HarryTuttle
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| Name | Harry Tuttle |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| I'm From | Montréal |
| Member For | 685 days |
| Last Login | Thu. Jul 24 |
| Profile Views | 1795 |
| Age | 25 |
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- Skins Created (12)
| Movie: | check my list |
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| Actor: | check my list |
| Director: | Fatih Akin, Darren Aronofsky, Robert Bresson, Luis Buņuel, Coen brothers, David Cronenberg, Michel Gondry, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Jonze, Naomi Kawase, Abbas Kiarostami, Louis Malle, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Yasujiro Ozu, Chan-wook Park, Roman Polanski, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Kaneto Shindô, Martin Scorsese, Todd Solondz, Quentin Tarantino, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Toshiaki Toyoda, Luchino Visconti |
| Quote: | "Life's nothing but a fairground, a marketplace where even your word is unnecessary. A bank note will do. Paying people frees you from any obligations. Better still, get them to work for nothing. You quickly learn you can do as you like and still command respect. It just takes nerve and flair." -Au Hasard Balthazar |
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Minnie and Moskowitz
PG
"You know I think that movies are a conspiracy? I mean it. I mean it, they are actually a conspiracy because they set you up, Florence. They set you up from the time you're a little kid. They set you up to believe in everything. They set you up to believe in ideals, and strength, and good guys, and romance, and of course... love. Love, Florence... So, you believe it, right? You go out, you start looking. Doesn't happen, you keep looking. You get a job, like us, and you spend a lot of time fixing up things, your apartment and jazz, and you learn how to be feminine, you know, "feminine". You learn how to cook... But there's no Charles Boyer in my life, Florence. I never even met a Charles Boyer. I never met Clark Gable, I never met Humphrey Bogart. I never met any of them, you know who I mean, I mean they don't exist, Florence, that's the truth. But the movies set you up, you know? They set you up, and no matter how bright you are, you believe it."
Y Tu Mama Tambien
R
There are some memorable moments and sceneries (although the cinematography is mediocre), but the foretelling narration is ridiculous and there are two things in it I despise - an hypocrite pseudo nonconformist rich kid and a strong female model who doubles as a slut (because of her cheating husband, obviously). If it wasn't for the ending which somewhat justifies Luisa's slutty ways, I wouldn't rate it much higher than some softcore artsy porn ā la Jamķn, jamķn. I agree with the notion that nothing is eternal so you should enjoy the present moment, but sadly the whole thing doesn't feel enjoyable enough to be ephemeral. Good for impressionable horny teenagers and grown women with dreams of being as promiscuous as horny teenagers.
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2.
Adaptation
R
Nicolas Cage stars as the Kaufman twin brothers Charles and Donald, he is no Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers but he does a decent job. Charles is having a hard time writing a screenplay adaptation of a novel written by a journalist on an eccentric horticulturalist. He is an even more insecure and paranoid version of George Costanza. The scene where his lady friend is longing for him to go inside with her is painful... ("I can't drink coffee late at night, it keeps me up." :p) The brilliant Kaufman touch is that the film is about him in the process of writing the script, going as far as writing what he is going to say next, intertwining real life with the story. Writing on empty people who fill up their lives with other's misery is hard stuff, he is so desperate that he asks his dumb obnoxious brother for help. Donald succeeds at writing a script without making an effort, just to show how crap gets so much attention and good stuff is often overlooked because humanity is not worthy! I'm kidding. Or maybe not. I didn't believe he could be the one with the flair to spot that there was something more going on between the crazy plant nut guy and the journalist for her to become so enthusiastic about orchids through the book but then it's necessary for the over the top unoriginal climax that plays just like a big fuck you to the industry. Everything he didn't want to impose on the film ends up happening.
5.
