Schoolio's Movie Corner

[bmack86]

Just got back from seeing Django. First off, loved the locations: they filmed a good amount in the Eastern Sierra, where I'm living currently, and it was awesome to see local haunts all throughout the film. I thought Foxx did a bang-up job as his character and loved the development that he had throughout the film. Watching him inspire the hard slave towards the end (tear in eye) was such a symbol of how far he'd come. Waltz killed it, DiCaprio was just so damn demented and Samuel L. had me laughing and cringing in equal measures. The KKK scene had me rolling, certain others had me infuriated and I thought it tied together incredibly well.

And it's not too long at all. Get an attention span, hippies.

[ods..]

Ok. Kurosawa's High and Low might have the greatest last 25 minutes of all time. Seriously. Just fucking brilliant.

[xanman86]

Ok. Kurosawa's High and Low might have the greatest last 25 minutes of all time. Seriously. Just fucking brilliant.

Toshirô Mifune is a God

[rage patton]

Just watched Searching For Sugar Man an absolutely loved it. It is an incredible story and the movie does a fantastic job of telling it. It is absolutely heartbreaking that Rodriguez didn't take off in the 70's, because he was an incredibly gifted songwriter and he really deserved it. With that being said, seeing the story unfold and seeing him take the stage again was incredibly uplifting. He just seems like he is the coolest fucking guy in the world and all the attention that this documentary bring him is incredibly justified. I urge all of you to not only watch Searching For Sugar Man, but to also listen to both of Rodriguez' albums, because he is a talent that should not go unknown and it is story that should not go untold.

[unit300021]

Saw North By Northwest for the first time tonight. Out of the few Hitchcock movies I've seen, this one was probably my favorite. Actually it's been awhile since I've seen any so I am planning on going back and re watching some. I guess there is a reason why his movies are considered classics though.

[latexsolarbeef]

Saw North By Northwest for the first time tonight. Out of the few Hitchcock movies I've seen, this one was probably my favorite. Actually it's been awhile since I've seen any so I am planning on going back and re watching some. I guess there is a reason why his movies are considered classics though.

NXNW is a great film, but nothing compares to Vertigo. I'm such a junkie for San Francisco that I notice something new every time I watch it. That and Jimmy Stew makes a much better leading man.

[ods..]

I'm gonna agree; Vertigo is the ultimate. I love everything Hitchcock though... He's had so many classics.

Make sure you watch Rebecca and Notorious! Two older B&Ws that definitely deserve mention for a Hitchcock top 10. Rope too. Of course the obvious NXNW, Strangers on a Train, Psycho, Rear Window. I've been recently rounding out all the Hitchcock's I haven't seen and seriously every single movie is fucking genius. There's still about 5-10 that I need to see.

I recommend watching Vertigo, Sunset Blvd, and Mulholland Dr in quick succession though (not necessarily that order). So much opens up within Lynch's masterpiece if you closely watch those two classics... and vice versa. I don't know that I'd love Vertigo/Hitchcock as much as I do if it wasn't for Lynch's treatment of dreams, obsession, the Hollywood illusion. Perfect example of an artist working with and within tradition to showcase his own individual talent.

[xanman86]

The Universal Classic Monsters Blu Ray set FINALLY dropped in price!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/Uni...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[roberto73]

I'm gonna agree; Vertigo is the ultimate. I love everything Hitchcock though... He's had so many classics.

Make sure you watch Rebecca and Notorious! Two older B&Ws that definitely deserve mention for a Hitchcock top 10. Rope too. Of course the obvious NXNW, Strangers on a Train, Psycho, Rear Window. I've been recently rounding out all the Hitchcock's I haven't seen and seriously every single movie is fucking genius. There's still about 5-10 that I need to see.

One of my fondest moviegoing experiences was a big-screen Hitchcock retrospective at a small theater in Dayton, Ohio, in the early 90's. Ten films on consecutive weekends, with a nice mix of his early work and his big hits. Let's see if I can remember them all:

The 39 Steps
Sabotage
Shadow of a Doubt
Lifeboat
Rope
Rear Window
Vertigo
North by Northwest
The Birds
Marnie

They were shown in that order, too, which gave me a nice overview of his trajectory, even though there are some obvious big titles missing. If nothing else, it gave me a real appreciation for Hitchcock's early, lesser-known stuff, a lot of which is easily as good as the films everyone's familiar with.

[latexsolarbeef]

I recommend watching Vertigo, Sunset Blvd, and Mulholland Dr in quick succession though (not necessarily that order). So much opens up within Lynch's masterpiece if you closely watch those two classics... and vice versa. I don't know that I'd love Vertigo/Hitchcock as much as I do if it wasn't for Lynch's treatment of dreams, obsession, the Hollywood illusion. Perfect example of an artist working with and within tradition to showcase his own individual talent.

