Something Wild was released soon after After Hours and had a strikingly similar plot - Yuppie angst in the mid-80's!

Recently watched Inception and was left very underwhelmed - silly plot and read like Lynch for beginners. I certainly haven't felt the need to watch it again to see the pieces fall into place - they fell all-too-easily into place on first viewing?

Zombie double bill last night.

First up I rewatched Zombieland



Great fun. Terrific cameo by Bill Murray, Woody Harrelson showing good control playing a character on the verge of out of control, and Jesse Eisenberg doing the smart awkward teenager bit better than the guy who recently popularised the role; one Michael Cera.

Second, by accident almost, Carriers



Complete and utter pointless rubbish. No story, not a single likeable character, adds absolutely nothing to the genre. I honestly wonder how movies like this get greenlit. I could write a script for a zombie movie that would be more interesting than this. A child of 5 could. Stay away. Complete waste of time.

Watched Let the Right One In, a foreign film in my film class. Currently, Hollywood has recently released a remake of this film called "Let Me In".

It tells the story about a young boy named Oskar, bullied at school and isolated at home. When new neighbors move in next door, an assumed "father" and "daughter", Oskar meets the "daughter" named Eli. They eventually fall in love, but soon the realization hits Oskar that Eli is a vampire.

Now before you assume this is another Twilight, let me assure you it is not. It's a dark film, and not one for young teens. There is even added subject matter into the story that may even make some viewers uncomfortable (Eli's questionable past and gender, Oskar collects newspaper articles about murders, etc).

But I'm not saying this is a bad film at all. This is one of the best vampire movies I've seen.

I adore that film. Absolutely beautiful.

Just had a bit of Sherly Lee fest after watching her in the TP Psych episode.

Angel's Dance (1999) starring the lovely Sheryl Lee and yes, she was the main reason for tuning in. The film is a bit of a car crash and comes on as Coen bros/Tarantino-lite without much of the style or humour. I could never give an objective appraisal of Sheryl's acting - I am simply captivated everytime. I don't think the talent I find so charming is anything that can be taught at drama school!

The Lynch connection could be stretched as within one character Sheryl plays a frumpy brunette and a sassy blonde. The plot is very comic book in logic and style but if you can leave your brain in the foyer it's a fun crime caper.

Recently rewatched A Clockwork Orange. This is considered a cult classic among many and was on AFI's Top 100 movies. It has been considered controversial and thought-provoking. I, however, was not impressed that much.

Maybe it was because there was so much hype that I didn't like it as much, ranging from professional critics to kids from my own high school. As one kid from my school said, it was like a Bible to him .

I don't think there's much need for an explanation about the storyline since I'm sure many people here have probably already seen it, but here's my opinion:

It is not a bad film by all means, but whatever message or messages it is trying to convey is unclear to me. As most Kubrick movies are, things are up to interpretation (and I've enjoyed many of Kubrick's films), but this one I felt didn't have a clear sense of what ideas it wanted to share. Is the film generally about wanting to shock people, combined with classical music? Is the film pointing a finger at society? I have no idea. Another thing that confused me was if in fact the movie was wanting me to root for Alex's character. At first, you want to tell yourself "of course not" but after watching it again it seems that way. However, a part from all this negativity, there is fantastic imagery throughout the film.

A Clockwork Orange was certainly a cult classic in my teenage years. The film was removed from distribution in the UK at Kubrick's request soon after release in 1971 and only officially re-released after his death. This made it something of a holy grail film to get hold of here. I got hold of a bootleg VHS copy in 1980 and watched it dozens of times with friends. We loved the design, costumes, music, violence and especially the made-up language that Alex and his "droogs" spoke. We certainly didn't get any higher intention Kubrick may have had in making the film.

My own take was that the film was saying society/civilisation will never be able to tame the inner beast that "Man" is. I totally agree that Kubrick played with storytelling conventions by making Alex such a well drawn character. The audience's sympathies seem naturally drawn to the witty and cultured young murderer and rapist.

I just watched Triangle (2009) starring Melissa George from MD. Both Lynch and Kubrick seem to be a big influence on the film. I enjoyed it and will definitely watch it again. I won't spend too long on the mindtwisters involved in the plot though - once a

re: Clockwork Orange

I personally think that it's quite a special film. Yes, in many ways we're encouraged (manipulated?) into rooting for Alex despite the things that he does, because what is worse? Having no free-will, or using that free-will criminally and antisocially? I don't think that Stanley is trying to shock for the sake of shock. Yes, there are some quite brutal scenes, but they're not pornographic (not in the sense that they overstep boundaries for the sake of sensation). I think it all fits in the context of the story.

