The Film Lovers Thread!

[Beautiful Stranger]

let's talk about 'sunset boulevard'. anyone seen it? it's like.. my fav ever. it's amazing.

 

[TheKiwi]

^ Yeah, that is a great film! Very touching. Beautifully shot. There's so much atmosphere in that film - you really feel the detail in every shot, and the dispair and sadness.

 

[visconti]

If you like Sunset Blvd, it may be worth your time to watch Erich Von Stroheim's silent Queen Kelly. It's the old film that her SB character shows at one point. I've only seen bits and pieces of it (and it was never officially finished), but it makes Wilder's film even sadder because you're more aware of her past glories and, more significantly for me, aware of Von Stroheim's grand ideas. I don't know all of the details, but he tried to make some incredibly ambitious silent films, but because of cost, temperament and other reasons many of them fell through and he was eventually unable to continue directing. I'm still waiting for Greed to come out on DVD. I know there's some sort of 4 hour version on VHS, but I no longer have a VCR, so it's out of the question.

For more Von Stroheim consider seeing his most famous role in Renoir's Grand Illusion. Also, if you like the mood and lighting in Wilder's film consider Fassbinder's Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss. It's from the late 70s and tells a similar story about a former UFA star in the twilight of her career. It's also inspired by the tragic life of the star of Carl Dreyer's Vampyr.

As far as Sunset Blvd goes, I haven't seen it for a few years, but what stands out the most (aside from visuals + dialogue + mood) is how it reverses the cliche of the young, "kept woman" and how it, like Pan's Labyrinth did recently, telegraphs the ending in one of the first shots, but still manages to make you care/wonder about how things got the that point.

 

[Kawari]

Bumping....

Requiem for a Dream
I recently bought this and I'm still unsure about how I feel about it. I suppose I'm still getting over the shock. The first thing that got me was the opening scene with Jared's character and his mother. It's a split screen with the same thing happening in the same room, just from different povs. It was very well done. The subject of drugs in a film can often come off as being too "nice" or too silly, but this film catches the realism of addiction with the three drug addicts.

Jennifer Conolly (sp?) was amazing as a rich girl struggling with her beauty, addiction, and parents. Marlon Waynes did very well too, in a surprisingly well played non-comedic role. Yet it's Ellen who steals the show, playing a mother who falls into madness after becoming obsessed with weight, brought up by her obsession to a certain show. Seeing her, so full of hope, then frantic with herself and desperate is so heartbreaking, especially when the end of the film is seen.

Stylistically, it's very unique and I haven't seen anything like that come afterward. The director uses the Snorricam, which is attached to the actor. It allows you to watch the actor, while moving with them. Montages are also quite common in this film as are the uses of rapid shots in sequence to highlight certain parts, like when someone does drugs.

I suppose I enjoyed it, but it's def a film that can make you uncomfortable. I felt sympathy for the characters, especially Ellen's because you saw her descent from the beginning. The other characters garner pity too though, as I saw their reasons for doing drugs. I'll be watching this again.
Thoughts? Opinions? Let's get this thread going again!

 

[carioca]

Bumping....
Requiem for a Dream
Yet it's Ellen who steals the show, playing a mother who falls into madness after becoming obsessed with weight, brought up by her obsession to a certain show.

i agree completely. she was totally robbed of that Oscar by Julia Roberts. Julia did a good job as Erin Brockovich, but no way is her acting in that movie comparable to Ellen Burstyn's in Requiem for a Dream. i like the movie, but it's definitely a downer.


Anyone seen Before Sunset? I hadn't seen Before Sunrise prior to watching it, but i enjoyed the sequel a lot. I love how Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy's dialogues are so lengthy, but they play it off so well and so natural without really making it sound choppy.Though Ethan Hawke was looking a bit sickly (I think this was around the time Uma and him were divorcing) he was still a bit charming. Some people didn't like the film and called it boring, but I suppose you'd need an attention span longer than a child's. Others complained how it was listed as a Romance/Comedy but wasn't funny. Personally I thought it was funny when the two characters would joke around and be sarcastic about their lives and how depressed they've become without each other. Really watch!

