What did you watch today? v 22.0

Tell everyone what you watched, what you thought, and what's up next.

The first post in this thread is # 6460

And as ever, link your films please.

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Permalink Reply by Guy on July 7, 2009 at 8:29am: Speaking of date movies, I watched The Dead Girl by one of the more interesting directors working, Karen Moncrieff . A fantastic cast takes on some pretty edgy material, with one theme being the sunny side of serial murder. Available on Watch Instantly.

Permalink Reply by beeswax on July 7, 2009 at 9:01am: Headcheese, spiderpig, beeswax, and Kaotikitty have all endorsed The Dead Girl at one time or another in these pages. I'm probably forgetting somebody.

Permalink Reply by Aces on July 5, 2009 at 11:35pm: Death Note Vol 1 - 4 stars Looking forward to more of the series.
Outlander - 4 stars
Horton Hears a Who! 4 stars

On instant Watch:
Kakurenbo: Hide & Seek 4 stars - well done anime short story.
Black Jack - episode 1 3 stars
The Phantom of the Opera - 4 stars
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 4 stars.

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on July 6, 2009 at 8:03am: Red Army Faction

I had to go back and see what the hell you guys were talking about--I couldn't understand why everyone was trashing the Royal Air Force.

I went to a theater slightly older than the movie and saw It Happened One Night yesterday. It's such a wonderfully lit and filmed movie--it's hard to see that when watching it on a television screen.

Permalink Reply by joeoftexas on July 6, 2009 at 5:24pm: The Dark Side of the Heart / El Lado Oscuro del Corazón (1992) 5 stars
The Perfume of Yvonne / Le Parfum d'Yvonne (1994) 4 stars
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) 3.5 stars
Book of Revelation (2006) 4.5 stars

Permalink Reply by beeswax on July 7, 2009 at 1:59am: Scott Walker: 30 Century Man

I loved it! I thought it was a GREAT look at "the artistic process," and an interesting portrait of a musician who has interested me for years and years.

Beware that one of the more entertaining reviews calls Walker a guy who has hopped the train to Pretentiousville while trying to sing like a ghost on acid.

Also, while I agree with another reviewer that it's sort of sad if we pay attention to someone like Walker only because he has famous fans, you may like to know that the endorsements come thick and fast here. Participants (to one degree or another) in the film include Bowie, Eno, three of the guys from Radiohead, Julian Cope, Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn, Alison Goldfrapp, Dot Allison, Marc Almond, Ute Lemper, Johnny Marr, and more. Plus a couple (like Brendan Perry) who only show up in the dvd bonus features. If those are the kind of names that make your ears perk up, take a look at the film.

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on July 7, 2009 at 10:28am: Black Legion 3 stars. Humphrey Bogart joins the Klan in this early Warner Brothers message picture. It's pretty heavy-handed, but well-acted and not just by Bogie.

Interesting though--it's on a Warner Night at the Movies dvd, and the studio put a disclaimer on before a Cab Calloway short saying something to the effect that there were racial stereotypes portrayed in the short, but if they cut it or kept it in the vault it would be just like pretending these things don't exist on film. I wish I could remember the exact wording. Maybe it's on the internet someplace, I'll go look. I didn't find the Calloway short all that offensive, but then I'm not African American, so maybe it is. I was far more uncomfortable with the short that followed that lionized Stonewall Jackson and the Confederacy. That was a musical also.

Permalink Reply by Cheryl on July 7, 2009 at 10:37am: A better paraphrase than mine from a review website called The Aisle Seat:

A pre-cartoon disclaimer warns that offensive imagery is contained within, and also reminds us that such prejudices “were wrong then and are wrong now.” It adds that the cartoon is being shown because to hide it would be “ to deny that such prejudices ever existed.”

Permalink Reply by Snorii on July 7, 2009 at 6:05pm: Stonewall sure did like lemons though. (Under Southern Stars)

Permalink Reply by Pihk on July 7, 2009 at 1:00pm: La Moustache : This was such an interesting premise and the first half or so was very good. But then the cleanly shaven dude started riding ferries all day for absolutely no reason and a Michael Hanake-esque malaise began to agitate my cynicism. I am coming to believe that movies like La Moustache are made for no other reason than to facilitate pseudo-intellectuals in writing reviews with variations on the phrase "This movie is not for those viewers who like neat and tidy conclusions. It is challenging and mysterious (and hold on while I consult thesaurus.com for even more synonyms) So please stick to your safe and predictable Hollywood formula pics." Blah blah blah.

Other movies in this genre include any Michael Hanake movie and Aronofsky's The Fountain.

My stock response: Blow me.

Permalink Reply by Sevorin on July 8, 2009 at 2:25am: My stock response: Blow me.

That's the reason why I value your opinions. Our critical criteria are different, but we generally arrive at the same conclusion.

However, I prefer a more academically exact diction. My own stock response is, "Suck my dick."