Roderick

While taking a shower just now, suddenly a remark Patrick made jumped at me. You said Kanal was a film that felt remarkably 'modern', and I do agree. But then I thought it also very overtly refers back to the earliest phases of film, notably German expressionism, films made in the tens of the previous century. Expressionism in film was typefied by its exaggerated decor that served not just as artful backdrop (originating from theater), but more notably as an expression of the characters' emotional states. It's special effect more than scenery. Kanal felt the same in this regard; the sewers aren't just an environment, they're a purposeful metaphor for what the characters are experiencing. You were right, Patrick, Kanal is both modern and classical.

Impossible to tell if it's highly sophisticated comedy that never skids off the rails, or a real ad that teeters on the brink of awfulness. Okay, it dips over.

Okay, it was a tough call between two Japanese films. One a bona fide classic (so I hope you haven't all seen it yet), and one a samurai epic. It was a toss-up between Tokyo Story and Vendetta of a Samurai. In the end, I went with Tokyo Story by Yasujiro Ozu, so that's the next film. Again, I hope it isn't a cheesy pick, but this one has been on my list for a while and it's the perfect opportunity to see it.

Interesting point. The gas warnings start right away when the team enters the sewer. At that point you're still invested in a 'normal' world with normal rules and people acting rationally. It's only later that you realize the screaming people have already lost it and there probably never was any gas. The gas scare is effective because the film employs it at a moment where you're still doubtful about the rules of the world. About pushing on: the sewer never explicitly heads in any direction. There's mention of another town, but oftentimes I got the feeling they were reappearing at earlier points, running in circles. The groups of people run into the same obstacles, notably a dying/dead soldier, but all in all it's a vague remix of the same elements in various states of decay.

Okay, time to dig through the list. It's tougher than I thought. At the start of it is the choice of either taking something I've seen before that I know will be good (A Man Escaped, for instance), or something unfamiliar, taking a chance on something unproven (but probably worth it because it's on Criterion). I'm edging towards something Japanese, just because that'll be a completely different thing from what we've had before. Also, I'm a little worried that the one-per-week rhythm is a bit much. Already I get the sense people are struggling to keep up and post something meaningful. I certainly have no time this weekend to watch my own damn pick, which will result in barely having watched the film before the next one's in. In short, I wouldn't mind if we did one film per two weeks, starting this moment. Let's allow Kanal to sink in a bit more.

Synthetic, you totally nailed what has been bothering me about the Transformers designs all these years. I never got further than 'they just look bad', but it's indeed focal point and silhouette. There's too much going on. The original 'ormers had unique and interesting designs, this is a mess of gears and knick-knacks. Anyway, apparently there are still scores of people who don't just watch these movies, but love them, so I guess I don't know dick about what makes a good film after all. Time to rip apart my film school diploma's and close up Filmadeus, I guess.

You're not alone, Mington. I had the same reaction. Monster Hunter just doesn't click for me.

I think there's one moment where one of the characters makes a mildly pro-communist remark, and that's it for any ideological statement for the rest of the movie. And yes, Halinka splashed with blood is really graphic, and it barely fazes her.

Nach, hadn't seen that video yet and I love it. Do I inherently love it? Inherently love it?

For your consideration, Steve Martin

I am so excited whenever I go to the cinema and a movie is a lean 90 minutes.

Interesting about the multiple zooms (which also caught my attention, because how could they not and that was the point of them), and also about the entire character of the artist, is that he's about the only melodramatic note in the film. This is quite a dramatic contrast: consider how every other character endures the same ordeal, but he is the only one zoomed in upon. He's the only one that reacts with such a flippant descent into madness. The rest of the characters are quiet and stoic: no tears, no freak-outs, no hysteria. Just morose resignation, or the desire to swiftly plow on until the end. It's like they're afraid of attracting death if they make too much noise, if they show too overtly how desperate their situation is. And it was so refreshing and good. It may sounds insane, but I loved that no one vomited. In a modern movie everyone would vomit upon entering the sewer, because lazy writing & cliché, "how else would I show my characters are in distress and dislike their surroundings?". On a personal level I liked how the artist was treated, but then I have no problems with a bit of melodrama. It heightened the metaphysicality of the film, which I consider appropriate.

