MOVIES you watched this week? (DVD)

[iamnotafraid]

John Fogerty Premonition..........good music.

[David]

Ok, I just saw RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION & I didn't think much of it. It all looked like a commercial for Gillette hi-tech razor, because all the men had afternoon shadows & all the women had some hair in their armpits. Even the zombies were growing a lot of facial hair. The film also had the usual amount of unbelievability (guy being chased by zombie birds runs to the safety of a bus, but instead of hauling his ass through the door & shutting it -- which is what a real person would have done -- he stops for a few moments in order to turn around & fire off a useless round or two at twelve gazillion birds) & cartoonish action (chop-suey fighting with zombies until one smart chap finally had the brains to get a flame-thrower).

These dumber-than-dumb action flicks always use the same color palette, too. Have you noticed? Everything is the same steely-gray & two or three shades of abiotic green.

The film is also a barrage of film references: THE BIRDS, PLANET OF THE APES, DAWN OF THE DEAD, MAD MAX, THE MATRIX, ALIENS, TREMORS, & on & on & on & on. But not a single reference was deft or clever. I think there were more references than zombies at one point.

This stupidity was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who used to direct videos for MTV (including Fleetwood Mac's GYPSY). His filmography tells an interesting moral story: He has never made a decent picture & shows no signs of ever doing so. Who gives him money?

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by David

This stupidity was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who used to direct videos for MTV (including Fleetwood Mac's GYPSY). His filmography tells an interesting moral story: He has never made a decent picture & shows no signs of ever doing so. Who gives him money?

I disagree.

Ricochet is an amazing movie that uncannily captures the temper of its moment; Mulcahy's wide-screen compositions vivify the times in that movie. I thrill to it often.

[iamnotafraid]

Final Destination. Figured I'd give this a try. One
down two to go. Not bad for this "type" of a movie.

[Ghost_Tracker]

I saw a movie last night with Julianne Moore and Hugh Grant - I forget the title but it was a nice romantic comedy. Had Robin Williams in it too.

Anyway - - - I already knew that there was "something about" Juliane Moore but o.m.g. - - - She was STUNNING when she was young! Even Hugh Grant was like - "OHHHhhh wow!" - you could "just tell." (i.m.o., of course.)

Anyway - Yeah - wow!!!

[iamnotafraid]

I'm a little behind on my movies, but tonight I watched Paper Heart.

I thought it was very good. Unique to say the least. If you rent this Docu/Comedy
make sure to watch the extras. Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera did a good job.

[EnchantedKiwi]

I watched "The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock for the first time yesterday! I thought it was pretty good, but not as scarey as people have said lol


Oh and Paul Blart: Mall Cop, such a waste of time Zzzz

[iamnotafraid]

Originally Posted by EnchantedKiwi

I watched "The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock for the first time yesterday!

^
Cool movie!

The Mall cop.......I can't stand looking at that dude.

[GODDESS6]

four christmases
taking of pelham123
plain truth
the killing secret

[estranged4life]

"War of the Worlds"
"Cannonball Run"
"The Final Countdown"
"The Wrestler"
"Christmas Time in South Park"

[desertangel]

Roman Holiday = Love to watch Audrey.... she's just so entertaining.

I'm currently trying to work my way through Grapes of Wrath, but the disk skips in several places, so have to send it back for a new one and try again. I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. Couldn't help but think of The Beverly Hillbillies as they drove that loaded down pick up truck across the country to Calif. on Route 66. All the actors who play the "hicks" (the Joad family) are just FABULOUS! Henry Fonda is always a joy to watch.

