[Jake]

Just sas The Aristocrats last night. It was pretty damn funny, though not as funny as I expected - there was a good 20 minutes in the middle that was a lot slower than the beginning and end's non-stop stream of rapidfire comedy. Some amazingly ridiculous/outrageous well-told jokes in here though. Definitely 100% worth seeing if it's playing in your area (If you aren't offended by lots and lots and lots of obscene language, that is... Well, if you are offended by that sort of thing, you should probably see it anyway. It might help you get over yourself.). Reviews

[Pappapisshu]

I'm really excited to see The Aristocrats, though it'll probably take several months before it finds its way over here.

[Pappapisshu]

By the way, have any of you seen Café Lumière? It's actually from 2003 but I've seen some recent reviews of it so it's possible that it's showing in the States at the moment (or have been recently). I'm hoping it'll be shown in theaters here, as well.

[After a brisk nap]

Sometimes I feel that I've become too jaded. I've seen so many of the movies people list here, and almost invariably I'm far less enthusiastic about them. Then I remember how thrilled I was with Batman Begins. Easily the best movie I've seen in cinemas this year (though admittedly I've mostly been going to dreck: Episode III, THHGTTG, Sin City, Constantine...).

I watched The Machinist on DVD over the weekend. Quite good, though any merit it has as a film is destined to be forever overshadowed by the weightloss Christian Bale went through for the part. That guy is one dedicated method actor. It has often been compared to Fight Club, but to my mind it plays much closer to a cross of Jacob's Ladder and Memento. It's not in the least bit scary or tense, mind you. Just rather sad. (The true cineast connoiseurs among you should note that Jennifer Jason Leigh has several topless scenes.)

Like SJH, I first thought that the film was rather less clever than it fancied itself to be. But then I listened to the audio commentary, and discovered that the director fully expected viewers to figure out the twists long before they were revealed:

Spoiler:

Specifically, he acknowledged that many viewers will immediately suspect that Ivan is a figment of Trevor's imagination (which implies that everything else is also paranoid delusions), and guess at once that the solution for the hangman game is KILLER. Also, that the scenes with Marie and Nicolas were at least partly delusional. He even seemed to assume that the shift from Marie's apartment to Trevor's would be a giveaway, which I admit I completely missed. He didn't talk about the hit-and-run specifically, but there are so many clues that I don't see how he could expect people not to figure it out.

The most interesting thing about this, I thought, was that by de-emphasizing the twist, The Machinist made me see movies like Angel Heart, Jacob's Ladder, Fight Club, and Memento (just to mention a few well-known examples) as defined not so much by their surprise endings, but by the (unconscious) search for buried memories that makes up their plots. You could see it as a genre that stretches back, ultimately, to Oedipus Rex.

I also watched Hitch. It inspired no such ruminations in me. It's an OK rom-com, though.

[Melanie68]

I rarely watch new movies nowadays - I need to be in the right kind of mood.

I did see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I loved it. Johnny Depp is always cool to watch and I am looking forward to Corpse Bride.

I was glad to see Eat Drink Man Woman show up here-it is profound, sweet, sad and funny. It's one of my favorites.

If you want to see a unique foreign film that is also a musical - rent The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)-it takes place from 1956-58 during the Algerian-French war and was one of Catherine Deneuve's first roles. What makes this unique is that all of the dialogue is sung (don't let that stop you from watching!).

For OrangeBrat (you sound like you're an Audrey Hepburn fan-yes or no?)-
I love Charade with Audrey and Cary Grant

For those who didn't like Mr and Mrs Smith with Brangelina - the original Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard is worth checking out.

Finally, if you want great obscence humor - Clerks (37!!!), Mall Rats and Dogma by Kevin Smith.

Enjoy!

[Talas]

I watched Blazing Saddles yesterday, this movie is really funny, Mel Brooks at his best!

"Badges? We don't need no stinking badges."

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Mel Brooks is t3h genious.

[Kolzig]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

For those who didn't like Mr and Mrs Smith with Brangelina - the original Mr. and Mrs. Smith with Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard is worth checking out.

I haven't seen neither of these movies, but I do remember the 90's short lived Mr and Ms. Smith tv series that starred Scott Bakula in it.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

The original Mr. And Mrs. Smith was directed by Alfred Hitchcock (one of his rare films attempting a more maintstream comedy). Wonderfully done and surprisingly violent for its time.