Kanal gripped me to such an extent I had to write a bigger piece on it, which I'll also publish on Filmadeus. And I also want to see the rest of Wajda's War trilogy. --- Kanal opens on German flamethrowers from a distance, setting alight a Polish town. There are no people running or screaming, no characters at all, just the fiery volleys and collapsing structures. The message is clear: the year is 1944 and terror stalks this country. We follow a militia of ordinary men set to oppose the occupier, but in the first line of narration learn their fight is hopeless and these men and women will die. And indeed, fatalism hangs over all of them. Hunted down to a shell of a garrison, the platoon tries to maintain spirits through music, booze or love, all while waiting for the inevitable. When the fortress is lost, the troops retreat into the titular underground canals, desperate to escape to fight another day. What hellish, subterranean maze have these people unknowingly entered? The canals were reported to be safe, and indeed the enemy dares not follow, but it turns out to be a torturous death trap. Someone quotes Dante, but I'm more reminded of the works of Jheronimus Bosch. The people, some of them wounded, split up. Other survivors drop in, oftentimes running and screaming about gas. No one knows where to go. The fumes are choking. Desperation and paranoia set in. The characters aren't deeply developed, and I think this is both because of the ensemble cast nature of the film, but also to allow for easier connection to the audience. They're archetypes, rather than characters. The artist, the commander, the drunk soldier, the smuggler, the volunteer not taken seriously. Everyday people like us, and like we would they're breaking down. Why is it so fascinating to watch these people engage with their ordeal, each in their own way? To see some of their vanities stripped away and others consume them? It's here that Kanal shows its true colors: this isn't a war movie, but a horror film. In its depiction of a group of people running scared through a closed environment and slowly getting picked off by unseen enemies and unknowable forces, it prefigures later genre works such as Cube and even the Silent Hill video games. And there's indeed something very disturbing about this World War 2 setting. The characters' torment is understandable and they're slowly losing their mind. The artist and the drunkard are only the first to go; the former disappearing into the sewer in a fugue state, playing the ocarina, the latter sinking in liquor and scared out of his wits. And for good reason. There's something almost metaphysical about the Nazi enemy. We never see them up close (up until the very end), and their role in the film is that of an elemental force of horror. They send infernal puppet tanks strapped to an umbilical cord to clear out the hiding place. The only early time we see a German soldier his face is instantly gored beyond recognition by a stone. At the hands of the artist no less – a commentary on the beastly nature of even the most delicate souls in these circumstances. Once in the sewers, their threat becomes one with the ghastliness of the environment. They (apparently) spill gas into the tunnels, they drop grenades down manholes and shoot anyone who dares head for the light. We never leave the perspective of the militia, so when a tunnel wall collapses and a flood of grime washes in, is it an act of the enemy, or of God? Each fragment of the original party eventually meets their end, distributed in the flavors ironic, soul-crushing or bone-chilling. When at last the original commander of the unit surfaces, the only one to do so safely, he realizes he's lost everyone and, his spirit broken, slinks back into the hellhole he just escaped from. He does so bathed in utter silence, and only when the screen cuts to black does music crash in with a final shriek, as if suddenly recognizing the atrocity of it all. I don't know any of Wajda's other movies, but Kanal, taken on its own, is an expression of utter loathing. A resentment for history and what we do to one another. Wajda makes his characters wade through human sludge for most of the movie, he shows them at their weakest and most fragile. There is much compassion inside the claustrophobic chutes and between the characters, but not much regard for what happens to them. Did Wajda make this film to get the war out of his system? But what irony that a descent in such incredible filth and shit could be so riveting and beautifully shot! Kanal is a fascinating treat, a wartime horror film made from a place of genuine, chilling, historic revulsion.

You mean Moondog's Iconic Headdress?

'Blicks, 'Ubbes.

Two games out of the Steam sale for me: Age of Wonders 3, which I immediately started playing and is great, and Dishonored, which I couldn't resist for 3-something Europa Shillings.

Good lord, this is excellent.

Late to the party, but the best place to look for game assets is obviously

Was genuinely thrilled that we were going to watch Gremlins 2 together, then realised Mington was posting this and I get to choose the third film. Hulk Hogan made up for it though

Goddammit. I thought I had succesfully weeded out any weakness for hype. I thought I was free. I cared not for any game soon to be released, at least not in a big way, I cultured active disinterest and was happy. But now Age of Wonders III has come along and it has ruined my simple life. I crave this game. This Dutch game. Now hear the ululations of anticipation: It's supposed to come out somewhere start of 2014, so I expect it within a few months. It had better, so I can once again not care about upcoming games until they're released.

Boy, this is nuts. I was three hours into a random skirmish map, my first, just trying out tactics and everything, and suddenly BOOM, I've won. Turns out I had made an alliance with my only competitor and that immediately triggered the win condition. And this while I had just finished a big battle against a quest dragon. It was all so sudden and unsatisfying, it felt like my epic campaign had been cut short. I wasn't even allowed to play on. No way I'm every going for a peace run again. War all the way!

That cinema sounds just awful. No wonder you all don't like going there, I wouldn't.

Yesterday I started a random map and it's already much better. I, too, am trying to figure out how this work. At this point the enemy seems to send out random troops to harrass me, so you do need to defend all of your cities with a few groups at least. My thinking is that you're best served by having a few well developed cities in central places to spawn your armies, and then have an array of lesser cities in the back to provide resources. Somehow you'll need to defend those, so a good choke point is very useful there. The map I'm playing at is quite open though, so I'm at a loss for how to defend my cities short of building up huge forces just to hold them and turtling on. I like the quest structure and the general vibe of the game, it's charming and cute. And the battles are pretty fun! I've had some tense situations with half of my army blasted to shreds in one go by some weird contraption. It's good! The game seems to circumvent some of the problems hounding Heroes of Might and Magic (which is how I'm playing this) by having resource points fall into your domain rather than you needing to collect them every week. But I'm still uncovering how best to supply my heroes and effectively win. All the while having quite a bit of leisurely fun.

Belgium is a cratered warzone, a pit of nuclear fallout, governed by drunken man-children and corrupt despots, a sizzling pool of incest, wild kings and mad slaughterers. And that's just the Belgium in my imagination! Just think how much worse it must be in reality. (Congrats on the birthday thing)

That sounds superbly awful. When I first read it, I though Dune Messiah was weird and thin, but I've come to like it a lot nowadays. It's very interesting and centers on a single, almost modest plot line when you consider the warmongering of Dune. Like it a lot.