I Watch Movies

[Mofo Rising]

"He's seeing monsters. He's losing his mind and he feels it going."

So I'm off school for a bit and I'm going to watch a bunch of movies.  This weekend:

ANDREI RUBLEV (1969) - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A COW!!
D.W. Griffith thought movies were the greatest spiritual force the world has ever seen.  Most movies I have seen don't really approach the level he was going for.  This one does.  There is true greatness happening in this movie.  It is three and a half hours long, in black and white, and all in Russian.  A recipe for success, eh?  This movie is Art with a capital A.  It's spirituality, and I'm not a spiritual person, and I sure as hell don't understand art.  If you can let it, this is an experience not to be missed.  It's how I started my weekend.

It's also the first time I've ever seen a cow set on fire.

THREE... EXTREMES (2004)
I've been crowing Korean cinema for awhile.  Odd that in this collection, I thought Chan-wook Park's addition was the weakest.  Anyway, this is a collection of three horror shorts by three of Asia's finest directors.  This is what Showtime's Master of Horror's collection wished it could be.  If you are like me, you have long sinced ceased to be scared by movies.  All that's left is a feeling of disturbment.  Well, if that's the case for you, this is your movie.  "Box", by the usually not restrained at all Takashi Miike is probably the best made film here, "Dumplings" will flip your buttons.  Watch it with a loved one.

Does anybody know if the feature length version of "Dumplings" is worth watching?  I'll add it to my Netflix queue if I get the thumbs up.

DOMINO (2005)
Who knew fake sleaze could be as bad as fake punk?  Don't get me wrong, I think this could have been a good movie.  The problem is that it tries to present itself as based on real events.  There's a reason these crime movies are entertaining.  They serve the purpose that horror movies used to, they are a funride of grotesquerie.  PULP FICTION is a great movie, but never does the audience believe that these are actual events that could happen.  It's fun.

DOMINO ruins it with the conceit that this is all based on true events when all the events are based on manifestly untrue situations.  Don't get me wrong, Tony Scott has style to spare, and the sound mix on this movie is amazing.  If it was just a fun movie, unattached to reality, I probably would have liked it.  But if you want to see that, and done well by the same director, watch TRUE ROMANCE again.

THE RINGER (2005)
The Farrelly brothers have their formula, and they're sticking to it, by God!

I could talk more about this film, but there's nothing to talk about.  If you like the formula you'll have some laughs.  That's it.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I've seen each of these, except for the first film mentioned.


Three Extremes - Really enjoyed this one.  Miike's portion is without a doubt the best of the three, but Dumplings is quite good as well.  Park's film about the film director being held hostage was quite good but the humor he tried to add didn't work well when mixed together with Dumplings and Box.  

I've yet to see the feature version of Dumplings.  I'll probably rent it at some point since the short was quite good.




Domino - Not bad, but not great either.  It's a film that is all over the place, but I did just kinda turn off my brain and have fun with it.  Not really something that must be seen, but still fun.



The Ringer - Yeah, it's the Farrelly bros doing their normal thing but they actually make what could be an cruel joke into something that's fairly sweet.  Good to see that they actually used people with disabilities in the necessiary roles, which added a lot to the film.  Also good to see Katherine Heigel in it, which is the main reason to rent it.

[Shadowphile]

I enjoyed Domino.  It was fun and hey, who can complain about getting to see Keiran Knightley topless?  At the end, the Domino character's narration indicates that not everything that happened in the movie really happened.  That was a no brainer.

I found it intriguing that it was partially based on reality.  The special features on the DVD give you some interesting insight into the real Domino Harvey, who, tragically, died shortly before the movie was released.

[BeyondTheGrave]

I enjoyed Domino but yeah it was all over the place. I seen it not to long ago but for some reasom I can't remember much of it.

Three Extremes I bought on bootleg awhile ago and only watched it once but it was good.

[Mofo Rising]

One funny thing I wanted to mention about DOMINO, there's a recurring guitar riff throughout the movie that sounds incredible similar to one from KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE.  That kept me chuckling through most of the movie.

[Scott]

ANDREI RUBLEV - is a good film, but not a great film. Some nice imagery and moments, but nothing to get excited about.

RINGER - Been wanting to see this one.

DOMINO - I'll keep a lookout for it

THE THREE EXTREMES - I'll keep a lookout for it.

[LH-C]

Sure Tarkovsky isn't for everyone. And I'm not one of those posturing individuals that worships Tarkovsky like some super god. I had never heard of him before I started watching his films in the mid-90s. But when I started watching his films, it was as if I was seeing something I understood that I hadn't seen before at all - literally. That's the only way I could explain it - like his films were like something I could of dreamt, but hadn't.