The Zone's 2008 Movie Journal

[instant_karma]

Updated with some new stuff.

AvP2: Requiem - Ugh. Horrible and stupid. It literally fucks things up from the 1st minute.

Haha, it was so stupid I actually expected to see those two vagrant-incubated aliens holding bottles in brown paper bags.

Alien vs. Predator: Whoever wins, we lose our spare change!

[silentbobafett]

THere Will Be Blood added - loved it

But wanted special mention to Goonies which I hadn't watched in a few years - LOVED IT!

But the octopus scene - just as well it was dumped! Hoooo!

[beastie]

February Best and Worst

Best
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Words cannot express my love for this film.

Worst
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
Just bad. I can't say I was disappointed as I expected as much.

[burlivesleftnut]

My best this month was In Bruges... runners up would be The Hoax and Justice League: New Frontier.

[Nachokoolaid]

Wow, this month of Feb. represented the least amount of movies I've ever watched in a month.

With only four films this month, the best was...

Something's Gotta Give. Jack=cool. Diane Keaton=ok, but how the hell did she get an Oscar nom for this? Did they see the crying scenes?

The worst was...

The Gameplan. I like Dwayne Johnson a lot. I think he oozes charisma, but I'm still waiting for an ultimately kick ass film from him, whether it's an action or a comedy. This was too sweet for its own good.

[Leckomaniac]

Updated!

[stereosforgeeks]

Best Movies:
Un Condmane A Mort S'est Echappe Ou Le Vent Souffle Ou Il Veut (A Man Escaped) - 10
Inland Empire - 9.0
Aien Kyo (The Straights Of Love And Hate) - 9.0
Genroku Chushingura (The 47 Ronin) - 10
Gion No Shimai (Sisters Of The Gion) - 9.0
Tini Zabutykh Predkiv (Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors)- 10
Sayat Nova (The Color Of Pomegranates) - 9.5
Pickpocket - 9.5
Chikamatsu Monogatari (A Story From Chikamatsu) - 9.5
Oyu-sama (Miss Oyu) - 9.0
Saikaku Ichidai Onna (The Life Of Oharu) - 9.0

Worst Movie:
My Blueberry Nights - 4.5

[Keepcoolbutcare]

okay, which of you smarmy film geeks has seen HUKKLE, and why the fuck didn't any of you ever write about it?

[doglips]

okay, which of you smarmy film geeks has seen HUKKLE, and why the fuck didn't any of you ever write about it?

No, but it sounds interesting, I've added it to my list. You watched and enjoyed then?

Have you seen Old Joy or what??

[Keepcoolbutcare]

okay, which of you smarmy film geeks has seen HUKKLE, and why the fuck didn't any of you ever write about it?

No, but it sounds interesting, I've added it to my list. You watched and enjoyed then?

if I hadn't seen PEEPING TOM last month, HUKKLE would've been my favorite film from February.

Have you seen Old Joy or what??

it keeps getting buried-er and buried-er in my queue...

[stereosforgeeks]

Adding both of those to my queue.

[doglips]

okay, which of you smarmy film geeks has seen HUKKLE, and why the fuck didn't any of you ever write about it?

No, but it sounds interesting, I've added it to my list. You watched and enjoyed then?

if I hadn't seen PEEPING TOM last month, HUKKLE would've been my favorite film from February.

I'll bump it to the top of the too view list then!

Have you seen Old Joy or what??

it keeps getting buried-er and buried-er in my queue...

Humph.

[Nachokoolaid]

Finally saw both the GRINDHOUSE flicks. Enjoyed them both, especially Planet Terror. I would honestly pay to see MACHETE. That was awesome.

[justcheckin]

Finally saw both the GRINDHOUSE flicks. Enjoyed them both, especially Planet Terror. I would honestly pay to see MACHETE. That was awesome.

Hahaha, I thought the same thing... that I would pay to see Machete. And... how are you just now getting around to watching this?

[Nachokoolaid]

I work a lot. Too much. I keep a really busy schedule, and I've owned the DVDs since they came out (the films didn't come to a theatre very near to me). I was quite sick today, so since I had the day off from work, instead of just sitting around, I watched these.

[justcheckin]

I work a lot. Too much. I keep a really busy schedule, and I've owned the DVDs since they came out (the films didn't come to a theatre very near to me). I was quite sick today, so since I had the day off from work, instead of just sitting around, I watched these.

OK, you pass for now... but I'll be watching you!