 

[Beautiful Stranger]

visconti, i'm a bit late, but thanks for the advice. I'll def check some of it out.

I saw requiem for a dream some time ago, can't remember if it's six months or 2 years, but it did quite the impression, esp the mentioned mother. I think, together with Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange', it's pictures that really has, hmm.. done something with me, but which i nevertheless kindof regret seeing, as they're so strong. I find it so unbeliveable that both movies have gotten a Certification 12.

I recently saw the Departed, which i thought was great. Scorscese is probably one of my fav directors, together with the two Coppola's, Alfred Hitcock, Tarantino, Billy Wilder and David Lynch.

 

[Beautiful Stranger]

bump

 

[stersita]

^ Which one impressed you more, Requiem for a Dream or A Clockwork Orange?

I thought Requiem for a Dream was very shocking and strong too, definitely not a movie I would watch again soon even though I loved it. I find that in that way, to me, it's stronger than A Clockwork Orange since I would watch that movie again any day, it didn't leave me as shocked as Requiem for a Dream did.
I guess it's just because Requiem for a Dream is more realistic, as in, we all hear about drug addicts and such everyday, but we don't really hear about the stuff in A Clockwork Orange? Hmm. (I actually studied about that treatment in phylosophy class so it was very interesting to watch.)

And I agree with what carioca said about Before Sunset, the dialogues are simply amazing, it definitely is better than Before Sunrise, imo. Amazing film

 

[Beautiful Stranger]

hmmm.. I've seen clockwork orange nearly two times ( i had some problems watching it the first time and left the room under a few scenes, being only twelve, i think), and i think, the reason why it made such an impression on me was the combination of plain violence and psychial violence (the scenes where he's locked into the room, the whole mozart-thing etc etc). It's a very interesting movie, but i agree, it's not as realistic as Requiem for a Dream, which may have something to do with reguiem being made about 30 years later. Requiem for a Dream made a stronger impression on me and i think i wouldn't be able to watch it again. Only talking about it makes me feel a bit.. yeah. Both movies are great in some ways (well-made etc), yet none are favourites of mine, and i doubt i'll see them again soon.

I think it's a differents between 'strong', 'shocking' and 'frigthening'. Reguiem might have been stronger than clockwork orange and frigthened me more, but it didn't 'shock' me that much. Blood and violence doesn't have a that big effect on me, but clockwork orange really shocked me. I think this was a bit because seeing Reguiem for a Dream, i had some aknowledge of the story, and i 'knew' about drugs, yet i had never seen violence, or psychial stuff like it when i saw clockwork. I do find it more fascinating than requiem for a dream, and imo, it is a greater movie.


oh, and, when i wrote this in a previous post

"..I find it so unbeliveable that both movies have gotten a Certification 12. " , i meant in france, which i don't think gives certifcation above 12.

 

[kissmesweet]

I love Before Sunset as well. The direction was perfect as were the characters and dialouge.

 

[Tushka_BeLLa]

I want to see Requiem for a Dream

 

[carioca]

I love Before Sunset as well. The direction was perfect as were the characters and dialouge.

yeah everything was just really witty, and the way Julie and Ethan acted was really natural, as if you were listening into a real conversation between good friends.

I want to see Requiem for a Dream

have a tissue box nearby when you watch. it's truly heartbreaking

 

[Beautiful Stranger]

i think i need to do a godfather-weekend soon.. or tarantino.

 

[Fuuma]

I really dislike Requiem for a dream, it brings so much attention to itself (over the top, MTV style camera work, direction, montage, colours) and has that LOOK AT ME I'M AN IMPORTANT FILMAKER WHO TACKLES HARD SUBJECTS pretentious tone at all time that made me want to just stop the movie and be done with it. The (over)acting is mediocre and the director just makes the consequences of everything so big just for the sake of passing his hakneyed message, I've seen better made for tv movies. Aronovski doesn't bring anything new in his scenario either, giving the public exactly what it wants; a series of interspliced set ups followed by "pay off" (let's call them consequences) but of the negative kind, which is exactly in line with what the viewers will expect of a movie about addiction.