Brazil
R
It's about time I pay homage to this wonderful film, one of my favorite. This is the story of Sam Lowry, son of Ida Lowry and a deceased executive. Sam has a dead end job at the records department and wishes for a simple life where he could find love. Sam's beautiful dreams are filled with buildings blocking his path towards love, symbolic of being trapped in a world where evolution and technology renders true human contact seldom (think about the internet for instance) making love almost unreachable. Ida on the other hand spends her life consuming and getting cosmetic surgeries making her even more artificial, as if she's becoming more a part of her possessions than a human being. She doesn't understand Sam and thinks he must be insane for refusing a promotion to information retrieval, afterall he wouldn't even have a job without his mother's contacts. Another crucial character makes recurrent appearances through the film: Harry Tuttle. He helps Sam fix his ducts when the incompetent underpaid city workers, tired of following procedures, do not deliver. He seems dangerous at first but he becomes some sort of a hero for us and a socialist friend to Sam "Listen, kid, we're all in it together." Tuttle owes the government money and is considered a terrorist responsible for bombings the city has endured. The bombings are similar in nature to the ones we have targeted at capitalism, they are fueled by the government and aided by company owners (represented by the restaurant waiter who helps guards get into the church in Sam's dreams). The goal is to put fear into people to have more control over the population and therefore make more profit. Tuttle may refuse to be a part of the machine, but he certainly ain't a terrorist. The government spread propaganda urging citizens to denounce these so called enemies of society i.e. anyone who doesn't follow the rules of the game "Don't suspect a friend, Report him." The story begins when a simple paperwork error misplace Harry Buttle for Harry Tuttle. Sam's paranoid boss Mr.Kurtzmann, who looks like he often takes credit for Sam's good work, asks him to fix the mistake. Buttle has been wrongfully arrested (one of the best scene in the history of cinema imo) and tortured leading to his death, which means Sam has to deliver the money they have overcharged him (money that should have been charged to Tuttle) directly to his widow. When Sam arrives he encounters his dream girl Jill Layton, a neighbor who has seen the arrestation of Buttle and who is planning to file of complaint. What he doesn't notice is that he is followed by a government spy, who aren't too happy that he repaired their mistake, making it public. Sam dreams of battling the system represented by a multicultural machine and defeating it with its own weapon "If you really want to fuck up the system, you do it from the inside." As he removes the machine's mask, we can see that it was powered by a man represented by a mirror image of himself, admitting that he feels guilty to be a part responsible for Buttle's death. In the same dream some puppets represented by Ms.Buttle and her kids are chained up to the buildings like prisoners of the system, their suffering makes it harder for Sam to be free. He eventually accepts the promotion to information retrieval in hopes to find Jill. To get the promotion he helps Mr.Helpmann (an old friend of his father) who is handicapped to piss, remembering us that you have to kiss ass in order to get to the top! Sam's friend at information retrieval Jack Lint is the perfect example of a superficial person, he places his job ahead of everything including his wife (whom he keeps refering to by the wrong name :o) and his children. His so called ambition got him a job requiring no conscience which consists of torturing citizens to retrieve information from them. Otherwise Sam's new job is exempt of companionship, everybody are rivals regarded as numbers trying to outperform each other. He is finally able to track Jill thanks to his new rank and goes along with her to her place of work where she transports houses made from a powerplant whose slogan is "Power today. Pleasure tomorrow." Sam knows they want to shut her up and tries to save her from the government. He ultimately becomes even more a rebel than Tuttle, who choses to escape reality and exists more in government lies and urban legends (represented by his transformation into government papers and city newspapers in Sam's dreams). Instead of fighting for their cause, Tuttle is nowhere to be seen when Jill gets killed and Sam gets caught by information retrieval... Mr.Helpmann appears at the end as Santa Claus, showing that capitalism is the new religion "Consumers for Christ" where information retrieval is comparable to confessing sins. Sam looses it and escapes in his fantasy world, Jill was right: "...far away... It's not far enough." He will be happier in a world where he is not restrained and he can live for what he believes. Brazil is not far from our reality where consuming is life, most people follow the trends, the government tries to control us, war is used to make profit, some people think religion sets them free, homeless people are outcasts of society...
