chente

Can anyone recommend the Dreyer Box Set? It looks very interesting and I'm on the verge of blind buying it. I would normally rent from Netflix first but they don't carry it.

Brent L

I was doing a search for "Rules of the Game", and I found this thread. Why this thread isn't active I have no idea, it's a great idea. Can we get this going again?

I'd like some information on Tanner '88. Is this a film that, regardless of your political views, most anyone who is interested in politics would enjoy?

souvenir

I'd say not necessarily regardless of political views. I'm not sure how much staunch conservatives would get out of it. It's not overly partisan though. It focuses more on the campaign process than Tanner's views since his vacuousness is part of the show's point.

Brent L

I'm not the type of conservative who can't enjoy people making fun of "my side" of topics, but when something is made soley for the purpose of doing so, that can get on my nerves a bit. I might still check it out though for the sake of quality film/tv, I've heard great things about it. I like the concept of it more than anything I guess.

Here is a list of Criterions I'm thinking of buying. Not all right now obviously, but these are the ones I'm mainly interested in. Are there any here I should drop totally? I don't have many Kurosawa films listed simply because I haven't seen much, if any of his work, and I'm told that Rashomon is the one to really start with.

Brief Encounter
Burden Of Dreams
F For Fake
Fishing With John
For All Mankind
Grey Gardens
Ikiru
In The Mood For Love
Knife In The Water
Night And The City
Rashomon
Rififi
Secret Honor
Short Cuts
Slacker
Tanner 88
The Rules Of The Game
Withnail And I

whoopdido

Has anybody seen Au hasard Balthazar made by Robert Bresson? Criterion is releasing it sometime in June and it looks pretty interesting to me even though I haven't been able to find very much information on it. All I really know is that it's about a girl and a donkey and how their lives parallel each other and it has a fair amount of religious undertones, which I don't mind. Has anybody seen it and would you recommend it? I might be interested in picking up Heaven Can Wait as a blind buy as well. Any thoughts on that one? It's also being released in June.

naitram

These are all definite must buys in my book. Rashomon first.

Phyre

Like Tarkovsky, liking Bresson requires a very particular taste. I would try renting a film of his to see if you like his filmmaking before purchasing this. That said, this film is a masterpiece imo, but definitely not an easy blind buy. Was the Heaven Can Wait you mentioned the Lubitsch film? If so, I just caught it on the Fox Movie Channel and it is an absolute delight.

I can't tell you what to drop but I can tell you, of the one's I have seen, which you should get:

Brief Encounter
In The Mood For Love
Rashomon
Rififi
The Rules Of The Game

I can, IF you like Dreyer. Like Bresson and Tarkovsky, he is a filmmaker with his own very special style, and one which not everyone loves. The three films in the Criterion set are considered masterpieces; I personally love Gertrud and Ordet and "only" like Day of Wrath. TCM re-runs some of these films occasionally, you might want to see one first before you buy.

natevines

Would anyone recommend blind buys on Cercle Rouge and Peeping Tom?

tdilia

I love Peeping Tom, great movie. I would recommend it without a doubt. Cercle Rouge has been on my shelf for a couple of weeks, got it blind. As soon as I watch it I will give you my opinion.

Brent L

Thanks a lot so far guys.

Muad'Dib

Very interesting thread. Can anyone recommend the following titles?

The 400 Blows
Jules et Jim (Loved Fahrenheit 451 and I definately want to see more Truffaut)
Night and Fog
A Woman Under the Influence
Faces (And the Cassavetes box set)
And, for someone who has never seen a Kurosawa film, what is a good one to start out on?

naitram

I personally didn't dig Peeping Tom as much, but Le Circle Rouge was entertaining. I think it's a good buy, but for Melville films I would snag Bob le Flambeur first. Amazing film.

Brent L

Would it help if this thread was in the DVD folder?

The Bus

Before I start, let me say that I fall asleep often. If a movie can keep me awake, it's really good. If I fell asleep, no harm done usually. If a movie is truly terrible (Dead Birds) it will keep me awake for far too long.

And so...

I've only seen two Kurosawa movies, Seven Samurai and Rashomon. I think the former will give you more bang for your buck because it is essentially a huge action buddy picture featuring some of the biggest actors of Japanese cinema.

No one here seems to like Cries & Whispers. I though it was delicious and repulsive -- you have to like slower movies though.

I really enjoyed Wages of Fear -- it's the story of a group of down-on-their-luck men forced to deliver TNT across the wilderness of Central America. Also worth mentioning is the director's other movie, Diabolique which is a nice Hitchcockian mystery. And, if you like mysteries, you will probably like The Vanishing which is about a couple who vacation in Europe only to find that one of them (the wife/girlfriend) has disappeared. The man's search for her eventually leads him down a very, very dark path.

By Brakhage I do not recommend to anyone who is not excited by the description. I get nothing but strange looks when I am found watching it. It is a collection of extremely short films, some under a minute, none of them have plot, most of them lack sound; it's all a journey into private and cosmic imagery.

Chasing Amy is one of the best romantic comedies in the past twenty. As Kevin Smith mellows out his dick-and-fart jokes a real jewel emerges. Not recommended for the squeamish crowd (has an R rating and plenty of racy content).

Do The Right Thing is an urban drama about a hot summer in Brooklyn's Best Stuy. The film is Lee's ultimate treatise on race, and it is beautifully shot and composed. It also comes with a huge amount of bonus material, including the audience interview of Spike Lee at Cannes, where the film caused a huge uproar.

The Element of Crime. Can't get through this movie. Have tried a bunch of times but I just end up being frustrated with it. I don't recommend it.