[burlivesleftnut]

I work a lot. Too much. I keep a really busy schedule, and I've owned the DVDs since they came out (the films didn't come to a theatre very near to me). I was quite sick today, so since I had the day off from work, instead of just sitting around, I watched these.

OK, you pass for now... but I'll be watching you!

winslowe?

[Leckomaniac]

Updated to include STILL LIFE.

[silentbobafett]

Updated with BATMAN and ROBIN!

It's easy to forget how bad this film is! But it really really is that bad!

I think it's the worst film of all time!

I'm watching right now, near the end. It's fucking terrible. I know we all know this, but it's soooomuch worse than I forgot!


I MEAN - I mentally blocked out that BATMAN carries a BATMAN CREDIT CARD (inscribed with Batman Forever on it!). I like watching bad films. It's good fun!

For my vote: This really is the worst film ever!

[junesquad]

Updated with Bridge to Terabithia.

[LeFlambeur]

The best film I saw in February was Hiroshima Mon Amour. Though I was very fond of Terry Gilliam's Brazil, and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali. There was lots 'o' good stuff last month, and I'll probably be updating my journal sometime soon.

[Lady Sheridan]

This has been a terrible stretch of movie watching. I haven't seen anything new in ages.

Thankfully, that ended tonight. Shoot 'Em Up arrived from Netflix and it was just what I was in the mood for, oddly enough. Totally over the top, quite stupid, and yet so hilarious that I loved every second. It was great to just turn my brain off and marvel at all the gunplay.

"I am earning money to buy baby something!"

[Lady Sheridan]

I caught "The Other Boleyn Girl" Saturday afternoon for free. Very pretty to look at, but rather flat as a whole. I've never read the book and fans are in an uproar over how much was cut out -- I'm annoyed simply at the incest angle that was in it to begin with.

The end was rather brutally chilling, most Anne Boleyn's never go to the stake as pathetically as Natalie Portman did.

And I've added We Own the Night, a lackluster cop drama. Good cast but it just never went anywhere.

I want to catch In Bruges, and soon. I need to see something really good now.

[silentbobafett]

Updated with THE KING OF KONG: A FIST FULL OF QUARTERS!

This doc is brilliant! Hilarious, but had a lot more heart and emotion than I realised! Brilliant!

[LeFlambeur]

I finally got around to updating this thing to include the rest of February and most of what I've watched this month.

[Pacino86845]

Holy moly I hope others are reading your journal Flambeur, some real gems in terms of insight packed away in it!

Wings of Desire (3)
An enchanted metaphysical ode to the city of Berlin, Wing of Desire follows angel Damiel as he drifts through the city, listening in on the lives of others. The austerity of the visuals helps to lend a sense of stasis and timelessness to the lives of the angels, and the roaming camera draws us into their privileged yet removed worldview.

I think this film deserves an extra point for NOT having a Goo Goo Doll song in it...

Michael Clayton (1)
Playing the political legal thriller as genre, director Tony Gilroy strives for proficiency, yet his instincts as a filmmaker are lacking. Save for a couple of excellent shots (the one where Michael walks away from Karen Crowder comes immediately to mind) the film lacks visual expressiveness. Both visually and narratively, the film revels in the sanctities environments and legal/corporate power games that it pretends to critique. As a corporate fixer, Clayton is assigned to baby-sit a manic depressive power attorney who is planning to sabotage the case he is working on. Arthur Edens could be a distant cousin to Network's Howard Beale, and the film's humorless approach never makes much of the irony that it took a fit of insanity to get anyone to do the right thing for the sake of right.

Interesting points, but where you seem to remove points for lack of expressiveness and humorless approach, I reward the film, rather interpreting those aspects as a maturity in filmmaking. I had the impression that Gilroy really wanted audiences to make certain connections for themselves, especially on the "spiritual/insanity" side of things. I thought the irony in Arthur's madness was sort of built in, but maybe I just can't picture for you would have wished for.

Miller's Crossing (2)
This somewhat ironic often cynical gangster film from the Coen brothers follows an Irish gangster as he falls out of favor with the mob boss he advises before working through a series of double crosses. The movie is frequently amusing and the dialogue is dense. Finally the point, and ending remain somewhat elusive. I suspect repeat viewings will prove rewarding though.

With the third or fourth viewing of this film my appreciation of it has dwindled somewhat. I'd still rate it highly, but not with the ardor I once had. Gabriel Byrne really shines in this role, but in retrospect it's difficult to watch Marcia G@y Harden and be convinced by her performance.