I will try this. I find it interesting that you think Mulholland Dr. is Lynch's masterpiece. I enjoy it more each time I watch it, but I must admit that I still don't "Get it" after more that a dozen viewings in the decade plus that its been out, maybe it's just my non artistic soul grappling for an answer when there really isn't one to be had. I find a majority of David's post Blue Velvet work to be much in the fashion of abstract art and open to a lot of user interpretation.

[RotationSlimWang]

Django needed to lose 15 minutes. Once Waltz was dead things got drastically less interesting. Everything up to that point was spectacular Tarantino as always, though probably not in his top four.

[bmack86]

The last part is all worth it just to see the ridiculous backwards propulsion when he shoots the lady in the house. I laughed so hard.

[RotationSlimWang]

That was fucking awesome, I gotta say. I died. But that was the first laugh I'd had in about a half hour in a movie that was otherwise fucking hilarious. But yeah, that's gotta be like the best gunshot moment of all time. I love Tarantino's ability to make violence hilarious.

[VigoTheCarpathian]

The last part is all worth it just to see the ridiculous backwards propulsion when he shoots the lady in the house. I laughed so hard.

Yup, and the horses and rap music.

thinking back on Candy, he was kind of progressive, with African art, and his speach about 1 in a millions like Jango becoming more common, the general way he lived with his Slaves, and how he grew up around black people. His speach about the skull dimples was intense and sociopathic.

[HowToDisappear]

That moment is totally hilarious. It's so very exaggerated, it got me to wondering afterward, when/where/who is first responsible for that whole film/special effects conceit anyway? In old westerns and action movies, when someone is shot, they do what people do IRL do, they drop like marionettes with the strings cut. At some point over the years, someone decided defying the laws of physics would make much more of a visual impact, and everyone followed suit. Who was it? I'm genuinely curious.

[RotationSlimWang]

Well, that's not entirely true. I mean it doesn't apply to that scene because Django wasn't using a shotgun, but if you hit somebody with a barrel of shot from close range... they fly.

[HowToDisappear]

No, they don't. Otherwise, the shooter would fly back as far as the victim.

[RotationSlimWang]

... okay. Whatever you say, HtD.

[ods..]

One of my fondest moviegoing experiences was a big-screen Hitchcock retrospective at a small theater in Dayton, Ohio, in the early 90's. Ten films on consecutive weekends, with a nice mix of his early work and his big hits. Let's see if I can remember them all:

The 39 Steps
Sabotage
Shadow of a Doubt
Lifeboat
Rope
Rear Window
Vertigo
North by Northwest
The Birds
Marnie

They were shown in that order, too, which gave me a nice overview of his trajectory, even though there are some obvious big titles missing. If nothing else, it gave me a real appreciation for Hitchcock's early, lesser-known stuff, a lot of which is easily as good as the films everyone's familiar with.

Jealous. I've yet to see any Hitchcock on the big screen. (Just my projector "big screen") There's still quite a few titles I haven't seen (mostly early stuff) but I'm working on it. So many great flicks... it's overwhelming at times.

I will try this. I find it interesting that you think Mulholland Dr. is Lynch's masterpiece. I enjoy it more each time I watch it, but I must admit that I still don't "Get it" after more that a dozen viewings in the decade plus that its been out, maybe it's just my non artistic soul grappling for an answer when there really isn't one to be had. I find a majority of David's post Blue Velvet work to be much in the fashion of abstract art and open to a lot of user interpretation.

I don't think it's his only masterpiece. The dude is a complete maniac genius.

There's a lot of stuff on the internet to help make sense of Mulholland Dr. (though it is kind of the easy way out) Obviously don't click these links if you don't want help/spoilers.

http://badassdigest.com/2012/03/04/f...holland-drive/

http://www.mulholland-drive.net/studies/references.htm
Some Mulholland Dr. spoilers:
The Hulk write-up, although tough to read, is the best interpretation I've seen so far. I generally agree with everything he said, but I haven't read it in a while. I can't remember how much he talks about all the film references in MD though, and to me that's the most interesting part. Once the plot is pretty much figured out, the dissecting of Lynch's imagery and weirdness can really begin.

Sunset Blvd's treatment of Hollywood illusion and Hollywood women (specifically the using of women) really gets at the heart of Mulholland Dr, I think. There's even a young naive girl named Betty hell-bent on getting noticed in the industry.