6.
Brick
R
After a second viewing, I must revise my note to 4,5. This is probably the most brilliant crime film I've seen since Usual Suspects. I just thought at first that the dialogues were a little too clever for college students, it felt unnatural at some parts and made the story more complicated than it is. Nevertheless it's extremely well directed and shot and deserves the praise most people give it.
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I recommend you see...
Drawing Restraint 9
by Giannisposted 8 hours ago -
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I recommend you see...
The Good Earth
by Veronique"the good earth" is the earliest massive hollywood productions for oriental epic in exclusion of fu manchu series. it has great ambition to interpret the national spirit of china, its farming business under a bunch of stagy performances from caucasion yellow-face. and the issue has no relevance of its chinese authenticness but how old america views china.
it is a story about wang lung the farmer(paul muni), who marries a slavegirl in the big house named o-lan. and together they strive for their rocky future with mettle with their conventional chinese virtues. they've been thru harvest prosperity, drought, famine and the revolution of republic china as well as wang's illict affair with courtesan lotus.
mostly it depicts the condescending perspect of man's derogatory viewpoint on women which is actually true in ancient china, and women are merely usable products who help men to plow the rice fields and bring them extensions. without that, a woman could be considered worthless, and the dichotomy of benevolent saint and malevolent siren reflects on the two major female characters: o-lan, the slavegirl turning to the farmer's wife; lotus, the insidious temptress who drains men's wealth. eventually the conclusion would be good woman is like earth which provides everything with endless flourishments.
the earliest chinese star then anna may wong was keen to obtain the role of virtuous o-lan to alter her dreary image of malicious sirens in a bunch of negative orient-themed movies where she has to die "a thousand times" in the end. but the studio refuses to grant her that becuz of the racial segregation principle then: a caucasion male cannot make love or pair licitly with a oriental female on screen (so asian women are neither mistresses or villainy on screen), even as roles of yellow face. even the temptress lotus goes down to another actress with approved ethnicity despite the role lotus is literarily inspired by the oriental femme fatale image in wong's early silent pictures.
the point of making "the good earth" itself is a campy articce, so why bother to use a real chinese or not since the story won't present the real china anyway? as for anna may wong, she is thorough america-nourished american except her ethnicity, and she doesn't even conform to the corny chinese virtues of obediency or dependency on man anyway, further more she has never been with a chinese man for all her life at all. so in exclusion of her chinese outlook, there's not really any that much of traditional chineseness in her. so it won't be really a shame or a pity for her abscence as o-lan in this piece, but she would probably make an adequate lotus.
the title song for "the good earth" would be "the jasmine song" which has nothing to do with farming but a common folk song praising the beauty of jasmine flower in spite of its melodius smoothness. and in the scene of new infant birth, it's accompanied with the song celebrating the feng-yang drum which is my father's regional folk song in old china. so it would be highly phony to deem "the good earth" as a chinese epic, and even pearl s. buck who writes the original novel might have some bias for china. but it does bare some worthwhile process of collecting crops from the rice fields which i have never paid attention before. and the photography has its contived oriental aesthetism under the helm of four directors, including victor fleming from "gone with the wind".
so allow me to put it this way, the pleasure of "good earth" would be the brass flatulency of vintage caucasion hollywood's eccentric perception on "the inscrutable orient". ABSOLUTE CAMP!for me, watching "good earth" might be like watching charlie chen, sometimes you just have a deviant curiosity to watch how others perceive chinese as if you were an outsider without relevance. perhaps this outsider spirit is totally against zen which is to view things from the inward toward the outward, but i'm doing the opposite as an escapic fun.
in a nutshell, worth watching for its apparent FAKENESS. a A CAMP.posted 1 day ago -
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I recommend you see...