[LeFlambeur]

I think this film deserves an extra point for NOT having a Goo Goo Doll song in it...

Nice

Interesting points, but where you seem to remove points for lack of expressiveness and humorless approach, I reward the film, rather interpreting those aspects as a maturity in filmmaking. I had the impression that Gilroy really wanted audiences to make certain connections for themselves, especially on the "spiritual/insanity" side of things. I thought the irony in Arthur's madness was sort of built in, but maybe I just can't picture for you would have wished for.

I guess you could say I just wasn't generally "convinced." I think that filmmakers aught to be able to think and communicate in images and I think this Tony Gilroy guy is still primarily a writer. It wasn't a bad debut film, anything that doesn't treat the audience like a bunch of fifteen-year-olds these days deserves some commendation, but I wasn't especially impressed. I would have posted something on the board but it took me a while to mull it over and in the end I didn't feel that strongly about it one way or another.

[Pacino86845]

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days - 2007 - Cristian Mungiu - ♥♥♥1/2
The -1/2♥ that keeps 432 from utter perfection is for the utter clueless uselessness of Gabita...seriously, she gives halftards a bad name.
And Mungiu could easily have called this BESTEST. FRIEND. EVAR! and had just as informative a title.
For what a friend Otilia is, eh? Who the hell doesn't need a BFF like Otilia in there lives? I like to think I'd go above and beyond for my friends in a time of need, but Otilia's actions would make all such gestures moot.
Intensely gripping, with hypnotic long takes and an absolutely mesmerizing performance from Anamaria Marinca as Otilia, the 432 never beats the viewer into submission with its slight condemnations of life under an oppressive regime, but the suggestion runs throughout the course of the film - from a morally wishy-washy abortion Dr. to snooty hotel receptionist, to the black market purchasing of regular convenience goods, to the film's tour-de-static-camera-force set-piece, a very, very uncomfortable dinner party attended by Otilia 'cuz she's not only a great BFF, but an awesome girlfriend to boot.
It's in that long, painfully drawn out scene that the tension established earlier (it comes post shma-shmortion) becomes nearly unbearable, and it's all pretty much accomplished by a nifty composition and Marinca's subtle facial movement - utterly remarkable acting, staging, direction in a film that features plenty of each.
I could go on, and probably will, especially about the wonderfully discombobulating characterization of the abortionist, but suffice to say that 432 deserved all of its accolades and awards and more than lived up to the crushing expectations I had going in...no easy feat, that.

Nice. So when are you planning your visit to Bucharest already?

Shadow of a Doubt - 1943 - Alfred Hitchcock - ♥♥♥1/2
The Hitchcock retrospective at the flophouse continues, this time with Hitch's personal favorite of all his films, and it's easy to see why. Debonair, dashing and devious, the always unappreciated Joseph Cotten has never been better, particularly when he articulates his disdain for his fellow humans, especially women, in a couple of wonderfully creepy monologues*. Stunning use of light and shadows throughout, the pull back in the library when Charlie Newton discovers just what Uncle Charlie was concealing with his desecration of her father's treasured daily paper being the highlight (in the DVD commentary, Hitch wanted the effect to be like a "whoosh" sound, and boy does that shot succeed in that), but there are scads of other instances of Hitch's utter mastery of composition and lighting throughout.
Very cool to see a young Hume Cronyn as a prototypical nerd - his running metatextual "perfect murder" scenarios he and Mr. Newton run on each other during the course of the film add an extra kick to what's going on before us - ditto Hitchcock filming a stolen base (of all the baseball plays Hitch could've used, it' all too fitting, no?) and one other instance of the serene bucolic charm of suburban U.S. being shown for the sham that it is (that I've unfortunately forgotten), and the parallels between Cotten's blonde charmer and the Nazi menace currently plaguing the world become even more clear. That when he's killed, his memory is untarnished in the eyes of the townsfolk, that his sister never recognized his fairly obvious evil ways, the pining that Uncle Charlie and his sister have for an idealized past? Hitch might not have done outright political commentary, generally pushing story above metaphor, but in SHADOW OF A DOUBT, at least in retrospect, its pretty clear that he had an agenda above and beyond the call of pitch-perfect story construction and ratcheting suspense.
The only reason I took off the 1/2 ♥ is that I just couldn't stand the high pitch caterwauling of Patricia Collinge as Charlie's mom and sister - I'm willing to allow Hitch his pretty darn sexist views of women, but her utter cluelessness, her grating voice and all too stereotypical demeanor had me siding with Cotten far more than I think Hitch intended...or maybe not, never know with that women issue freakshow. Charlie herself, who starts off like her mom only to grow right before our eyes into a cynical, jaded woman by the end...well, at least her early annoyingness is blunted by her character arc. I can forgive Emma only so much before her perf became too much to bear.

