Schoolio's Movie Corner

[cutterbutter]

Thanks for talking about 24 hour party people in here. Never heard of it and really loved it.

[AlecEiffel]

But the reason your directorial ineptitude is being highlighted over mine is that you're presenting yourself as a rotten, self-satisfied asshole who, quite frankly, hasn't made a single interesting or substantial comment about movies since you first deigned to enter this thread.

That's not entirely fair. He did open our eyes to the fact that Cabin in the Woods only included a bat as an advertisement for the Dark Knight Rises, despite the fact that it was made three years ago by a different studio.

[Mugwog]

Having seen Cabin in the Woods and being a fan of horror, I have to say it was a very well made film for entertaining purposes, sure it didn't teach an amazing life lesson, but for the first time in a long while, I didn't feel ripped off after leaving the movies. The comment about the motorcyclist death being obvious and no tension; it was obvious humor; all horror movies need a light moment of humor in them. My only gripe about this movie was the ending: They didn't really leave it open for a sequel, and this is definitely a horror "Brand" where I would see the 2nd and possibly the 3rd one, even if they weren't the greatest. Netflix is great background noise.

Now as someone who shows us a reel and the first thing I see is SyFy, I'm confused at your hate towards horror entertainment. Clearly you're in a genre that is about making quick bucks, in fact, a movie getting rotation on netflix/hulu after an exclusive cable deal is wonderful in the producers mind. Sure you may lose some stake of your project, but you got to work and give your crew family some work.

I'm sure many people on this board (since this is LA based) work in some form of entertainment. Most are sane enough though to not link their work/real life to this board as well, we got some trololols.

[thelastgreatman]

This may slightly traumatize you, but filmmaking isn't a competitive sport. My movie not being good enough for a festival you got into does not make your movie good or even "better". In fact, the two principles couldn't be less connected. Even Cannes has programmed many cinematic disasters over the years, and by all appearances you would be headlining that sidebar.

Look, your parenting is yours and Randy's business alone. But the reason your directorial ineptitude is being highlighted over mine is that you're presenting yourself as a rotten, self-satisfied asshole who, quite frankly, hasn't made a single interesting or substantial comment about movies since you first deigned to enter this thread. Thine epitaph shall read "Worst at Cannes; last to discover Internet".

Sigged.

[ods..]

Thanks for talking about 24 hour party people in here. Never heard of it and really loved it.

!!!!

so good

[PotVsKtl]

He's directed 3 movies, the last almost 20 years ago. I've already made more then that. I respect him as a writer but he's hardly any sort of influence as a director.

[samiksha]

MAJOR SPOILERS

Alright...I'm just going to go stream of consciousness here because why the fuck not. I don't understand the hand smashing all of eternity at the end. I'm guessing the five underworld gods or whatever were supposed to be the five fingers of that hand, but I'm not sure whose figurative hand it's supposed to be; moreover, I'm not even sure it's important, which I see as a further demerit. I also thought the film left some interesting ideas on the table - namely, I was pretty certain that there was going to be a turn in which we find out that the stoner kid is actually the virgin and the redhead girl needed to die. Things seemed to be headed that way when A. we knew the girl had fucked her teacher and B. the stoner made a point to clarify that he didn't sleep with the blonde girl when they were younger, which (along with his general disposition) could have easily followed with his not ever having been laid. Missed opportunity in my book; if you're subverting so many other elements of slasher films, why not play with gender identity a little?

I didn't get any of that five gods stuff, I thought it was just five character types and some group of unnamed, unnumbered gods, which still makes the hand weird.

Also, I thought it worked to subvert the five character types by having none of the characters in the group fit into any of the categories, rather than to mix them up and have a man be the virgin instead of a woman. Plus, if it's about satisfying the gods, it's about holding up the character types as much as possible, not about who is technically a virgin. It is hard to tell how much any of the characters were or weren't in those categories anyway, because apparently their behavior was being altered? Even though it is pointed out that the characters don't fit, we still see them mostly behave according to the categories they were cast in, so... Like, even though the virgin wasn't a virgin, she did make it clear she didn't want to be set up with that guy or, later, have sex with him. I think I lost my point. I'm not sure how much the roles were fiddled with, it feels like the movie tried to just say "hey this isn't how real people act" but at the same time, we see them act that way the whole time.

[captncrzy]

That's not entirely fair. He did open our eyes to the fact that Cabin in the Woods only included a bat as an advertisement for the Dark Knight Rises, despite the fact that it was made three years ago by a different studio.

Wait...wait...what?

[AlecEiffel]

Wait...wait...what?

that giant bat was a none-too-subtle nod to the upcoming Batman movie

In that post he also let us know that there was only a werewolf to draw in Twilight fans.

[PotVsKtl]

There's a werewolf in The Dark Knight?

[AlecEiffel]

Yeah, totally.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Man it's been sooooooo long since I've seen 24 Hour Party People, I really need to revisit that. I remember being super impressed with the actor who played Ian Curtis, and the reproductions of the Joy Division live performances were awesome.

[RageAgainstTheAoki]

That reminds me. I never saw Control. Remember hearing great things about the actor who played Ian Curtis in that one too. Gotta add that to the queue.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Yes, Control is fucking awesome. The cinematography is quite beautiful too. It's a pretty goddamn morose movie though, as one might expect.

