TV/Movies Megathread

[Savonarola]

L'Atalante (1934)

I saw the Criterion collection of the film and, after watching the film, listened to the pretentious film critic's commentary.

I like their pretentious film critic commentaries.  Beats the director's commentaries that are the standard fare on regular discs--rarely are they that terribly enlightening except for technical issues (how such and such was shot) and occasionally for assigning credit (e.g., David Fincher admitting that the excellent use of "Orinoco Flow" Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was Daniel Craig's idea).  Blame, of course, is almost never assigned because mistakes are not acknowledged.  Film critics have no such bias.  My favorite is definitely the film historian David Kalat's commentary on Things To Come, which is so overtly critical, despite the obvious love he has for it, that he has to stop halfway through to remind himself and the audience that (to paraphrase) "Of course, if you're listening to this, it probably means you like the movie."

Most of the films I watch don't have director commentary.   

I always listen to the pretentious film critic commentary.  Most times they provide insight into the film or pick up on things I overlooked; other times they provide the opportunity to listen to the questionable opinions of pompous windbags without having to go through the trouble of logging onto the internet.

[Ideologue]

Most of the films I watch don't have director commentary.

Suppose not.

I'm just saying, I wish they'd do it with current films as well as Criterion releases of movies 70 years old.

[Liep]

Watched Dark Knight Rises again, I'm now settled with the fact that it only has one redeeming character. Anne Hathaway in a leather suit.

They could've at least exploded Hines Ward.

EDIT: Also, Paval was confirmed dead in a plane crash, in a plane that was full of bullet holes? No questions asked by the CIA?

[celedhring]

Watched Dark Knight Rises again, I'm now settled with the fact that it only has one redeeming character. Anne Hathaway in a leather suit.

They could've at least exploded Hines Ward.

EDIT: Also, Paval was confirmed dead in a plane crash, in a plane that was full of bullet holes? No questions asked by the CIA?

I watched it the other day and it was even more ridiculous than I remembered. Extremely little of it makes sense.

[Capetan Mihali]

World on a Wire (1973).  Like the Matrix, except more cerebral, less stupid, shot on 16mm for German TV, and vastly more 1970s in every way.  But--most importantly--it is way, way, way longer, to the extent that the paranoid plot that's entrapped our man who isn't real is more recursive than the ubiquitous mirror shots Fassbinder's constructed whole swathes of his movie out of and circles and circles and fucking circles more than his camera.  (That said, the mirror shots and elegantly mobile camera are cool.)

B

It's a semi-forgotten classic. Haven't seen it in ages (they had a re-run on TV in the 90s, I think).

As a Fassbinder devotee, I made a special trip into Manhattan to see it when it was first re-released, on the big screen at the MoMA theater. There was a crazy German guy in the audience who stood up ranting and raving about how his mother was involved in the film, but everyone ignored him in classic NY fashion and he eventually settled down.

[The Larch]

Watched Dark Knight Rises again, I'm now settled with the fact that it only has one redeeming character. Anne Hathaway in a leather suit.

They could've at least exploded Hines Ward.

EDIT: Also, Paval was confirmed dead in a plane crash, in a plane that was full of bullet holes? No questions asked by the CIA?

I watched it the other day and it was even more ridiculous than I remembered. Extremely little of it makes sense.

And even if it made any sense Bane's voice would remove it instantly.

[CountDeMoney]

I liked Bane's voice.

[Capetan Mihali]

I watched Chinatown again last night on Netflix Instant.  It's still great, to hell with Eddie Teach & co. who think it's overrated.

[Ideologue]

It's only the like-the-60th-best-movie-ever-made thing that makes it overrated.

The Two Jakes: underrated.

Repulsion: fucking garbage.

[Ideologue]

I liked Bane's voice.

Concur.  I thought it sounded cool and different.  It's ripe for parody, sure, but so is Darth Vader's.  It's effective in the film.

[The Larch]

Batman - Bane is a duel of silly voices in that film.

[Eddie Teach]

It's only the like-the-60th-best-movie-ever-made thing that makes it overrated.

AFI's got it listed at #21. It's a good movie, but not *that* good.

[Liep]

I liked Bane's voice.

Concur.  I thought it sounded cool and different.  It's ripe for parody, sure, but so is Darth Vader's.  It's effective in the film.

Yes, I agree, but it was completely misplaced in the setting and sounded more like a voice-over than a voice modulation.

[CountDeMoney]

It probably gets more kudos as a screenplay, some artsy mucks think it is as perfectly structured as a screenplay as it can get.

[celedhring]

It probably gets more kudos as a screenplay, some artsy mucks think it is as perfectly structured as a screenplay as it can get.

Aye, at film school they'd hammer us with it. I love the film, though. Not sure where it ranks on besteverness, but it's a great film.

Currently watching The Raid. So far it is cool, but hot damn, I don't understand a single word of Indonesian yet I can tell those are some really awful thespians.