Flipside Movie Emporium

Tooky Cat · Posted: 03.24.2004 4:21 am Post subject:

I'm a few posts behind here, but I just wanted to voice my opinion that Wes Craven's New Nightmare is one of the most clever horror movies I've ever seen. The basic idea is fairly interesitn itself, what with the story being about the movie that the movie is about (haha), but the fact that Wes Craven uses his very own movies in this movie about his movies makes a great movie.
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the night watchman · Posted: 03.24.2004 5:32 am Post subject:

I agree, Tooky; and if there's a reason to watch the whole series, it's to better appreciate New Nightmare.
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"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

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Jim Harper · Posted: 03.27.2004 12:37 pm Post subject:

First, to get the Kubrick out the way. I enjoyed:

1. Dr. Strangelove

2. The Shining

Despite its 'classic' status, 2001: A Space Odyssey made me want to headbutt the television screen in frustration. I watch it every seven or eight years to see if I can 'get' it, or at least enjoy the damn film. I'll keep trying. Don't get me started on AI or Eyes Wide Shut. If I have to sit through another 'mature' or 'emotional' performance from Haley Joel Osment I'll chew my own foot off.

This week, I have watched:

Prince of Darkness (John Carpenter, 1987) Don't know why so many people don't like this film. I love it.

Hypnosis a.k.a. Saimin (Masayuki Ochiai, 1999) Half-hearted Japanese horror film that loses its way half way through and stumbles to a disappointing finale. The story is ripped off from Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure, but Suicide Circle did it much better.

Eko eko azaraku a.k.a. Wizard of Darkness (Shimako Sato, 1995) Bizarre teen horror film sees teenage witch battling satanic forces. Involves more graphic lesbianism, perverted teachers and sailor suit-fetishism than you would expect in a film aimed at teenagers.

Ijintachi tono natsu a.k.a. The Discarnates (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1988) This was the first Japanese horror film I ever saw, fourteen years ago. Didn't enjoy it as much the second time around, although it's a worthy film that deserves to be seen by western audiences.

Fred C. Dobbs · Director Joined: 11 Mar 2004 Posts: 201 Location: New York

3/21-3/27

Ratings are out of five stars:

3/21 - Monsters, Inc. (2001) ****1/2

3/21 - Onibaba (1964) ****

3/21 - Dead & Buried (1981) **1/2

3/22 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) *****

3/23 - Gothika (2003) **1/2

3/23 - The Rundown (2003) ***

3/24 - Kill Bill, Volume 1 (2003) *****

3/25 - The Man Who Would Be King (1975) *****

3/26 - Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) ***1/2

3/26 - Black Friday (1940) ***

3/26 - The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) ****
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Tooky Cat · Posted: 03.28.2004 7:01 am Post subject:

I was at a friend's house watching Going Greek. Um, yeah. Just like watching every other teen sex comedy, I felt my IQ plummeting and my brain turning to mush. I find those movies actually offensive. As if teenagers today are incapable of handling a plot, developed characters, cinematography, or anything of actual significance.

So about 40 minutes into that I just left (I could probably tell you how the movie ended anyways), and two of my friends and I rented Requiem for a Dream. We'd all seen it before, but it's a great film and I guess we were in good moods so naturally we rented the most depressing film available. ?_o

The thing about Requiem is that it's so real and genuinely possible. Here are some normal people with dreams of success; they just take the road to devastation.
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beltmann · Posted: 03.29.2004 3:01 am Post subject:

3/22 ? 3/28/04

Only one:

The Ladykillers (Coen 2004). The cinematography is mesmerizing?I especially liked a tableaux involving the red-handed criminals freezing amidst a downpour of American currency?and the Coens continue to concoct unique American characters. I most enjoyed J.K. Simmons? detonation expert, and Tom Hanks? performance is certainly watchable. I especially loved hearing Hanks? dialogue, which hilariously uses sophisticated language to convey utterly simplistic ideas. (This joke is sealed by the fact that none of the incompetents ever expresses confusion about Hanks? meaning.) Still, Hanks? deliberate, calibrated performance signals back to the Coens? enduring artificiality?not once would we confuse the professor with an actual human being.

