately. 4/4/24 #172 Stray Dog - One of the acclaimed Kurosawa films I haven't seen. 5/17/24 new #173 Phase IV - I keep hearing plaudits about this one. 5/22/24 Mr. Showbiz's Readers' Picks: The 100 Best Movies of All Time (99/100 completed): #92 A Time to Kill - Samuel L. Jackson's character is very angry. 4/4/24 Spike Lee's 95 Essential Films (88/95 completed): Miracle in Milan - It sounds like a special comedy. 2/5/24 Black Rain - Not to be confused with the Ridley Scott film (which shares the same title and same release year). 2/11/24 The Train - Sounds similar to The Monuments Men. 2/24/24 Swept Away - I've seen the remake starring Madonna but not the original. 5/7/24
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May 22, 2024 22:40
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Zogo posted:#158 Running on Empty - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFQKvtbD6Kw 11/8/23 I don't know anything about this movie, but when I was in high school my family went to go see Tom Petty and an older woman was hitting on me by saying I had "Jackson Browne hair." Watched The Apartment (1960) Bud Baxter (Jack Lemmon), minor cog in a huge insurance firm and all-around pushover, has found a unique way to climb the corporate ladder: letting executives use his apartment as a love hotel for their various mistresses. Bud keeps getting nicer offices, but comes to a crossroads when he finds out his crush, elevator operator Fran (Shirley MacLaine), is being jerked around by the married company bigwig Jeff Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray). It's a rom-com, but there's just as much drama in the mix, too, with tons of bittersweet moments and even some surprisingly heavy plot developments. Lemmon and MacLaine are charming and well-rounded characters, and the movie is funny and engaging, but what I wasn't prepared for was how GORGEOUS it looks. How often do you see a comedy get Oscar nods for Cinematography, Editing, and Art Direction (the last of which it actually won)? Not often, but it's well-deserved here. I legitimately think the way Wilder shoots the sprawling, cavernous office floor of the insurance company influenced Orson Welles on The Trial a couple of years later. I've enjoyed every Billy Wilder movie I've seen, but this might have shot straight to the top because not just for pure entertainment value, but for connecting to the characters more than I have in his other pictures. LIST OF SHAME: 19. True Stories (1986) (added 09-30-22): I've been a diehard Talking Heads fan for almost as long as I've followed pop music, but I've never seen this musical comedy, David Byrne's sole directorial credit for a feature film. 21. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) (added 04-03-23): A big influence on my favorite film, The Royal Tenenbaums. 26. Night on Earth (1991) (added 08-20-23): The only Jarmusch I haven't seen (aside from the music docs). 27. The New World (2005) (added 09-01-23): The biggest gap in my Terrence Malick viewing. 31. Belle de Jour (1967) (added 12-07-23): Perhaps a bit more of a conventional narrative than I'm used to from Buñuel. 34. Laura (1944) (added 02-08-24): Adding a little film noir to the mix. 35. Rio Bravo (1959) (added 03-03-24): I'll take a recommendation from John Carpenter any day. 37. Pink Flamingos (1972) (added 03-31-24): Let's get filthy. 38. First Blood (1982) (added 04-10-24): Never saw any Rambo movies growing up, despite being an '80s kid. (and introducing...) 39. Logan's Run (1976) (added 06-06-24): A little high-concept '70s sci-fi. SHAME OVERCOME (29 and counting): Midnight Cowboy (1969); E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982); The Prestige (2006); Singin' in the Rain (1952); Schindler's List (1993); Heat (1995); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); Tootsie (1982); The Searchers (1956); Lawrence of Arabia (1962); Caddyshack (1980); Come and See (1985); Purple Rain (1984); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); M (1931); Planet of the Apes (1968); The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); Brokeback Mountain (2005); Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989); A Streetcar Named Desire (1951); Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957); Godzilla (1954); The Iron Giant (1999); Tokyo Story (1953); A Woman Under the Influence (1974); The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928); McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971); Face/Off (1997); The Apartment (1960)
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Jun 7, 2024 00:43
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Crescent Wrench posted:21. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) (added 04-03-23): A big influence on my favorite film, The Royal Tenenbaums. Some of the best film narration ever. Try not to be too heartbroken when you read about everything that happened with the edit behind the scenes. And I agree that The Apartment might be the best Wilder, what a great movie. 18. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 dir. Tobe Hooper (1986) Has definite pleasures: Dennis Hopper chewing it up and having a chainsaw battle, fun sets with crazy lighting, once the whole family is together they're fun to watch ham it up. I don't mind that they went for a different tone than the original, being a no budget production in the early 70s is so integral to its atmosphere that it would just be hubris to try to recreate it in a different era. Much smarter to be its own, deciedly 80s thing. What does hold this back however is that while TCM is totally relentless once the killing starts, every time I re-watch it I'm shocked all over at just how quickly and brutally everyone aside from Sally dies, this has scenes that just take way to long to get to point for it to keep up any kind of pressure. The Vietnam vet bit in the radio station should have been like half as long at most, we see more than we need to of Hopper sawing through support