Movie/TV recommendations

[Ben X]

Man, I'm totally going to start using the original phrasing, it's a lot less confusing.

Men In Black is a very clever and funny film, Men In Black II is a dull, silly-not-smart retread of the original and Men In Black 3 is a mildly entertaining but convoluted retread of the original.

Brave was messy and uninspired, though it looked quite nice.

The Imposter is a great documentary if you don't mind the way it's constructed to be as dramatic as possible.

[elmuerte]

I also make it a sport to correct Dutch people pronouncing 'accessoires' (accessories) with the double-c as a soft s instead of the correct 'ks'. I have no friends and everyone hates me.

Wait? Really? you pronounce it like "akseswaar" in Dutch? I never knew that.

[Colourful Stuff]

The new series of Only Connect started on BBC4 two weeks ago. If you have't seen it before I'd describe it as a Times crossword handed to you by an attractive woman. I have no idea if it can be viewed outside of the UK but it's worth tracking down if you like logic puzzles. It is the only quiz show I have ever really enjoyed or watched on a regular basis.

You can play the Wall segment of the show online. My flatmate and I lost an entire Sunday afternoon playing them in the kitchen.

[Lu]

I know. I know. I just have this one filed in my 'must bring up whenever' folder along with the other examples.

I also make it a sport to correct Dutch people pronouncing 'accessoires' (accessories) with the double-c as a soft s instead of the correct 'ks'. I have no friends and everyone hates me.

Wait? Really? you pronounce it like "akseswaar" in Dutch? I never knew that.

I think he means Dutch people speaking english pronouncing the word with a soft s, which'd be wrong. But Noslider Rodi's on the job! And then the Breaking Bad halfway point season finale. Goddamn!

[elmuerte]

According to wikipedia it's also 'ks' in Dutch ( http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessoire ), although vandale says 'ss'.

[Roderick]

Oh man, I regret everything. Anyway, yes, it's totally bullshit to pronounce the Dutch 'accessoires' with a soft s, just as you wouldn't use a soft s for 'accijns' or 'accent'. But everyone says it that way now because of whatever reason (I blame toy commercials, which are really the only time you encounter the word), but what the hell. It's just a funny bit of conversation, not meant to rile people up

[brkl]

I just can't not get involved whenever language comes up

[Armchair General]

Don't worry Rodi, not everyone can have full command of a foreign language, I am just lucky that I am zwaar de gekste and enjoy gouda. My friends from the Netherlands, such as PiratePoo (although there are many, many more) are constantly surprised at how I manage to be so proficient at picking up a language, purely via Video games interaction online.

P.S I was initially incandescent with rage at your asshole-ish flippancy regarding cake and eating it (I still have a funny taste in my mouth about it now) but then I remembered that you are Dutch and are probably quite zwaar de gekste/gouda and I forgave you (I know I know, my Dutch vocabulary is simply the best cheese).

[Roderick]

Yeah, that was hardly my shining moment of the year and I am sorry about it. I forgot to dial it back. Armchair, you are zwaar de gekste.

[toblix]

All of you should just shut the fjord socialism.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Brave is excellent, as you'd expect from Pixar (ignoring Cars), but it's a lot more of a straightforward story. Still great, though. The little film beforehand was wonderful, too.

The Imposter is also excellent. Go watch it.

Shame to hear God Bless America is a let down. I LOVED World's Greatest Dad. I'd hate to have it ruined by GBA.

[Twig]

Brave is probably my favorite Pixar movie, but I'm biased because the setting (lots of green, green, green everywhere) and the music were all right up my alley. Celtic music always pleases me. X:

[miffy495]

(I still have a funny taste in my mouth about it now)

You should have had/eaten a better cake.

[Colourful Stuff]

Vertigo is screening at my local art house tonight. I'm an enormous fan of the film and have been since studying it in A level film studies. I really obsessed about the film for about a year, to the point that I got a perfect score for the exam essay I wrote about it. It remains my favourite Hitchcock film and getting to see it projected properly for the first time should be incredible.

It has been one of Hitchcock's more divisive films since its initially poor critical reception. I'm please Sight and Sound have now recognised how good it really is. If it is screening near you please go and see it, regardless of whether or not you have seen the film before or particularly like Hitchcock. It is quite distinct from his other films. The only problem I have with the it is how much it makes me want to visit San Francisco, more than Driver or Chris Remo's twitter feed ever could.