[schoolofruckus]

Both takes on Ian Curtis (film- and performance-wise) are tremendous. I'd have to give the overall edge to 24 Hour Party People because it's a deliriously entertaining and formally inventive take on the music biography, whereas Control is merely a traditional rendition that happens to be gorgeous and carefully-observed.

[amyzzz]

Clearly I need to see 24 Hour Party People. Control was fantastic.

[Miroir Noir]

24 Hour Party People is worth seeing just for the scene when Tony Wilson plays the tape of the sessions for the Monday's fourth album.

[lehorne]

got 'European Vacation' ($3 on ebay) to possibly watch tonight after the Clipper game and I guess people have been critical of the blu ray features, or lack thereof rather. All I care about is that the image is not cropped and that it's full screen on the plasma. Seen the film before, but it's been a long time since I rock n rolled, since I took the stroll, and can't remember many parts. The first is such a classic.

"Bonswa mademoiselle"

[schoolofruckus]

I saw The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover last night at the New Beverly, and the first thing I said to Matt upon walking outside was "That was INSANE!" I hadn't seen this or any of Peter Greenaway's movies previously, and aside from the things implied by an NC-17 rating (HOLY FUCK HELEN MIRREN), I'm not entirely sure what I thought I was getting into...but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a sensually fetishistic, almost Marquis de Sade-esque tale of adultery juxtaposed with the theatrical artifice of Dick Tracy and formal rigorousness of Brian DePalma. One of Matt's friends mentioned that Greenaway had intended the film as a satire of Margaret Thatcher, which I find amusing....but then, I just found this movie extremely fucking amusing overall.

[schoolofruckus]

I also saw Fritz Lang's M on Monday while I was home sick and forgot to write about it. I don't have a lot to say that smart film writers haven't been saying for decades, but obviously it's downright masterful - sparse and dread-inducing in the early stages, then suddenly a rousing manhunt, and finally a candidly humanist look at vigilante justice. An all-time great.

[bmack86]

I always put it on a pedestal and forget how truly entertaining and captivating M is when you're watching it. It's just such a well made film that over 80 years later it still works perfectly.

[AlecEiffel]

That reminds me. For any Fritz Lang fans out there, Screen Archives is releasing The Big Heat on Blu-ray next week through their Twilight Time label. You can pre-order it now and it's limited to 3000 copies, so if you're into it you might want to jump as soon as possible (3000 can end up being a lot as far as boutique BD releases go, but you never know).

http://www.screenarchives.com/title_...953-PRE-ORDER/

[schoolofruckus]

I also checked out Casablanca from the WHV library. I might have to finally retire my jokes about never having seen it.

[KungFuJoe]

The other day I was part of the first audience to see Killing Them Softly. I'll just say to all you Andrew Dominik fans, heed the warning that was sent to us when they change the films title. It was far from the worst film I've ever seen, but I'd be shocked if it takes home any awards at this years Cannes film festival. It can be greatly improved between now and it's release date, but I doubt so much as to make it an excellent film. It's main problem is it's incredibly heavy handed with its political message, the music used in the film is very cliched & there are too many scenes in which the characters are just rambling on.

[schoolofruckus]

That post < every PRT post.

[KungFuJoe]

I could word myself better, but yeah Killing Them Softly is a disappointment.

[mountmccabe]

Did you see Another Earth, by chance? That one underwhelmed me at first, and then proceeded to grow worse the more I thought about it. Brit Marling seems like she could be talented - hopefully she hasn't cast a horribly un-talented and repellent-looking male lead opposite herself in this.

I have not seen Another Earth, though now I want to (admittedly less after your comments, but.)

The other leads in Sound of My Voice are all a bit odd looking but they are just supposed to be normal people, not superheros or models or anything, so I think it works.


Also, damn but isn't The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover just gorgeous. I haven't seen it in years; most of what I remember are the shifting color schemes. Well, that and the ending, but, hey. It won't compare to seeing it on the big screen but I have queued it up on Netflix (and the first time I saw it was on a rental VHS so it's a lateral move.)

[wmgaretjax]

I saw The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover last night at the New Beverly, and the first thing I said to Matt upon walking outside was "That was INSANE!" I hadn't seen this or any of Peter Greenaway's movies previously, and aside from the things implied by an NC-17 rating (HOLY FUCK HELEN MIRREN), I'm not entirely sure what I thought I was getting into...but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a sensually fetishistic, almost Marquis de Sade-esque tale of adultery juxtaposed with the theatrical artifice of Dick Tracy and formal rigorousness of Brian DePalma. One of Matt's friends mentioned that Greenaway had intended the film as a satire of Margaret Thatcher, which I find amusing....but then, I just found this movie extremely fucking amusing overall.

whoa. that was your first Greenaway! time to dig in my friend...

[schoolofruckus]

It was a pretty spectacular feat of cinematography and production design, yes. I'm guessing the Netflix transfer will be better than VHS; this is just about the widest aspect ratio I've ever seen, and I highly doubt any tape did that justice.

[schoolofruckus]

whoa. that was your first Greenaway! time to dig in my friend...

Yeah, I wanted to stay for Belly of an Architect afterwards, but that would have been a bit much on a school night.