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#1
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by M.10rda - Today at 06:19:01 PM^^^Thanks, Doc.
AGE OF ILLUSIONS (1965):
This was an odd way to begin the month. Possibly
the first feature by Eastern European director Istvan Szabo (who later directed better known Western and English-language flicks), this very much feels like a product of the mid-60s and the work of a young/first-time 60s director. Four swingin' young "engineers"/bachelors run amok in urban Czechoslovakia, as if being an "engineer" was the next coolest thing to being the Beatles. 
Indeed sometimes AGE OF ILLUSIONS feels very explicitly influenced by A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, at least when it isn't feeling explicitly influenced by JULES ET JIM or by Godard's early rom-coms. 
The four dark-haired dudes occasionally even frolic wackily in slightly sped-up motion. They all dress and basically look the same in wide shots, and it took me about fifteen minutes to begin distinguishing one from the other. Finally the film settles in to focus on just one "engineer" and the other three fade into the background. (Phew! 
)
At that point, the main engineer starts dating one young professional girl after another, comparing each of them to a smart lawyer lass he once saw on the news. (Of course none of them match up to his fantasy lady.) At last he runs into the lawyer in person and they start dating. You can imagine how that goes. Okay - the lawyer is played by a compelling actress (who I've never heard of) and for that matter the other girls are well-written and portrayed, too - but another small issue is, the female characters also are all dark(ish)-haired women of identical builds w/ practically identical hairstyles who all talk and behave in very similar ways. I actually thought they maybe all were played by the same actress - until two of the girls appeared in the same shot together, which startled me! So the, uhh, extreme similarity may be an error, or intentional on Szabo's part, or reflective of his... prejudiced perspective on ladies?
I'm doing a poor job selling AGE OF ILLUSION as a good film, but actually I enjoyed it. It isn't as funny as the early, funny [sic] Godards but it's less irritating than those films and much much less grating than JULES ET JIM, which I never got on with at all. The main engineer (who looks a bit like Stuart Murdoch or a pre-afro Art Garfunkel) is a rather shiftless nebbish, but he isn't a bad guy and you can sort of relate to him and his foibles. The end of AGE OF ILLUSIONS actually delivers a moral that feels authentic and wise for twentysomethings, or even older folks.
3/5
AGE OF ILLUSIONS (1965):
This was an odd way to begin the month. Possibly
the first feature by Eastern European director Istvan Szabo (who later directed better known Western and English-language flicks), this very much feels like a product of the mid-60s and the work of a young/first-time 60s director. Four swingin' young "engineers"/bachelors run amok in urban Czechoslovakia, as if being an "engineer" was the next coolest thing to being the Beatles. Indeed sometimes AGE OF ILLUSIONS feels very explicitly influenced by A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, at least when it isn't feeling explicitly influenced by JULES ET JIM or by Godard's early rom-coms. The four dark-haired dudes occasionally even frolic wackily in slightly sped-up motion. They all dress and basically look the same in wide shots, and it took me about fifteen minutes to begin distinguishing one from the other. Finally the film settles in to focus on just one "engineer" and the other three fade into the background. (Phew! )At that point, the main engineer starts dating one young professional girl after another, comparing each of them to a smart lawyer lass he once saw on the news. (Of course none of them match up to his fantasy lady.) At last he runs into the lawyer in person and they start dating. You can imagine how that goes. Okay - the lawyer is played by a compelling actress (who I've never heard of) and for that matter the other girls are well-written and portrayed, too - but another small issue is, the female characters also are all dark(ish)-haired women of identical builds w/ practically identical hairstyles who all talk and behave in very similar ways. I actually thought they maybe all were played by the same actress - until two of the girls appeared in the same shot together, which startled me! So the, uhh, extreme similarity may be an error, or intentional on Szabo's part, or reflective of his... prejudiced perspective on ladies?