*"The cities are full of women, middle-aged widows, husbands, dead, husbands who've spent their lives making fortunes, working and working. And then they die and leave their money to their wives, their silly wives. And what do the wives do, these useless women? You see them in the hotels, the best hotels, every day by the thousands, drinking the money, eating the money, losing the money at bridge, playing all day and all night, smelling of money, proud of their jewelry but of nothing else, horrible, faded, studly, greedy women... Are they human or are they studly, wheezing animals, hmm? And what happens to animals when they get too studly and too old?"

and...

"You think you know something, don't you? You think you're the clever little girl who knows something. There's so much you don't know, so much. What do you know, really? You're just an ordinary little girl, living in an ordinary little town. You wake up every morning of your life and you know perfectly well that there's nothing in the world to trouble you. You go through your ordinary little day, and at night you sleep your untroubled ordinary little sleep, filled with peaceful stupid dreams. And I brought you nightmares. Or did I? Or was it a silly, inexpert little lie? You live in a dream. You're a sleepwalker, blind. How do you know what the world is like? Do you know the world is a foul sty? Do you know, if you rip off the fronts of houses, you'd find swine? The world's a hell. What does it matter what happens in it? Wake up, Charlie. Use your wits. Learn something."

and the way Cotten delivers them both, with so much conviction, so much deep seated venom? Not to mention the way Hitch shot both of them?
Just flat out masterful filmatism.

Curse you for hiding such brilliant musings in this thread! Mental note formed, I hope to god that Cotten's performance lives up to your description of it. I can picture it in my mind now, and seeing it played out, if the picture is correct, would bring me great joy!

[Leckomaniac]

Updated! to include Funny Games.

The short review:

I fucking loved it.

[Fried Gold]

I haven't added any cinema based films to my list recently because the listings are the moment are so shockingly bad. Never in a long, long time have I looked at what is showing and not really wanted to see any of them.

[silentbobafett]

Updated with a cool bunch of stuff including:

The Mist
Bug
Electra Glide in Blue
The Wire Season 5

all of which get my "WOW FUCK ME THAT WAS SOME AMAZING SHIT" notice and recommendation

[stereosforgeeks]

March Best Movies:
Sansho Dayu (Sansho The Bailif) - 9.5
Hukkle - 9.5
Peeping Tom - 10
Beiqing Chengshi (City Of Sadness) - 10
Blade Runner - 10
No Country For Old Men - 9.0
Gweomul (The Host) - 9.0

Worst movies:
Youth Without Youth - 3.0
Margot At The Wedding - 3.0

[beastie]

March Best/Worst -

Best
Boondock Saints - Can't believe I hadn't seen this before.

Worst
Grandma's Boy - Just Awful. Maybe you have to be stoned to like it.

[DaleTremont]

Uhh..updated as best I can considering how long I've neglected it. I love how you can actually see me getting progressively lazier!

Anyway...best movie I'd never seen before...

Payday

Worst movie I'd never seen before...

Run Fatboy Run

[Keepcoolbutcare]

Hukkle - 9.5
Peeping Tom - 10

have you watched György Pálfi's follow-up film TAXIDERMIA yet? I know it hasn't been released stateside yet, but, you're you...

had you seen PEEPING TOM before?

you should do what I did and listen to Scorsese...see 8 1/2, either again or for the first time...

[LeFlambeur]

I've updated it to include the rest of what I watched in March.

The worst was an Italian epic/melodrama that I think has little value beyond the historical (not to say that film history isn't important).

The best was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But I think my favorite was Ching Siu-Tung's A Chinese Ghost Story. I like his first film, Duel to the Death, but this one knocked me off my ass. This guy's at the top of my queue as soon as I start renting online again.

[silentbobafett]

Forgot to update March with ENCHANTED, which I'm going to go with Harry on: I was shocked but I LOVED it! Really good fun! Partly takes me back to my childhood and watching Disney films and partly it was just a great idea done really well with great performances and Disney A Grade songs (actually, my one gripe is that the songs and music could have been better in places, but a couple of the songs were bang right!)