The Dark Knight
by Veroniquechristopher nolan's batman franchise obviously overwhelms audience internationally with his straight-to-arrow realistic representation of batman legend, also with the extreme dose of irreconciled masculine grittiness and bitter solemnity. besides the unexpected demise of heath ledger also heatens up the waves of box office as well. what contributes to its success would be the contempory cynicism with a secret iconclastic wish.
what is the point to embody batman and its villians down to every single detail, even enhanced with more effect of realistic grimness? the concept of batman is merely the IMAGINARY INTERPRETATIONS OF HUMAN PSYCHE, so WHY SO SERIOUS? there's no probablity for a character like bruce wayne/batman to truthfully exist in this universe, and neither are the mythical batman villains which are designed as the counterparts of batman to accomplish his halo of heroism and also a perverse reflection of bruce wayne's irreversible dark shadow. in a brief, a distinctive compensation as the symbols of human mentality. so batman is only an ideological mindset, an idea to flaunt, taunt with. but director nolan depicts them with impressive laborous efforts, including the course of bruce wayne's re-incarnation in his batman debut. and in "dark knight", joker and two-face join together to introduce you into a morbid show with similiarity of plastic surgery nightmares in their defying stance to provoke your mental and moral tolerance, total deprival of the un-worrisome childhood when the preteen youth flee to the theater only to get disillusioned. it's like you have hardship coping with your belief in the right course, you wanna drag down others to frown with you, and you resent anyone who could embrace an escapic fun of innocence.
to a degree, "the dark knight" ceases to be a superhero tale glorifying the righteous course of choosing justice as bruce wayne does, and it demonstrates us how unworthy and fatiguing to select the correct choice, would it inspire or encourage you to be a hero after witnessing all these torments? i don't think so. superhero tales are supposed to boast men's mettle and magnify their vain pride of heroism so men could still possess some fancy of his manhood with a self-aggrandizing wish to sacrifice for the right course. but "dark knight" is an intimidating disservice to manhood.
most of all, "the dark knight" has become a SUPERHERE HORROR, and two-face's disfiguration could emulate horror legend freddy in "a nightmare on elm street", and the joker is literily the copycat of silent horror "the man who laughs" or another comic avenging angel "the crow". but the purpose of horror is the mass relief of having surrogates suffering from their subliminal fears, such as disfigurations or castrastions, and usually this subliminal phobia is described with the ease of aethetism, so the audience could have some fanciful platform to soothe the actual tension. but the harsh realism of dark knight also demolishes this well-built platform, remember the jack nicholson's joker and tommy lee jones' two-face? their outlook set still reserves a certain twisted aesthetism without intimidation.
this is NOT a review to demean the greatness of dark knight but an ideological ruminations on its perception of batman. but i'd like to mention roger ebert's condemnation on tim burton's "batman returns" for its acid metaphor of "dysfunctional romeo and juliet" as batman's relation to catwoman. but ebert gives complete praise on "the dark knight" while it diverges its cynicism to the visceral level of mental explosion. wouldn't ebert do "batman returns" injustuce?this is NOT a mindlessly repeated chattering on how great the dark knight is.
i do wanna give half a star less to it for my disagreement on its over-realism but i cannot help but do it justice since its laborious dedication overwhelms me, from actings to each single technical detail.
BUT, the concept of batman is merely the IMAGINARY INTERPRETATIONS OF HUMAN PSYCHE, so WHY SO SERIOUS?posted 1 day ago -
I recommend you see...
***1/2
posted 4 days ago -
I recommend you see...
****
posted 4 days ago -
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I recommend you see...
The Dark Knight
by ElviraIt's such a difficult task to describe this film! DO believe the hype. If I considered it to be a "comic book" film, I would also consider it one of the best films of the genre I've ever seen. But since I don't, I think it's quite simply one of the best films in recent memory. Christopher Nolan's direction is excellent, and his idea of a Gotham City in crisis is dark, deep, and sophisticated. TDK refuses to be just an action film or to be confined within the standards of how profound "comic book" films can be. It's a film with substance, that speaks about good, evil, loss, and sacrifice if you listen close enough.