As per somethingbad, coming from the UK my early memories of the film were a dodgy pirate copy procured from under the counter in a video store sat around the TV with friends as young teens feeling somewhat disobediant. I think there is definitely something to those viewings that make the film somewhat iconic. But it was such a delight to see it properly upon re-release after Stan's death (which was not so much of a delight).

It grew on me. I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about the first time I watched, but it gets richer with each viewing.

As to my latest viewing:



I won't say much, because as the first guy in the trailer says "the less you know about the film, the more you're going to like it".

Really good. A subject matter that I'm fascinated with, so really did enjoy it. Every bit as important as The Social Network in documenting this era of the modern internet-led world. The trailer I posted is slightly misleading (as appears to be the entire marketing strategy for the film), but that's not necessarily such bad thing in the end. Luckily I watched it knowing even less than you do now.

I was a huge After Hours fan when it first came out on videocassette, renting it over and over. yet having watched it fairly recently, i was a bit underwhelmed. like it's trying way too hard. definitely prefer king of comedy in terms of scorcese black comedies.

I felt the same as the poster who mentioned inception when i first saw it, but i think it improves a bit with rewatching. i read someone who read the film as being about film making and i can see that. maybe it's lynch lite, but i'd rather have lynch lite for my big sfx summer blockbuster than full on michael bay.

the last decent film i've seen in the theater was that how to tame your dragon movie. it had it's flaws, but it blew away avatar (which was recent when dragon was released) in terms of---well, everything.

I saw Black Swan (2010) yesterday.

Well directed, well acted ... it just didn't resonate with me to the extent I would recommend it to others. Unfortunately there is very little to say because even by defining my thoughts on the matter would give too much away for those wanting to see it. But yeah, I get why the critics liked, it respected it but didn't love it.

I also saw True Grit (2010). I love westerns and I love many of the Coen Brother movies. Again the acting was good, the overall story was interesting, the final ending was fine ... it's just how they got there that was poorly considered to the point of distraction.

ctyankee wrote:I saw Black Swan (2010) yesterday.

Well directed, well acted ... it just didn't resonate with me to the extent I would recommend it to others. Unfortunately there is very little to say because even by defining my thoughts on the matter would give too much away for those wanting to see it. But yeah, I get why the critics liked, it respected it but didn't love it.

I also saw True Grit (2010). I love westerns and I love many of the Coen Brother movies. Again the acting was good, the overall story was interesting, the final ending was fine ... it's just how they got there that was poorly considered to the point of distraction.

Still waiting for both in the cinema over here. In the next couple of weeks I think.


I saw 127 Hours yesterday. Dug it. If you're into the sound of cracking bones this is for you. Danny Boyle is at the point right now where he could have directed this with his eyes closed and one arm behind his back. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not sure this stretched him too much.

ctyankee wrote:I also saw True Grit (2010). I love westerns and I love many of the Coen Brother movies. Again the acting was good, the overall story was interesting, the final ending was fine ... it's just how they got there that was poorly considered to the point of distraction.

Saw it tonight. Kinda agree. It was fine, but not great. I know part of the thing with the Cogburn character is that he's supposed to be so out of it part of the time that you can't tell what he said, but even when he was sober I was struggling at times.

Thought it was a pretty flat ending tbh. Not quite the same as A Serious Man which was more of a WTF thing, this just seemed a bit bland.

Black Swan.

I really wanted to love it, but just didn't quite for some reason. Can't quite put my finger on the reason that it's a good film but not a great one. Some of the themes are definitely comparable to MD, but I think perhaps it just lacks a deftness of touch at key moments. Portman is terrific, mind.

Planning on watching it this week

Rewatched 21 Grams a few days ago.

For anyone not familiar with the film, it is from the same director who made the more-current "Babel" starring Brad Pitt and many other supporting actors. The story is non-linear, like a puzzle; you have to piece each scene in its right place. I atched it with my mom and her fiance, of whom are not big fans of these types of movies. Surprisingly, they warmed up to it fast and I can see why. With another director, the film would've been jumbled up just for the sake of confusing people. But the director carefully places a linear storyline with events that either have happened or are going to happen, keeping the audience on edge. It's not like Memento where you have to think the whole time to really enjoy it. I personally feel if Memento was told a different way, it wouldn't have been as effective; I feel the same way with this film. Add on phenomenal acting performances by Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and many others to make one of the best films I have ever seen.