[TrueFaith77]

Senses of Cinema invited me to participate in their annual poll again this year. Thought my "ballot" might interest The Ledge:

By far the best new movie I saw in '09, Rabioso sol, rabioso cielo (Raging Sun, Raging Sky, Julian Hernandez, 2009) also rightfully owns the number 3 spot on the Best of ‘00s list. However, the film distribution-and-critical hegemony keeps the movie from reaching the audience it deserves. Hernandez seemingly recognizes his circumstance in the film-cult machine: the era's best new filmmaker relegated to the cinema's gay ghetto (currently his RSRS is available only for festival rentals). Yet, his work does not fit any "gay movie" conventions (lazy critics compare him to the early 1990s New Queer Cinema when Antonioni and Ophuls would be more apt). So in a subversive modernist twist--a relatively minor detail in the film's teeming nexus--Hernandez decorates a porn theater box office with promo stills from his own short Bramadero (an erotic meditation on death). Significantly: "bramadero" means "tethering post." Although restricted by film-cult hegemony (effectively: censorship), Hernandez's unabashed gay erotic content ties him to a deeper (resistance) gay/art legacy.

Let's break down the multivalent significance of the self-referential use of Bramadero stills in Raging Sun, Raging Sky:

1. Hernandez's frank treatment of sexuality addresses the Desire (sexual/spiritual) exploited by grindhouse cinema, while also recognizing that it provides a space for the social expression of Desire by members of a marginalized group
2. Hernandez does not see his films as "above" grindhouse movies, but as part of a particular, sub-cultural history of art-cinema distribution and exhibition
3. Hernandez highlights and subverts the ghetto-ized nature of his own films (relegated to specialty audiences, yet actually expansive in their treatment of the human condition)

It begs the question: To what tethering post is NYC's gaggle of gay film critics chained? (Raise your hand if you were at the lone NYC festival screening of Raging Sun, Raging Sky.)

The following lists one person's genuine appraisal of time spent at the movies. In the spirit of Hernandez's audacious proposition of the movie theater as the site where love is found (and compassion developed)--I give Raging Sun, Raging Sky its place on the decade list. Should the U.S. be blessed by its official release in 2010, it will rule that year and set the standard for the next decade as well.


10 Best Movies of 2009 (U.S. Releases Only)

1. This Is It (Kenny Ortega, 2009)
2. Everlasting Moments (Jan Troell, 2008)
3. Brothers (Jim Sheridan, 2009)
4. You, The Living (Roy Andersson, 2007)
5. Next Day Air (Benny Boom, 2009)
6. Bandslam (Todd Graff, 2009)
7. Of Time and the City (Terence Davies, 2008)
8. Gentlemen Broncos (Jared Hess, 2009)
9. The Blind Side (John Lee Hancock, 2009)
10. Revanche (Gotz Spielmann, 2008)


10 Best Movies of the 2000s (one film per director)

1. A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
2. Femme Fatale (Brian De Palma, 2002)
3. Raging Sun, Raging Sky (Julian Hernandez, 2009)
4. Together (Chen Kaige, 2003)
5. Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2004)
6. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008)
7. The Witnesses (Andre Techine, 2008)
8. Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, 2004)
9. Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow, 2004)
10. 2046 (Wong Kar-Wai, 2004)
(tie)
10. Son frere (Patrice Chereau, 2003)



John Demetry is a film and music critic. A selection of his reviews (2000-2007) will be published by Resistance Works, WDC in the upcoming book: Revolution to Revelation.

[FMlex]

Wait Until Dark.

I hadn't seen it in about ten years and forgot how good it is.
It's a fantastic, classic suspense story and Audrey Hepburn is amazing as usual.

Apparently when this sucker was shown on the big screen back in the late '60s, the theatre management would close all doors and even turn off the aisle lights in the final twenty minutes for the full effect.

[estranged4life]

I'm watching the following:

Amon Amarth - "Wrath of the Norsemen"
Metallica - "Orgullo, Pasión Y Gloria - Tres Noches En La Ciudad De México" (Deluxe edition)

[iamnotafraid]

It Might Get Loud. Absolutely the best documentary/movie I've seen
this year. If you're the slightest bit interested in guitar, rent or even better
buy this movie. With Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge and Jack White you can't
go wrong. It's one of those movies I wished would never end.

Now I'm fired up to play, and I might just turn it to 11.