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

I haven't seen neither of these movies, but I do remember the 90's short lived Mr and Ms. Smith tv series that starred Scott Bakula in it.

I don't remember that! Obviously the movie was based on this. The only thing the new movie has in common with the Hitchcock film is the title

[Kolzig]

I'd really want to see that tv show again.
I think they showed it here in Finland only because Quantum Leap was a big success here.

[Kolzig]

I just watched Der Untergang. I'm quite speechless.

[BenjaminBunny]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

I just watched Der Untergang. I'm quite speechless.

Pretty intense, isn't it?

[Once A Villain]

I've seen Harakiri twice before, but it just came out from the Criterion Collection in a very nice 2 DVD set. Anyone with an interest in Japanese films at all must see this. Unlike many Japanese period films, it doesn't glorify the samurai...it rips them to shreds. Awesome cover and menus too...

[natalia]

Just finished Hotel Rwanda. Wow. I probably cried throughout the entire viewing. I don't think it was a mistake to keep the gruesome violence offscreen and always hovering in the background. The decision to focus on one man's efforts to put one foot in front of the other in a time of madness was the right one, I think.

I'd also read "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda" by Philip Gourevitch. I know that the picture of what really happened, and what lead to such a terrible massacre is much more complicated then both the movie and book portrayed (the possibility that the U.S. was much more involved in provoking and prolonging the violence and not just an indifferent Western Power refusing to intervene), but the movie's focus on how individuals responded to an impossible situation was so moving to me. It makes me ask how I would respond in such a similar situation, and moved me to reconsider how I spend my own time at home.

[Trunkyo]

Hmm, I thought I replied earlier in this thread... guess not!

It's getting harder for me to get excited about new movies coming out in theatres... I usually ask myself, "HOW BADLY DO I NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE? In the first week?" "Can I wait until it goes to the cheapo second-run theatre downtown?" ($3 matinees! Whee!!! ) And finally, "Can I wait until it comes out on DVD?"

In my city, how soon a movie makes it to the 2nd-run theatre is a really good indicator of how well it did in its first run (box office-wise). Batman Begins started last week, Star Wars Ep. III has been there for 3 weeks, while The Island is already playing there!

While my 13-year-old cousin Kevin was staying with us for the summer, we watched a lot of movies, including:
Blade Runner (Director's Cut) - I managed to find a used copy of the game (just finished BTW, and am replaying it for the different endings! ) so we watched the movie (with me trying in vain to explain the differences between the DC and the "original", it's been so long... )
Napoleon Dynamite
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Cat Returns
Ju-on: The Grudge - Kevin, like SamNMax, doesn't get scared easily, unlike my wussy sister!
Kung Fu Hustle - Eecch, then again, I didn't like Shaolin Soccer either
2046, on bootleg Asian DVD from my uncle in HK (Hey, stop looking at me like that! ) - Visually stunning film (and Gong Li, Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi aren't too bad-looking either! ) The non-linear narrative confused the heck out of my mom, though.

[omloflump]

Mel Brooks is t3h genious.

I've said this before, and, evidently, I'll say it again. I have no idea why anybody likes Mel Brooks — or why he's such as 'legend'. To my knowledge, he has never expelled anything remotely funny (to my senses) and his best film, The Producers isn't, in all honesty, very good — it's certainly not funny. Stand-up wise, the million year old man or whatever was amiable, but, again, not funny in the slightest. Young Frankenstein wasn't even as funny as the films it took off: Frankenstein and Bride Of Frankenstein, which were already tongue-in-cheek. And then we come to the woeful mess of Men In Tights, which, as well as stealing Gene Wilder's 'walk this way' gag from Young Frankenstein, was a series of old Mel Brooks gags and absolutely bottom-of-the-already-well-scraped-barrel new gags. It's a worthy contender for the worst film of all time.

Subjectivity, blah blah blah.

[Kolzig]

Yeah, but Spaceballs, now that's A Movie!

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Kolzig

Yeah, but Spaceballs, now that's A Movie!

I have to agree with omloflump here. I found The Producers remarkably unfunny, whilst Blazing Sadles had only one good joke that I can remember off-hand.

[Melanie68]

Originally Posted by RLacey

I have to agree with omloflump here. I found The Producers remarkably unfunny, whilst Blazing Sadles had only one good joke that I can remember off-hand.

Which joke did you find funny?