beams, the rehash of Dinner With Grandpa. Stop loving around and scare me! My List - Ownership Shame: 1. A Room in Town (Une Chambre en Ville) (1982) - The last film to watch from my Jacques Demy criterion set - 1/14/24 4. Murs Murs (1981) - Never met a Varda I didn't like - 1/14/24 5. The Round-Up (1966) - Got this (and The Red and the White) to fill out an order from Kino Lorber, have been interested in Jansco for a while but never tried - 1/14/24 6. Revenge (1990) - From one of the World Cinema Sets I own - 1/14/24 14. The Baron of Arizona (1950) - Sam Peckinpah directing a western with Vincent Price, what's not to like - 2/8/24 Other: 7. Coeur Fidele (1923) - A french silent from a filmmaker I've liked several shorts from - 1/14/24 9. High School (1969) - I've seen several of Frederick Wiseman's films and liked them a lot, but he has so many it's kind of daunting to pick one specifically to watch. So do it for me! - 1/14/24 17. A New Leaf (1971) - I love Mikey and Nicky, I figure it's about time I got to seeing Elaine May's other films - 3/4/24 19. The Leopard (Il gattopardo) (1963) - I've been meaning to watch this basically ever since I first found out about the Criterion collection but have just not gotten around to it - 5/19/24 20. L'Age d'Or (1930) - Classic surrealist silent, really have no good reason I haven't watched this yet - 6/7/24 Deshamed (10): Far From Heaven (2002), To Die For (1995), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), The Night of the Hunted (1980), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Legend of the Mountain (1979), Ran (1985), Wavelength (1967), Alice (1988), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
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Jun 7, 2024 23:11
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Scones are Good posted:20. L'Age d'Or (1930) - Classic surrealist silent, really have no good reason I haven't watched this yet - 6/7/24 I'm a fan of this one, so my apologies for not letting it linger on your list while older ones get cleared out. Watched The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) This was Orson Welles's follow-up to Citizen Kane, which may be the least enviable position a movie could possibly be put in. It's a great film, obviously, but far less ambitious in the final edit (not the director's fault). It's a pretty linear story of how George, the spoiled, unambitious heir to the Amberson fortune, takes his lavish lifestyle for granted and has no concern for anything or anyone else. But he basically starts and ends the movie as a spoiled brat, so he's leagues less compelling than Charles Foster Kane. The ending also undercuts the satisfaction of seeing him get his comeuppance, which would have kept the intended arc of this being a slow, inexorable downfall. Citizen Kane curve aside, of course, this is an expertly crafted film, and fairly tight at under 90 minutes. Wes Anderson has cited this as one of the biggest influences on The Royal Tenenbaums (my favorite movie), from the title to the themes of the once-great family in decay. I even read an interview where Wes said the Tenenbaum house was chosen in large part because of the similarities with the Amberson mansion. I did also look up the changes made when Welles lost control of the final edit. Knowing that this had happened, the studio-mandated happy (or happier at least) ending seemed even more tacked-on. But the real loss is the extra hour of footage that was removed and is now lost. I haven't read up on what the missing scenes covered, although I wouldn't be surprised if there was more time given to the themes regarding how rapid changes in technology (especially the automobile) were dragging society at large through even faster changes. What could have been! LIST OF SHAME: 19. True Stories (1986) (added 09-30-22): I've been a diehard Talking Heads fan for almost as long as I've followed pop music, but I've never seen this musical comedy, David Byrne's sole directorial credit for a feature film. 26. Night on Earth (1991) (added 08-20-23): The only Jarmusch I haven't seen (aside from the music docs). 27. The New World (2005) (added 09-01-23): The biggest gap in my Terrence Malick viewing. 31. Belle de Jour (1967) (added 12-07-23): Perhaps a bit more of a conventional narrative than I'm used to from Buñuel. 34. Laura (1944) (added 02-08-24): Adding a little film noir to the mix. 35. Rio Bravo (1959) (added 03-03-24): I'll take a recommendation from John Carpenter any day. 37. Pink Flamingos (1972) (added 03-31-24): Let's get filthy. 38. First Blood (1982) (added 04-10-24): Never saw any Rambo movies growing up, despite being an '80s kid. 39. Logan's Run (1976) (added 06-06-24): A little high-concept '70s sci-fi. (and introducing...) 40. Super Fly (1972) (added 06-08-24): Big fan of the Curtis Mayfield soundtrack. SHAME OVERCOME (30 and counting): Midnight Cowboy (1969); E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982); The Prestige (2006); Singin' in the Rain (1952); Schindler's List (1993); Heat (1995); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); Tootsie (1982); The Searchers (1956); Lawrence of Arabia (1962); Caddyshack (1980); Come and See (1985); Purple Rain (1984); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); M (1931); Planet of the Apes (1968); The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); Brokeback Mountain (2005); Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989); A Streetcar Named Desire (1951); Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957); Godzilla (1954); The Iron Giant (1999); Tokyo Story (1953); A Woman Under the Influence (1974); The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928); McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971); Face/Off (1997); The Apartment (1960); The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
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Jun 9, 2024 14:46
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