Fat Girl. A story about two sisters and their relationship with each other and their own sexuality while they are on vacation in France. The movie has a very deeply mean undercurrent, and one of the more shocking finales that I can recall. Highly recommended. (This movie and Swimming Pool share some common motifs --- UI would like to think they inhabit the same universe).

The documentary General Idi Amin Dada is one of the only filmed works on the brutality of the president of Uganda in the 1970s. It is absolutely stunning to spend almost two hours side by side with this monster, and yet you feel odd because he just seems to not really understand the world.

To the person who asked about Grey Gardens, I found the movie to be increasingly uninteresting as time went on. Would've been great for a short subject but after an hour you've had enough.

I just picked up Hoop Dreams and highly recommend it to anyone who likes documentaries, basketball, or both.

The Harder They Come is an interesting coming-of-age crime drama about a young hoodlum in Jamaica. The scenery, locale, and idiosyncracies of the island make this a gem, even if the story isn't terribly unique.

Wong Kar Wai is one of the best and brightest of the new Asian directors. In the Mood For Love is deeply sad and enjoyable -- it's an analysis of two people whose spouses are cheating on each other. It's a bit like Closer only without the snappy dialogue and a lot more silent poignancy.

A lot of people have praised M and I agree. It is one those movies (along with Seven Samurai) that does not feel "old" when you see it. The final scenes are a great treat.

Schizopolis is one of the oddest movies I have ever seen. Soderbergh inverts the language of film and is keen on doing nothing but befuddle, amaze, and covert everything his audience knows about movies. To someone who is unprepared for it, they will likely think it a bit much. The movie is very very short but feels very very long without being slow. The first time I saw it I had to spread it out over two days to fully understand everything that had happened.

That's all for now.

milo bloom

For All Mankind is a wonderful documentary made from actual astronaut film footage. Mostly from the 60's missions. Image quality is soso because of the source, but it's stll worth it.

Fishing with John is just too weird. I wanted to like it, but couldn't finish the first episode and sold it. It just reminded me of that episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force where Shake goes to Carl's house to watch TV and Carl has a fishing show on. Shake thinks it's a blooper show at first..."oh watch this, the guy is gonna nail the other guy in the crotch...oh, you're actually watching fishing..."

Just not weird enough I guess.

chente

I own Night and Fog and it is a very disturbing and moving dvd. Be warned that it contains graphic documentary footage of dead bodies in nazi concentration camps. It has really little to no repeat value to me although I'm glad I've seen it. I've been considering making my young cousin with a penchant for making racist jokes watch it with me but I don't think he's ready yet.

On a brighter note, I did eventually pick up the Dreyer box set and completely love it. I too recommend a rental first since I can easily see how some people would find it too slow. For me, the way they were filmed really strongly, strangely involved me with the characters. It's weird since the characters don't move around a lot. Long static shots, really inventive inovative use of lighting and moving dialogue. My personal ranking of the three films are Gertrude, Day of Wrath and Ordet. I've been meaning to revisit Ordet after reading more about it lately although it was only one that I had difficulty with. Day of Wrath is probably the most approachable of the movies. Gertrude just totally captivated me and is now one of my favorite movies and I'm still trying to figure out why. The entire time I was watching it, i kept thinking to myself that I should be bored with the long takes, the spartan set, the slowness and dramatic nature of the dialogue. But I wasn't, I got totally sucked in. My Metier is a very serviceable documentary on Dreyer containing mostly interviews with puzzled actors still unsure of why Dreyer wanted this and that but all acknowledging that he was great.

chente

I'm intersted in learning more about L'Aventura. Can anyone tell me a little about it?

whoopdido

What exactly about Bresson might turn some people off? Could you recommend a good film of his to rent so I get can a taste of what his film making is like? I haven't seen any of his movies. Yes, Heaven Can Wait is the Lubitsch version. Maybe Criterion will release the Warren Beatty one a few years down the road.

wendersfan

I saw it for the first time about a year ago. After it ended I had to wait several minutes before leaving the theater because I was moved to tears. It's one of the most powerful films I've ever seen.

wendersfan

Plot or theme?

Plot

The end.

Theme

Modern life has made human relationships difficult to create and sustain.

The Ferret

I generally like most stuff I see, but this one was difficult. I think it rivals 2001 for one of the slowest moving movies, except 2001 is interesting. I found myself extremely bored watching L'Avventura, but in the end I could still appreciate it. The movie has a cold and lonely feel to it, but that's the problem, you feel so isolated and bored watching it.

I'd never understood it when people said they appreciate a movie but didn't enjoy it, as usually for me appreciation and enjoyment go hand-in-hand. This movie stands alone as one I didn't really enjoy, but can appreciate.

All in all, I guess worth the watch to see for yourself, but i'd never buy it.

baracine

You must get Robert Bresson's Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (Criterion). The script is by Jean Cocteau and the production values were very high for 1945 France (it was a commercial and critical flop). Superb B&W photography, superlative acting, nice stylistic and almost avant-garde touches and a story reminiscent of Les Liaisons dangereuses. It's actually based on a story inside a story from Diderot's rambling XVIIIth century novel Jacques le Fataliste. Like all Bresson films, it is highly moralistic in a traditional Catholic sort of way but without the stark, extreme simplification of direction and acting of his later films using non-actors, which are more reminiscent of today's so-called "Dogma" school of filmmaking. As such, it can serve as a very entertraining introduction to his universe. And Criterion offers a very good package and transfer.

Hokeyboy

Maria Casares? Sold.

baracine

She is da bitch supreme...