Is that a problem in a black comedy? Not especially. Yet there?s a larger problem with The Ladykillers. Black comedy is certainly a valid artistic mode, but if I?m not laughing I?m generally cringing?if it doesn?t work, what often rises to the surface is hatefulness and poisonous misanthropy. While that charge has frequently been leveled at the Coens, I?ve never felt it was fully deserved until recently. We can find pockets of human decency in even Fargo and Miller?s Crossing, but I find it difficult to endure Intolerable Cruelty, and now The Ladykillers, another lightweight fantasy about romance?about the love of money, and the love of physical injury?has me worried. Have the Coens receded entirely into their artificial world of malice? The gallows humor here is pervasive, and bitterly caustic, which I would defend if I had found it remotely funny. For me, though, there isn?t nearly enough wit or satire to leaven the spite. (When a dog runs off with a man?s finger, we?re meant to find the surreal image humorous for its own sake; there?s no sense of Lynchian satire or even Jacksonian gore comedy.)
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Danny Baldwin · Posted: 03.29.2004 3:45 am Post subject:

I'll watch a ton over spring break.

This week:

Dirty Pretty Things (Frears, 2003) - Overrated. My Review.

The Ladykillers (Coens, 2004) - Yet another comedic masterpiece from that unstoppably dynamic duo. My Review.

Shattered Glass (Ray, 2003) - At the beginning, I found it to be a bit too obvious, but as the lies began to unravel, the atmosphere was overwhelming, and Hayden Christensen's performance, particularly, struck me for genius. Wonderful and creative work here, considering how well-known the story is.
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stefanieduckwitz · Posted: 03.29.2004 4:15 am Post subject:

Steamboat Bill, Jr.- I thought it was fantastic! yep, that's about it, a great film Laughing

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matt header · Posted: 03.29.2004 6:17 am Post subject:

I also saw The Ladykillers this evening. Roger Deakins is one of the top cinematographers working today (I also love Emmanuel Lubezki, Janusz Kaminski, Christopher Doyle, and Eduardo Serra), and it's amazing how everything looks so visually energetic. I may never have seen greener grass or fuller flesh in a movie.

But I agree with Beltmann: never before have I felt Coens' alleged misanthropy so strongly. I liked Intolerable Cruelty a lot, mostly because its absurd humor, which I found hilarious, gave the pessimism the feel of a good nudge; but the dark humor in The Ladykillers is unrelentingly dark and rarely very humorous. Loved the music - especially a giddy moment over a montage when a bluesy-folksy score with a very old feel transitions perfectly into an extremely modern hip-hop song and back again - but didn't really enjoy myself, which I usually do with the Coens' films.

beltmann · Posted: 03.29.2004 5:17 pm Post subject:

Hawkwing74 · Posted: 03.29.2004 11:56 pm Post subject:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...I thought it was excellent. It's interesting that critics give such wildly different reports of it. It's the kind of movie that is open to interpretation.

Very thought provoking, and a fine job by Kate Winslet.

mfritschel · Posted: 03.30.2004 12:35 am Post subject:

Buffalo Soldiers (Jordan) - It tries at times to be a critique of the military, but never really accomplishes its goal. The movie was rather sporatic and all over the place, I just really couldn't get into it and it just wasn't that good.

May (McKee) - Just a bad movie. I never related to the main character, and frankly found her character to outlandish and weird. She appeard to not even be human at times.

Paths of Glory (Kubrick) - Not your typcial Kubrick movie as far as direction and style go. It was very upfront about its points and and nature, and yet was still very enthralling. I found myself really relating the feeling sympathy for the characters, yet I question if it will contain the same emotional power upon repeated viewings?

The Others Amenabar - not a bad movie, but the suprise ending was just too much like The Sixth Sense, so that aspect ruined it for me.

SWAT (Johnson) - not as bad as I thought it was going to be, sure it fell into many of the same cliches that all action movies due, but what was one really expecting. Plus I don't think the movie ever really took it self seriously, so you really can't falt it for that.

The Third M?n · Posted: 03.30.2004 9:21 am Post subject:

Jim Harper · Posted: 03.30.2004 5:37 pm Post subject: