Mulholland Drive

Quite a remarkable film. I recommend it to anybody and everybody.

Lynch's films in order of pereference:

1. Blue Velvet
2. Mulholland Drive
3. Eraserhead
4. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

I really cannot wait to see Lost Highway.

So glad you finally saw and liked United 93 Capo. Easily my choice for best film released at the half-way point of this year.

JFK
1991/Stone

Enjoyed my 2nd viewing. Stone's fantastic editing and correlation of images with voice over narration is stunning. Whether this film's theories have any plausibility or not can be called into question, but it is clearly an incredibly well-executed film either way. The three Stone films I've seen have really impressed me, though I still need to see Platoon.

4.5/5

Mista, glad you enjoyed JFK so much. It's probably in my Top 10 list

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly ***
(Second viewing)

This had the 18 minutes of extra footage added into it and I felt it ran rather long. Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach worked well together but I still love A Fistful of Dollars the most out of the trilogy.

I've been studying the multiple websites debunking most of the theories presented in this film for the past hour, and I'm coming more and more to not really buy Stone and Garrison's conclusions here. Any thoughts of your own on this matter?

Stone's theory is nonsense. However, JFK is a great fucking movie.

Then again, its like people who hate films due to political messages in them, regardless if the film's technique is good or not.

Vertigo ****
This is an absolute masterpiece. The fact that the main character suffers from the fear of heights is incidental. It is, above all, a deeply psychological film, sometimes very sad and sometimes scary. Ofcourse the camera work is great, creating a nice dizzy effect. My first hitchcock movie and I find it very remarkable that it was made in 58! This is a must watch, highly recommended.

Vertigo was my first Hitchcock as well. I saw it maybe a year ago and was so underwhelmed by it. I've recently seen 3 more Hitchcocks, and so far, I've liked every one of them more than Vertigo. Definitely needs an eventual rewatch.

Rocky ***
A nobody boxer fights the heavy-weight champion. Another nobody woman is his inspiration and love while he is preparing for what he thinks is a one-sided fight. Entertaining film with nice performances from Stallone and Talia shire. Incidentally Stallone wrote the script and there is a special feature in the DVD where he talks about his script writing process. I have more respect for him after listening to that!

The theories expressed in the film are really a combined jumble of Garrison's and Jim Marrs, who wrote Crossfire, and bear very little relation to each other.

Garrisson's ideas - or at least his primary theories - have been pretty much debunked by assassination researchers over the years, altho there are, I believe,a few kernels of interest and truth in them (David Ferrie, for example).

Stone, I think, took some of the plausible elements of both and combined them, which is one of the main criticisms of the film - it's accuracy with respect to the facts and theories.

I personally believe, however - and always have - that there definitely was a conspiracy - government sponsored, or at least government covered-up to some degree - behind the JFK assassination.

Oliver Stone's films need to be taken with a large dose of salt.

JFK is fine as entertainment; nonetheless, what is, I believe, a cause for concern is that an entire generation have now grown up to with that film -- many of whom accept its fundementals as 'history'.

It's the ultimate postmodern 'historical film' -- it suggests that any interpretation (including fictive) of history is valid.

Let's not forget that Garrison is by all accounts a pretty dubious individual known for Marcello mafia connections.

Last night for some reason, insomnia kicked in and I couldn't sleep. After searching every station on tv, with the huge selection of channels, :rolleyes: there was absolutely nothing that appealed to me, so I went with "The Ode To Billy Joe". Those who are in my age group, might remember the 1967 hit song by Bobbi Gentry, for which this movie was based. Never have been a C&W fan, and I absolutely hated that song when it came out, but as years go by, it's not that bad I guess.

Anyway, the only star I knew was Robby Benson (Billy Joe). I think the movie came out in 1976, and as I recall was far from a box office hit.

Anyway, it actually wasn't too bad, and seemed to follow the song I guess. Now I know why "Billy Joe McCallistser jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

TIS

Short Cuts
1993/Altman

My first Robert Altman film. An interesting set of stories where the fact that it is based off several seperate pieces of literature is clear throughout. While I watched this film pretty much solely because of its comparisons to Magnolia, it didn't quite have the sense of an overall omnipresent theme that Anderson's film retains. It seems as though perhaps Altman should have narrowed down the character list and focused more on the technical aspects of the film, which I felt was one key category where Magnolia clearly triumphed.