[Orv]

I am, in general, a fan of Tarantino. His stuff isn't all phenomenal, but he's made some incredible movies over the years. Chapter 4 of Inglorious Basterds, or the bit in the bar, is probably my favorite single scene in movies, but it's so painful to watch once you know what happens. I have to fight myself not to change the channel/turn off the player when I watch the scene because it's so well written and acted and it ends so poorly. Gah.

[Scipio]

The Thick of it returns as incredible as ever. That is all.

[Roderick]

I just saw Last Year at Marienbad from Alain Resnais in 1961. What an unnerving film. I think I didn't enjoy it while I watched it (how ironic considering the movie's theme), but now that I'm gathering my thoughts I appreciate it more and more. Has anyone else seen this? I'd love to hear some insights. (If only we had a film podcast as well.)

(By Vivec, I wish this film had a different soundtrack than continuous, dissonant organ music. It's effective but heinous.)

[miffy495]

I've seen it a couple of times, but the last was over 3 years ago so the details elude me. All I remember at this point was the repetition being fascinating to me and becoming more and more convinced of what started as a vague feeling that I was watching a mundane but somehow more terrifying vision of hell. I suppose that's due to my interpretation of things actually repeating over and over rather than looking at it as changing of a character's recollections, though that could be equally valid. I'm actually really interested to hear your thoughts, if you'd put them out there. I never read a paper or watched it with the aid of a film studies lecture (my introduction to a lot of other French New Wave was buoyed by that), so I'd love to see what others think of it. It certainly bears re-watching though, preferably with another person. The second time I watched it was with my partner and just being able to talk things through while watching it instead of trying to remember everything later helped the experience amazingly.

[Roderick]

Oh man, haha, we totally had the same idea. While I watched I was thinking: this is the Silent Hill of the 60s; characters trapped in an endless, personal hell.

The overwhelming feeling I have is that Marienbad is a movie about violation. Not just of the female body (the man is unsure if he raped the woman or if their affair - if it happened at all - was consensual), but of the woman's memories. He pushes his reality onto her to the point where she starts to accept it. At the same time, he himself loses grip on his memories more and more until neither of them are sure anything happened at all, and if so in what way. Yet they still act on it in the end when they run away together. The visions the man has of the past are terrifying because they start to overlap and contradict. The film absolutely refuses to acknowledge what is true, the audience remains just as lost as the characters.

Two things about the story are fascinating, but I don't understand at all. First is the significance of the photograph the man shows of the woman sitting in the park. It seems to validate his claim of having met her last year, but since he's not in the picture it could easily be someone else's. Furthermore, there's a scene where the woman finds a whole drawer filled with the photos, so I'm not sure what metaphysical significance this has. The second element (which is VERY cool) is the game the woman's husband plays, the one with the cards where the objective is not to be the last one to pick one. His words in the beginning ("I can lose, but I'll always win") have meaning, but what eludes me. He keeps winning throughout the film, but I guess since his wife runs away with the other man, he eventually loses. How this ties back to the game, and what it stands for (he plays the game perfectly, but sometimes you just can't win?) I couldn't say.

Whether the man and woman manage to run away from Marienbad is totally unknown, of course. Throughout the film there is mention of her only escape being with him, so again, any interpretation will be valid. Is this oppressive building a carrousel of the afterlife? Is it really just a story about a confused, lovestruck man and a woman who tries to forget the promise she made to him? A study of Stockholm syndrome by an innocent wife who falls prey to the crazed fantasy of a stalker?

Much as I want to avoid sitting through an hour and a half of shrieking organ music again, I feel I have to rewatch this at some point. There's so much to mull over here. I want to see if I can get a better grip on the metaphysical meaning of all this skullduggery.

[Orv]

Well, I appreciated the well-paced and filmed action of Haywire, and the fact that people didn't bother with expository bullshit and just killed people they needed dead, but it read like a bad Bourne coattails movie. Oh well, worth the watch, recommended if you like good fight scenes and a somewhat cliche spy thriller.

Also Michael Douglas can still do sleezebag like few others. Oh, and Antonio Banderas looks incredible in a full-on beard.

[brkl]

Agreed. It's entertaining, but I had forgotten its existence until you mentioned it now.

[Lu]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=94813 It's the new Robocop.

[Orv]

All you have to say is Gary Oldman and I'm all aboard the train wreck.

[Roderick]

I don't know why I wasn't expecting Robocop to actually look different. Like a Crytek soldier rather than, y'know, Robocop.

[Gormongous]

I don't know why I wasn't expecting Robocop to actually look different. Like a Crytek soldier rather than, y'know, Robocop.

Half Crytek soldier, half cybernetic pervert in my eyes.