Vertigo's got the dreams, the obsession on a woman, the transformation of that woman from blonde to brunette to blonde, etc. There's so much in Vertigo... I'll have to watch it again. That gray suit! Literally the exact suit Betty wears.

Lynch also uses so many Hitchcock items in MD: the purse full of money (Psycho), the mysterious/secretive key (Rebecca, Notorious), everybody's got a robe to sleep in. It's hilarious. I love it.

[zircona1]

Just watched Searching For Sugar Man an absolutely loved it. It is an incredible story and the movie does a fantastic job of telling it. It is absolutely heartbreaking that Rodriguez didn't take off in the 70's, because he was an incredibly gifted songwriter and he really deserved it. With that being said, seeing the story unfold and seeing him take the stage again was incredibly uplifting. He just seems like he is the coolest fucking guy in the world and all the attention that this documentary bring him is incredibly justified. I urge all of you to not only watch Searching For Sugar Man, but to also listen to both of Rodriguez' albums, because he is a talent that should not go unknown and it is story that should not go untold.

I haven't seen the documentary yet, but I got Cold Fact a few years ago when I had heard he was going be at Austin City Limits Fest in '09. It's a great album. His performance was a bit scary to watch - he seemed really frail and fragile up there on stage, he was being helped on and off (later on I found out he's almost blind). His band more than picked up the slack though. I'm glad he's getting more attention.

Since this is the movie thread, I watched Ted last night. I didn't laugh a whole lot, but Mark and Mila really did a good job in their roles, which elevated the film above its predictability. Also I thought Walter Murphy's score was a refreshing change of pace from the usual pop songs that get inserted into these young people comedy/dramas.

[eddiebrock]

Django needed to lose 15 minutes. Once Waltz was dead things got drastically less interesting. Everything up to that point was spectacular Tarantino as always, though probably not in his top four.

agree with this, my only critique of the movie. Seemed like Tarantino lost a bit of control of the script and opted to just kill everyone on screen. Which he's done before (kill bill, inglorious basterds) but other than that really enjoyed it.

i'd place it right at the end of his top 4 in my opinion.

1. Pulp fiction
2. Reservoir Dogs
3. Inglorious Basterds
4. Django

[VigoTheCarpathian]

You don't believe you are fetishizing the vintage and minimalism of Resivoir Dogs ?

[eddiebrock]

It's just a personal preference with me. Lots of memorable moments. The tipping scene, the mr pink dialogue. Stealers Wheel stuck in the middle with you. Plus the ending was satisfying, more so than django at least.

[stinkbutt]

How anyone can claim Basterds over Django is beyond me

[eddiebrock]

We're really splitting hairs at this point, these are both two of my favorite movies. But i prefer Christopher Waltz as a villain over a hero. The scene where he finds the Jews hidden under the floorboards was great. I've always been more interested in WWII films over westerns and civil war era movies. But both were great flicks.

[alyssaf12]

Just saw Silver Lining Playbook. It was good. Jennifer Lawrence did a good job like usual and surprisingly so did Bradley Cooper. I didn't know if I'd be able to take him seriously but he pulled it off. I keep wanting to say things about it but don't want to give anything away....but I would recommend it!

[Miroir Noir]

I ended up being pretty ambivalent about Django. Even setting aside the politics of the film (which for me were troublesome), I found it to be overlong and a retread of his last film.

Just saw Silver Lining Playbook. It was good. Jennifer Lawrence did a good job like usual and surprisingly so did Bradley Cooper. I didn't know if I'd be able to take him seriously but he pulled it off. I keep wanting to say things about it but don't want to give anything away....but I would recommend it!

Loved this, every minute of it.

[TallGuyCM]

Yeah I watched SLP last night as well. I had a bit of a tough time getting into it - it felt kind of forced at first. But the second half won me over, and overall I liked it a lot. And yeah, Cooper was surprisingly good in a dramatic role.

Oh, and Gabe the theory you posted way back when is definitely an interesting one, but I really think the film is much more literal than that. If your theory was true, I imagine there would have been some revelation at the end.

[RotationSlimWang]

I ended up being pretty ambivalent about Django. Even setting aside the politics of the film (which for me were troublesome)

What the fuck are you talking about, hillbilly?

Also, the fact that none of you douchebags put Kill Bill 1 up there is horrible. That movie was fucking brilliant.

[Miroir Noir]

Look, I'm sure there are plenty of analyses out there about how the film punctured all these long-standing racial archetypes about revenge and justice, and how it exposed the visceral reality of slavery for audiences who had never really considered it before. I guess you can find reasons to argue it was redeeming.

But for me, it was a just a pothead making an exploitation shoot-em-up spaghetti western about the darkest stain on our nation's history. Rather than being offensive, it was silly.