I'm doing a poor job selling AGE OF ILLUSION as a good film, but actually I enjoyed it. It isn't as funny as the early, funny [sic] Godards but it's less irritating than those films and much much less grating than JULES ET JIM, which I never got on with at all. The main engineer (who looks a bit like Stuart Murdoch or a pre-afro Art Garfunkel) is a rather shiftless nebbish, but he isn't a bad guy and you can sort of relate to him and his foibles. The end of AGE OF ILLUSIONS actually delivers a moral that feels authentic and wise for twentysomethings, or even older folks.
3/5
#2
Humorous Captions / Re: JC Yul
Last post by Rev. Powell - Today at 04:57:50 PMQuote from: sprite75 on Today at 04:39:26 PM
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A!
#3
Humorous Captions / JC Yul
Last post by sprite75 - Today at 04:39:26 PM
JC Yul, did you forget to put on deodorant this morning?
#4
Off Topic Discussion / Re: Random Statements About So...
Last post by Alex - Today at 03:19:22 PMHearing rumours that a bunch of US long-range bombers just took off from a base in England about an hour ago. Some people are saying that this would match the flight time to arrive in Iran at 20:00 (EST). I can't say for sure if either part of that is true, but I guess we will find out.
#5
Off Topic Discussion / Re: Dinner guests?
Last post by Alex - Today at 03:06:02 PMOzzy (before he died), John Carpenter and James Herbert.
#6
Games / Re: Answer the question with a...
Last post by bob - Today at 02:59:50 PMI was making a
Why did Santa kill Rudolph?
Why did Santa kill Rudolph?
#9
Off Topic Discussion / Re: Alex's even longer post th...
Last post by Alex - Today at 02:48:46 PMShame you don't do 5mm. I could have sent you a couple of sprues of French troops Warlord included as freebies for me.
I did see that Wargames Illustrated is including a 15mm tank next month, but I guess that isn't much use to you either.
I deliberately avoid Napoleonics simply because I get very bored painting the same uniform over and over. Doing it for my WW2 armies has been a real pain, and I know how a lot of the Napoleonic guys get when you don't paint everything 100% accurately. Hell, when I in two weeks painted an entire German army for an exhibition match in early war grey, I had one guy complaining that it wasn't accurate for a force resisting the D-Day landings because they weren't using those uniforms at that point in the war. Yeah, I've seen stocks of uniforms 20 years out of date still being kept in case of shortages and that was in peacetime, never mind when you are on the losing end of a war with a shortage of resources.
I did see that Wargames Illustrated is including a 15mm tank next month, but I guess that isn't much use to you either.
I deliberately avoid Napoleonics simply because I get very bored painting the same uniform over and over. Doing it for my WW2 armies has been a real pain, and I know how a lot of the Napoleonic guys get when you don't paint everything 100% accurately. Hell, when I in two weeks painted an entire German army for an exhibition match in early war grey, I had one guy complaining that it wasn't accurate for a force resisting the D-Day landings because they weren't using those uniforms at that point in the war. Yeah, I've seen stocks of uniforms 20 years out of date still being kept in case of shortages and that was in peacetime, never mind when you are on the losing end of a war with a shortage of resources.
#10
Bad Movies / Re: Scary movie backstories
Last post by M.10rda - Today at 01:36:04 PMOh boy. I just came across this one... I daren't even attempt to encapsulate the facts behind this bizarre semi-lost film. Check it out yourself, if you dare. Trigger Warning for (ex-ten-sive!) discussion of/reference to sexual assault and obv NSFW:
https://lostmediawiki.com/Nice_To_Meet_You,_Please_Don%27t_Rape_Me!_(partially_lost_South_African_musical_satire_film;_1994)
If it existed in any form to sufficiently adjudicate its quality, it might've been one of history's great political satires. Or... just horrifyingly insensitive exploitation.
https://lostmediawiki.com/Nice_To_Meet_You,_Please_Don%27t_Rape_Me!_(partially_lost_South_African_musical_satire_film;_1994)
If it existed in any form to sufficiently adjudicate its quality, it might've been one of history's great political satires. Or... just horrifyingly insensitive exploitation.