Nolan stayed away from the Batman paraphernalia in favor of a more sober take on the famous technology and style surrounding the character, so Christian Bale looks unbearably badass lurking in the shadows of Gotham City and not just like some guy in a bat suit. In the same way, the chases and action scenes are not just a mess of random explosions in the background and dust clouds, they are spectacularly (but clearly) orchestrated and filmed, which makes them all the more realistic and exciting.
Aaron Eckhart was a smart choice for Harvey Dent: he gives the character the drive and the nobility that it is written to have and keeps it in the eye of the story, well on the level of two other very powerful characters as are Batman and the Joker. Heath Ledger has been much-praised, even before the film was out at all, but certainly he has not been overpraised. He is stunning, fearless, disturbing, completely absorbed by the role, frightening because he seems to become the Joker. In a way, it comes through how emotionally demanding it must have been to play the embodiment of psychopathy: he walks, moves, speaks, smiles, laughs like the character would, so perfectly that it's mortifying. Even his eyes seem to be someone else's. So it is all true. It is an epic performance, with a force that reminded me of Klaus Kinski's almost deranged appearances in Herzog films, minus the fact that Kinski already had a very turbulent character. Maggie Gyllenhaal did a much, much better job than Katie Holmes as Rachel... and then there's Christian Bale, who's probably getting less attention than he deserves. He's the best Batman to date (in my opinion) because, and I hate that I use this adjective for each and every one of his performances, he's just selfless. Sometimes, when actors play this type of larger-than-life hero their own ego gets in the way and it seems that there's some of them in the character, that they are aware of themselves while they are acting, but this never happens with Bale. He just seems to develop this empathy for Bruce Wayne that allows him to have the right face at the right time, walk the right way, build a personality and quirks that could only belong to that character. Bruce Wayne is a taciturn man, committed, intelligent, and noble. But he is also a rather normal man, perhaps a little dark but not as dangerously conflicted as his enemies. So Bale doesn't exaggerate, his performance is humble but brilliant (or brilliant precisely because of that humility?), and I think that gives Batman what we need to see him as: the grounded, moral, trustworthy and yes SERIOUS figure among all the villains, who don't have principles or rules, and who stand for nothing but themselves. It happened to me often that after a gut-wrenching scene with the Joker, a scene with Bruce Wayne or Batman would follow and I would feel literally relieved. That's how good both actors were.
What struck me the most about this particular story is that finally a "superhero" can be seen from a different perspective. More often than never, there's a superhero who crosses over to the dark side for a while and then comes back, proving to us that good can defeat evil in the end. The great thing is that Batman is not half-spider or from another planet or product of a chemical accident, he's just a really wealthy guy. But his principles and his conscience are so deep-rooted and powerful that he never does cross over, he stays loyal to himself and to his cause. And when he decides to assume the guilt for other people's crimes, he doesn't inspire pity or sadness: he does it with such dignity and confidence that one can only agree.
Of course, I couldn't help leaving the theater somewhat haunted by Ledger's performance... his work here puts him among the greatest actors of any era, and it's difficult not to imagine all the fantastic films he could've done after this. So yeah maybe a few characters do not do an actor justice, I am sure Heath Ledger had all this talent and more, but this one will have to do, and how.
It's all here, all the things that make a great movie that will go down in history. A freaking masterpiece.WATCH IT NOW. Whether for the first or second or third or fourth... time.
posted 5 days ago -
I recommend you see...
The Fugitive Kind
by Veronique"thr fugitive kind" is another terrific piece scripted by tennesse williams, and it is adequately casted with marlon brando and ann magnani as williams' two archetyped characters in his plays: sexually dissatisfied female with great willpower vs luscious male with stormy sex antagonism. the harsher extreme exemplification would "streatcar named desire" as brando's stanley is the central object of desire, perhaps williams' personal inclination does contribute to his various creations of "homme fatale" which is men who are the seductors casting or catalyzing doom to women.
