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#31
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by M.10rda - August 30, 2026, 10:16:07 AM
ENTR'ACTE (1924):
Dadaists were the punks of the post-WW1 era and their heyday was the 1920s. Like Lear, Johnny Rotten, or George Costanza, they promoted a philosophy that Nothing meant anything or that everything meant Nothing. Although their two self-appointed spokesmen were a couple of snotty yet initially sincere young hipsters named Andre Breton and Tristan Tzara, an art movement that denied the inherent meaning of art or life naturally attracted all manner of artists of all ages, including photographer Man Ray (who literally objectified the body of his mistress/model Alice Prin), 3D artist Marcel Duchamps (who sold and displayed "readymades", which were just urinals and other junk that he found and signed), filmmaker Rene Clair, poet Francis Picabia, composers Georges Auric and Erik Satie, and eventually painter Rene Magritte and legendary lunatics Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali. They'd hold "salons" in French cafes and theaters - basically art shows with spoken word and music and theatre and films - all of it supposedly meaning Nothing. Of course, as Costanza eventually had to admit, Nothing is really Something! Thus the movement fractured and officially collapsed.

Anyway - ENTR'ACTE is one of the short films that Clair made for and premiered at a Dada salon. It's 22 minutes long and has no plot, but - it does have motifs, reoccurring characters, camera tricks, stunts, slapstick comedy, men in drag, frenetic editing like that in Marcel L'Herbier's L'INHUMAINE (or TETSUO THE IRON MAN), a first-person ride on a rollercoaster, and an ending that is quite similar to the end of Jodorowski's THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, only silent. Basically it's a lot like a wordless episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and it's a lot more fun than UN CHIEN ANDALOU.

Auric, Duchamps, Ray, and Satie all appear, and it's incredible for any student of Dada or surrealism to see all these guys clowning around onscreen. Picabia also appears, memorably, and co-wrote ENTR'ACTE w/ Clair. Breton and Tzara are notably absent. They allegedly found "older" artists like Auric and Satie and Picabia (who was maybe in his 40s) to be incredibly uncool. Nevertheless Picabia looks like James Murphy or 80s Peter Gabriel in ENTR'ACTE and one Letterboxd reviewer calls him "punk as f**k", so Take That, hipsters.

Clair made the pretty awesome silent sci-fi adventure THE CRAZY RAY a couple years after this. Then he went to Hollywood and made mainstream studio films for 35 years. I'm sure some of his Dada cronies thought he was a huge cop-out, but it's hard to believe in Nothing! Nevertheless, ENTR'ACTE is an amazing one-of-a-kind document of an era.    5/5    And a (cannon) blast!
#32
Humorous Captions / Re: Lake Rowsdower
Last post by Trevor - August 30, 2026, 06:27:43 AM
Quote from: sprite75 on August 29, 2026, 09:22:03 AM


Named after a real Canadian hero.

"I wonder if there's beer at the lake?"

🍻 🍺 😏
#33
Humorous Captions / Re: Lake Rowsdower
Last post by Trevor - August 30, 2026, 06:26:45 AM
Quote from: Rev. Powell on August 29, 2026, 04:01:41 PMRowsdower... is that a stupid name, or...?

😃😅🐢
#34
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by Dr. Whom - August 30, 2026, 05:48:27 AM
Helter Skelter (2012)

Liliko is the supermodel of the day. However she owes her beauty to plastic surgery and questionable procedures. The side effects are starting to catch up with her.

This is presented as a horror/psycological thriller movie, while there actually is very little horror or even suspense. It is more an exploration how ambition to make it in the cut-throat beauty industry will destroy you. It is closer to The Neon Demon than to The Substance.
There are no likable characters in this movie. Liliko is an insufferable diva who freely abuses her privilege and her boss/svengali is an evil Anne Wintour.
Interestingly, it is almost all female. While The Substance explicitly targeted the male gaze, here the motivation is to be worshiped by the schoolgirls of Shibuya.