While the ending did provide a nice way to cut things off, and I was happy to see that Anderson borrowed the theme of natural phenomenen affecting character's lives, some of the characters here felt as though maybe they weren't exactly at a place where their story should've ended. Overall an interesting piece of cinema, a wonderful portrait of early 90's LA, and an important film for any fan of Magnolia to see.

4.5/5

What are the "technical aspects of a film"?

Choosing interesting camera shots, executing interesting camera movements, paying more attention to lighting details, perhaps doing more with music.

I mean maybe the minimalist style, where he shot several scenes in one take was just what Altman chose to do to more accurately portray the everyday-LA type of feeling he was trying to get across, but I kind of felt it was too TV-ish at times as far as production values went. Magnolia felt much more polished and professional.

Again, maybe it just wasn't what Altman wanted, but I felt as though I would've liked it better.

Manhattan
1979/Allen

An interesting companion piece to Annie Hall, similar, but clearly different in many respects. I loved Allen's use of Gershwin here, almost mocking them by playing them in somewhat sarcastic and contradictory scenes, but yet simultaneously paying homage to them. Both Woody and Diane Keaton deliver performances similarly as great as their work in Annie Hall, but sadly they don't share as much screen time in this one. And I never knew Michael Murhpy was an established actor. Go figure. Overall, really enjoyed this movie, not as much as Annie Hall, but still very good. Two things make me wonder though . . .

A. Why is it in black and white? This is probably the only post-color-option black and white film where I felt it hurt the movie. I loved Annie Hall's kind of dullish, orangey mix of tones with shadows and whatnot.

and

B. Why does Woody denounce this film as the worst thing he's ever done? I'm reading on imdb that he supposely hated it then and hates it now. Kind of strange.

Anyway, my next Allen will probably be Crimes and Misdemeanors. As for Manhattan . . .

4/5 Stars

Once Upon a Time in America


Mindblowing film that flawlessly intertwines elements of friendship, betrayal, guilt, time, and memories, fueled by great performances, beautiful cinematography, and wonderful music. Unlike other films that run nearly 4 hours, Once Upon a Time in America never drags on, due to the non-linear narrative structure that works beautifully within the film, and the fact that every scene is as intense and provocative as the one before it. Phenomenal film.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA is probably the only 4-hour movie I've seen so far that doesn't feel like I've 4 of my hours away. Hell, if I had not known the running time previously, I could have easily mistaken it for quite an "epic" 3 hour+ picture

Glad you dug it dude.

Hagen, glad you enjoy your first dose of Altman. Check this out:

http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/the-craftsman/13685/

Anyway, I'll try my best to go see his latest. I mean, for all we know, this might be his last picture, considering his age and all.

BTW Hagen, now check out Altman's other hits like NASHVILLE, THE PLAYER, etc.

It was my third time seeing it, just to clarify.

Thanks for that link Ronnie. I've been trying to find Nashville with no success, so I'll probably look into The Player in a little while.

I have the chance to see Nashville on the big screen.

It was my third time seeing it, just to clarify. [/b][/quote]That's it? Newb.

We've already been into this. I hold the record for "most viewings after school when I was 12, in a three month period". *brags*

Dave Chappelle's Block Party **

Not a bad way combine both a concert and "stand-up" comedy. Although some of the performances were running a bit long and I was getting somewhat bored

Irish, does any of Gondry's directorial flair that was so evident in Eternal Sunshine show in that one?

It was my third time seeing it, just to clarify. [/b][/quote]That's it? Newb.

We've already been into this. I hold the record for "most viewings after school when I was 12, in a three month period". *brags* [/b][/quote]Well...uh...yer...uh...yer GAY.

I honestly couldn't tell you. I only saw Eternal Sunshine once and I couldn't tell his directorial flair

I honestly couldn't tell you. I only saw Eternal Sunshine once and I couldn't tell his directorial flair [/b][/quote]Check out the special features on the Eternal Sunshine DVD.. They get into his style a few times, and I remember talking about his lack of use of special effects. It was cool. His music videos are extremely well done too... There was a tather cool one he did for The White Stripes not to far back, and it has to be one of the coolest music videos I've ever whitnessed (but, again, I don't really watch alot of them, so maybe I can't judge). I want to say the song was Denial Twist... The video consisted of one long continuous shot, Jack and Meg White, Conan O'Brien, a tall man, and alot of midgets. Oh, and a gigantic foot.

EDIT: Here, I found the video on youtube for anyone interested: http://youtube.com/watch?v=PhOuaM3-cXQ&search=white%20stripes%20denial%20twist