by this time, brando is the alluring drifter with snakeskin jacket and guitar by his side, a symbol of his uninhibited nature, an aloof poise which fascinates women with masochistic tendency. and two women become the prey under his charm: one lewd exhibitionist and one shrew with tangled past. somehow he's employed by the latter whom he also falls in love with. but the malice of the woman's invalid spouse brings forth catastrophe to everyone, nothing left but a snakeskin jacket remained from a fire disaster, another symbol of williams' poetric tragedy, and one fugitive kind seeks another to compensate.
brando's male beauty has not been in the prime blossom as he was in 1951 "streetcar named desire", by 1959, he starts to bare some rugged ripeness. anna magnani, who makes her fame in "the rose tattoo", is perfect casting choice as the elder woman whose vigor of life is mighty enough to lure brando without being perished into pieces by him.
"the fugitive kind" is one good example of the significance of the scriptor, and the movie's functionality all relies upon the pearly lines of tennesse williams and his metaphoric usage of lust and death which are frequent themes in his plays as well as the occasional dialogues of existential futility which are too lengthy to be mentioned here. "fugitive kind" requires your thorough attention to chew over the clever words of pessismistic wisdom, far from a mindless pleasure you could squander over.as one of the great rebel/method actors in the beat generation, brando showcases another charm due to sexual antagonism in "fugutive kind", also scripted by tennesse williams, and this time he meets his female counterpart, anna magnani whose individuality is sharp enough to emulate his. if you like great plays as you enjoy "streetcar name desire" as well as "rose tattoo"..."fugitive kind" is also a great choice for your food of thoughts.
posted 5 days ago -
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I recommend you see...
Mamma Mia!
by SarahDirector:Phyllida Lloyd
Released: 2008
Stars: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan,Colin Firth and Julie Walters
Genre: Musical/Comedy
Country: UK/USA
20 year old Sophie (Seyfried) is preparing to marry her boyfriend Sky (Cooper) at her mother's hotel on an island in Greece. She seemingly has it all; a carefree life, loving boyfriend and happy friends but one thing has been missing all her life; a father.
I have to admit that when we deciided to see Mama Mia!, my family and I, I wasn't sure what I would make of it at all. I know Abba songs like the back of my hand, never saw the musical but was sure I might dance a long at some stage. For sure I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Mama Mia has a certain charm to it that you can't ignore and I'm sure it will be one of the biggest hits of the summer.
The appeal of Mama Mia! is set in the songs and the brilliant cast. All the songs tell sophie's story well and you begin to like the characters a lot, but most likely Meryl Streep's character Donna. Donna is unaware of her daughter's actual father, any of the 3 leading men we see in the film; Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård. All three do sing in the film and at times it can be quite funny. I'm sure not everyone wants to see the last James Bond actor sing his heart out to SOS or Stellen Skarsgard sing Take a Chance on Me, but really folks forget all that and just enjoy a fabulous film. I know Brosnan took a year of singing lessons and doesn't sound bad at all. Not so sure about the paring of Streep and Brosnan but that was only a minor flaw.
The set for Mama Mia, that being in the Greek Islands looks lovly on screen and some great shots of the actual island on helicopter which really gives you that "summer feeling" and actually made me forgets seriously analysing this film, if you see what I mean. Naturally the cheography is brilliant, most notably with Dancing Queen which, If I had the chance, I would have danced near my seat. Meryl streep can certianlydance around, as can Julie Walters both in their late 50's.
Now for the acting. To be honest I think the acting fitted well to the story. I felt most of the actors played a more laid back approach, as indeed this is not a serious film and shouldn't be taken as to be. JUlie Walters was brilliant to watch and lights up every scene she's in, including her hilarious rendition of "Take a Chance on Me." Colin Firth doesn't really do an awful lot but does sing, which wasn't that bad. Stellen Skarsgard, as most of the cast aren't that bad either.
The script is a plain and simple story but very funny and very well done indeed. I;, sure a lot of it was sidreted at die hard Abba fans but I certainly enjoyed it a lot. What's great is that the film is very funny and can divert your attention away from any pretenious bits that might annoy you, as not everything is going to break into song.