This movie doesn't add that much to the discussion that the beauty industry is toxic. It is, however, so stylish it hurts. We are talking about Tenth Victim/Modesty Blaise levels of stylishness. Every shot, every detail is carefully crafted for maximum glamour. Absolutely stunning.
Lilico is played by the preternaturally pretty Sawajiri Erika, who I was unfamiliar with. Turns out she was a model/actress and fired twice from her agency before making this movie: the first time for being a diva and after her comeback she got involved in a drugs scandal. No wonder the producers thought she'd be ideal for the role.
#35
Good Movies / Creepy houses in movies?
Last post by Trevor - August 30, 2026, 03:01:09 AM
I nominate the doctor's home, consulting rooms and surgery in the film THE CRIMSON RIVERS. The house is in France and is called the Keller Pavillion.

Wyndham House in the TV movie BAFFLED: portrayed as a house of evil, it is now a Buddhist centre in London 😏
#36
Bad Movies / Re: RECENT VIEWINGS (Bad Movie...
Last post by Dalmatian Bobby Samaritan - August 30, 2026, 02:59:42 AM
Nature's Grave with Jim Caviezel.
Do murquis have stomache bacteria to digest are warships from Kayusha going to Iran word of mouth.

Yeah so.. Hard for me to believe that I sat through what should have been like a twenty minute long indy film. And in my opinion it would have rocked really solid as that. This movie "Nature's Grave" has taken over the top number 1 spot of movies that feel like really long and drawn out indy films. Previous number 1 in that was Blair Witch Project.
I have been on some pretty crazy adventures in my day. And I have never had a hawk (or hawk/eagle thing) attack me out in the woods. And to the extent that it was trying to rip off my face. Really that scene to me was the evidence of the twenty minute indy film marker. Anything above that (that I choose to watch) is pain and torture that I choose to inflict on myself.
Movies like this I feel like are hard to review. But Jim Caviezel is quickly turning into a Shirley maclaine with all of the fantasy esoteric new age beliefs. People say no, that it is faith based. I say, New Age. And probably most things calling themselves faith based are New Age. So anything where I can watch Jim Caviezel in a movie, even if the movie is an hour longer extended over what it should be — I will take. I will trudge through — over him doing some interview and talking about how he was nearly Killed by lightning on a movie set and saw Michael the Arch Angel..
#37
Bad Movies / Re: 100 Movie titles that are ...
Last post by Dr. Whom - August 30, 2026, 01:46:09 AM
Would Excalibur count? It is a name, if not of a person.
#38
Bad Movies / Re: 100 Movie titles that are ...
Last post by zombie no.one - August 30, 2026, 01:40:07 AM
30. MARTIN (1977)
#39
Good Movies / Re: Coyote vs Acme (2026)
Last post by Jim H - August 30, 2026, 12:26:32 AM
I quite liked this one, saw it tonight.  It's very funny.  The story works.  Forte is good.  Lots of good gags, and the themes both inside the story and as a meta commentary after the film's background (what a shame so much obvious care and attention was going to be thrown in the trash, yeesh) works too.  I actually felt some emotion at the story in a few points, which is saying something.

To be mildly critical...  I think the character work for some side people is a little thin, and it does run out of steam a bit in the last act.  But it's never BAD.

It's not as good as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which is pitch perfect in every scene for the entire run time, but what is?
#40
Good Movies / Re: Coyote vs Acme (2026)
Last post by Trevor - August 29, 2026, 11:36:56 PM
Quote from: WingedSerpent on August 28, 2026, 05:56:30 PMI was able to catch an early showing of this movie and I'm really glad I did. This was a surprisingly good movie.

You may have heard the story behind it. It was filmed, but the WB decided to not release it in order to right it off as a tax break. Until another distributer pick it up to release after massive fan response wanted it shown.

The story goes into a few interesting directions. Some of which actually feel like a reflection of what would go on in a world where cartoons and humans co-habituate.

For the most part the animation works.  A lot of the main characters look good and there's plenty of call backs to the original shorts. There are a few that don't work. Foghorn Leghorne is a partially noticeable as a cell-shaded CGI model instead of a cartoon.

I also though all the actors did a good job. Will Forte and John Cena for me are very hit or miss. Cena, especially because he's one of those actors I can't see as someone other than himself. But I liked him here.

I highly recommend seeing this film.

Thanks, I will go see it.

Opens here on 18 September.

😊😊🐢