This is all the more unsettling considering his first movie (Pi) was quite interesting and created a fully realised, no matter how unrealistic, world for his main character to inhabit.

 

[carioca]

I really dislike Requiem for a dream, it brings so much attention to itself (over the top, MTV style camera work, direction, montage, colours) and has that LOOK AT ME I'M AN IMPORTANT FILMAKER WHO TACKLES HARD SUBJECTS pretentious tone at all time that made me want to just stop the movie and be done with it. The (over)acting is mediocre and the director just makes the consequences of everything so big just for the sake of passing his hakneyed message, I've seen better made for tv movies. Aronovski doesn't bring anything new in his scenario either, giving the public exactly what it wants; a series of interspliced set ups followed by "pay off" (let's call them consequences) but of the negative kind, which is exactly in line with what the viewers will expect of a movie about addiction.

i agree with the camerawork. it wasn't too fond of that, especially when they did the actor POV's and the split screens. but it really didn't bother me that much.
but the overacting?! i didn't like the casting of Jennifer Connelly so much, but again i wasn't bothered by her so much. but you can't possibly say that Ellen Burstyn wasn't fantastic in that movie and i must say Jared Leto and Marlon Waynes weren't bad either.

as for the pay-offs or consequences. the movie is about addiction, so if the ending was of a happy sort, it would be totally unrealistic. i'd probably find the film to be utter BS if it all ended in a good way and had that Hollywood ending. that's why i think Requiem struck a cord with so many people because it is so realistic.

 

[Kawari]

Ellen kicked butt in Requiem, hands down. Totally, totally robbed.
As for the style of the film, I kind of always felt that the director wanted to get more of a feeling than anything else. Fast style "Mtv-hip hop really" emphasized the feeling of excitement that comes with taking drugs. Though, I can def see why people would get the feeling of trying too hard. As for the ending, yea it was sad and depressing and the characters suffered almost overdone "consequences" but who knows how those characters did five years later? Even when aware of one's addiction, because it is an addiction, one will keep doing the "bad" things anyway-no matter what the consequences. It kind of has an ambiguous (sp?) ending.

I recently saw Letters from Iwo Jima for the first time and it reaffirmed my love for Clint Eastwood. I don't think I could really give a good review for it, as I just saw it, but I'll probably buy it on DVD. I think I just admired the way the story was told- no bad stereotypes, but not a "fairytale" either. Just quite honest. For those who have seen both Flags of Our Fathers and Letters, is it worth buying both or just one?

Up next, I have not clue as to what to watch, but I imagine that the "Oscar" movies will be coming out quite soon, as fall is arriving.

Yea for thread revival! Good opinions all around!

 

[carioca]

I recently saw Letters from Iwo Jima for the first time and it reaffirmed my love for Clint Eastwood. I don't think I could really give a good review for it, as I just saw it, but I'll probably buy it on DVD. I think I just admired the way the story was told- no bad stereotypes, but not a "fairytale" either. Just quite honest. For those who have seen both Flags of Our Fathers and Letters, is it worth buying both or just one?

i wanted to see that film, but i was reluctant to see it because i might be disappointed again like when i saw Mystic River. perhaps it was all the hype around it and that i just expected more, but really that movie was the epitome of trying to hard and rushed surprises. they try to make you believe that it was the friend that killed her, then out of left field it was blahblah (just in case people haven't seen it). it wasn't a horrible film, just not as good as everyone said it was.

Oscar 07 movie that took my breath away by far was Pan's Labyrinth, check it out if you haven't yet.

 

[Rubie girl]

I loved Pan's labyrinth,it is a beautiful and sweet story and the characthers costumes are very well done!

 

[Rubie girl]

The funniest film I've ever seen is Scary Movie 4!It is so briliant they making fun of Saw,War of the Words and The Village (and some other films),Love that girl giving birth in the endand that actor imitating Tom Cruise.Amazing!!

 

[carioca]

I loved Pan's labyrinth,it is a beautiful and sweet story and the characthers costumes are very well done!

it really was the little girl reminded me so much of a young Natalie Portman, hope to see her in more movies.