I can't recomend this enough. If there's one film that you should see it's Mama Mia! Can't tell you how much fun I had watching this.
Highly recomended
8/10Worth the watch as it's very funny to watch...
<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FKx_14vJNZg&hl=en&fs=1"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/></object>posted 5 days ago -
I recommend you see...
In This Our Life
by Veronique"in this our life" is bette davis' cooperation with director john huston, backsetted in the old south reputed for its insolent southern belle while racial bigotry still exists then. olivia de havilland's casted as davis' virtuous sister with the capacity and benevolence to make the best of everything, even the men disposed by davis. it might be a reminder of de havilland's miss goody goody image in "gone with the wind" but this time her counterpart devoids the glamourous polish and de havilland herself begins to show some hardened edge rather than her sweet pie lad image alongside errol flynn in swashbuckler pieces.
davis is the wildly arbitrary sister of the reputed timberlake family with an uncle who has a drolling incestuous crush on her. with the uncle's financial backup,davis struts around, stealing her sister's beau then destroys him willfully, eventually her irresponsiblity deteriorates into framing a diligent black janitor after she accidentally runs over a woman. davis plays that kind of malicious bitch who could only be gratified by someone else's unhappiness, and once she obtains and devours something, she tramps it and tosses aside, absolutely guiltless and unwilling to take the blame with a pretentious victimized facade.
unevitably "in this our life" is melodramatic with the archetypes of selfless gentle woman like de havilland and bitch-perfect bette davis, but at least it has enough relish to make a watchable picture, and john huston's noirish strokes add gritty seasoning to it.
like "jezebel" and "little foxes", davis gets into the skin of another abrasive southern stereotype, malevolent egoist who is vain enough to disregard the welfare of others. "gone with the wind" glamour star vivien leigh also thrives in such southern belle role, such as her scarlet o'hara and "streetcar named desire", but the main difference between leigh's and davis' interpretations would be the relentless brass and spunk. leigh's performing style is more feminine and laid-back in the niche of shakespian thespian while miss davis shamelessly smirks and growls. maybe that's what defines davis' feminist poise, watching a woman who doesn't hesitate to galope full throttle being a bitch even she appears in a light of coquettish wardrobe by orry-kelly.is the notion of feminity defined by the subtlety of your emotional expressiveness? would any unbashful expressionism be tagged as feminist poise? observe bette davis and vivien leigh.
posted 7 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Boogie Nights
by Veronique"boogie nights" is mark walhberg's breakthru into the caliber of a actors, and it might be paul thomas anderson's best work by far as well as a good enclosure among the 90s. walhberg used to be the calvin klein model for underwear so the size of his private thing has been nicely anchored before,and his "marky marky" white rapper image is highly helpful for the audience to lead into the imaginary ground of dirk diggler.
walhberg palys eddie, an astray teenager who gets one special talent, his 13 inches phallis, then he gets spoted by the porn director, john horner(burt reynolds), so he re-incarnates into the legendary stud in porn cinema, dirk diggler. but the movie centers not merely on dirk but also the people around this pornography circle, such as roller girl (heather gramham) and the maternal porn actress(julianne moore) as well as various sub-cast like philip hoffman and don cheadle..etc. you may view these people frivolously wasted as social scums, but they do sincerely deem porn flicks as a form of cinema with sincere enthusiasm.
even in the degenerated role like that, mark walhberg does emite some lovable boyish innocence in this character, for example, dirk often inquires his co-woman-star's feelings in the sex scenes, for instance, he askes julianne moore in the firse scene of their intercourse, "where you want me to shoot? are you all right?" and she also shows some affectionate encouragements back in return. there's no misogynism in its female characters, and men do show some respect of equality to women even in a seemingly rotten bussiness like porn cinema. they consider lovemaking an exhibitionistic enjoyment, and they do care about the works they've done. and also, there's some strange ethics among this group of people, burt reynold's like a proper paternal figure, in the scene he kisses moore on the shoulder then remark "i stare at the foxiest bitch in the world". vice versa, julianne moore is the maternal figure who is a gentle nuturer while joanna gleason is the opposite as dirk's judgementally harsh mother who deems him as forever loser and dirk's father is a meek quiet man without opinions. and dirk's life is like an elongated adolescence while he's eternally obsessed with oriental kung-fu, various subcultural items and flashy roadsters. but i must say, walhberg really gets the poise and the moves!