All you stone hearted bastards should watch it

[Keepcoolbutcare]

But I think my favorite was Ching Siu-Tung's A Chinese Ghost Story. I like his first film, Duel to the Death, but this one knocked me off my ass. This guy's at the top of my queue as soon as I start renting online again.

hard to track down, but Howard Hampton's seminal essay (for me at least), "Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong: Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-tung." from Film Comment July-August 1997 was a great launching pad that led me to discover a lot of this unappreciated genius work.

dunno if you've seen it, but his "best" is SWORDSMAN II - high flying, gross gender wire-fu at it's finest.

if you can find it (and, despite years of searching, I never have) A TERRA COTTA WARRIOR is supposedly another career highlight. Gong Li stars with her frequent director (and illicit lover) Zhang Yimou.

and he's got co-directing credit with my Johnny To on THE HEROIC TRIO, a film whose gravity defying heroines pre-date CHARLIE'S ANGELS by years and, my own biases be damned, trumps the hell out of it.

action director for PEKING OPERA BLUES, ABT II, THE KILLER (though, surprisingly, not listed as such on IMDB), HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER...his utter mastery of angles, spacing and editing, coupled with his pretty darn liberal Weltanschauung, make him one of my favorite behind the camera personalities ever.

While Tsui took the lion's share of the credit for most of their work together, Siu-Tung had a big hand in the rise of the HK film industry during the 80's - mid 90's.

[stereosforgeeks]

Hukkle - 9.5
Peeping Tom - 10

have you watched György Pálfi's follow-up film TAXIDERMIA yet? I know it hasn't been released stateside yet, but, you're you...

had you seen PEEPING TOM before?

you should do what I did and listen to Scorsese...see 8 1/2, either again or for the first time...

Yeah I watched Taxidermia last month too. It's a really cool movie, but it lacks the subtlety of Hukkle that I loved. All of it's points are telegraphed pretty openly I feel.

I had never seen Peeping Tom before, but after your mention I had to track that and Hukkle down. It is amazingly ahead of its time and quite chilling.

Why the mention of 8 1/2? Did Scorcese mention in regards to Peeping Tom? 8 1/2 is definitely up there in terms of my favorite movies though. It has been a couple years since I've watched, however.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

from Wiki, but it was on one of PEEPING TOM'S special features...

Martin Scorsese, who has long been an admirer of Powell's works, has stated that this film, along with Federico Fellini's 8½, contains all that can be said about directing.

[stereosforgeeks]

from Wiki, but it was on one of PEEPING TOM'S special features...

Martin Scorsese, who has long been an admirer of Powell's works, has stated that this film, along with Federico Fellini's 8½, contains all that can be said about directing.

I sort of feel that way about watching Bresson, but could see it applied to these films as well.

[LeFlambeur]

But I think my favorite was Ching Siu-Tung's A Chinese Ghost Story. I like his first film, Duel to the Death, but this one knocked me off my ass. This guy's at the top of my queue as soon as I start renting online again.

hard to track down, but Howard Hampton's seminal essay (for me at least), "Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong: Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-tung." from Film Comment July-August 1997 was a great launching pad that led me to discover a lot of this unappreciated genius work.

I know the article you're talking about. Its in his book Born in Flames: Terminte Dreams, Dialectical Fairy Tales, and Pop Apocalypses. Good stuff all around. Having seen this, I'm starting to understand what he was talking about.

[Nachokoolaid]

March was a DAMN DAMN good month for me, filmwise. Although I saw some killer stuff like No Country for Old Men, it's been my favorite of the month twice this year already. And I saw the amazing Pan's Labyrinth too.

So my fave of the month was PLANET TERROR. Rodriguez is kickass.

Worst of the month was WILD HOGS. Predictable, formulaic. Blah.

[silentbobafett]

Updated with REC - a seriously scary horror!

http://zone.aintitcool.com/viewtopic.php?p=593577#593577

[junesquad]

Movie Journal Updated... edited for the 62nd time.

[instant_karma]

Updated to finish February!!

March coming soon!!!

[instant_karma]

March now added!!!!

April will surely follow eventually!!!!!

[justcheckin]

Some of you first pagers need to UPDATE!!! :p

[justcheckin]

I wish we got post counts for editing our journals...

[CeeBeeUK]

I wish we got post counts for editing our journals...

I know. I resisted the urge to fluff every time I update mine.

But the postcount would be nice