the course of american dream would be the earnest naivete of its dreamers, and even sex workers also have their american dream in spite of the outrageous notoriety they receive from drug abuse and promiscuity. "boogie nights" has the capacity of humanity and pathos for its characters, but it also bares the price these people have to pay for such self-abandoned lifestyle. they're bittersweet tales of porn industry's idealistic narcissism and its sour mistreatment from social prejudices. it's like an obscene american dream awaken in the end with corrosive disillusion while walhberg demonstrates kung-fu to his 13 inches dildo."boogie nights" is the pornogrphic version of american dream, and dirk diggler is a dazed youth who builds his self-assurance upon his 13 inches thing, but who's wrong with that? ha. everyone has his one specialty. "boogie nights" is gleefully obscene but also sardonically humanistic with its deep sympathy to the characters. everyone gives a good performance and the music is tasteful, same as the wardrobe, jullian moore and heather gramham never look sexier than this, the porn sirens. i feel comfortable watching it becuz it shows no misogynism even in an erotic material like that.
maybe the harshest part would be the photographer with a sex-addict wife who could get laid on literarily everywhere. but it's some sort of profane humor.posted 8 days ago -
I recommend you see...
All This, and Heaven Too
by Veroniqueall this, and heaven too" is a tear-jerking over sentimentalized vehicle of miss bette davis, intended to showcase miss davis' caliber of benevolent characters instead of her trademarked roles as malevolent shrews like "little foxes", "jazebel" and "whatever happened to baby jane."..except the acting, everything about "all this, and heaven too" flops into a hygienized version of "jane eyre" without a bit of gothic allure, a tale of a prim governess' suppressed crush on her empolyer.
davis plays an idealistic young woman who comes to france serving an aristocratic family led by charles boyer, and she spreads warmth of love to his children that draws the bitter jealousy of the loveless wife(babara o'nell) who goes insane at any moment when the aristocrat endears the governess. then the fanatic wife gets rid of the governess then revenges her by not granting a letter of reference. eventually the aristocrat slaughters his wife in a fit of enormous rage.
the simmering romance between boyer and davis is like a smoldered stewed dish without emanation so it just stales with exceeding melodramaticity. the best moment in the flick would probably be the second charles boyer strikes barbara o'nell. and the children seem unpleasant with their galling sweetness, escpecially their pretentious french accent."
"all this, and heaven too" is a so-called woman's movie(or chic flick), but it all depends on whether you term womanhood as oppressive passion sealed under the conduction of puritanical virtues. perhaps an explosion would be more aggreeable than masochistic feminity.maybe n this gendre, jan eyre would be a better choice with its gothic allure, and orson welles' abrasive master with a dark secret is far more interesting. joan fountain seems to be more adequate to timid roles like this in her early collaborations with hitchcock like "rebecca" and "suspicion".
posted 8 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Hellboy 2)
by KellyA movie that goes from great to mediocre at a fairly even pace. Fantastic creature design and effects prosthetics, makeup, etc. Tolerable CGI. The irony is that the least interesting (and frankly, just plain shitty) character design is the Golden Army itself; they look totally lame, unless you're looking at hundreds of them at once. Besides that, this is del Toro's same art crew from Pan's Labyrinth so the designs are just jaw dropping and staggeringly original. Jeffrey Tambor is funny as a Papa Bluth-pastiche of himself. Thought Perlman was stiff, but a nice bonus Seth McFarlane of Family Guy fame voices the ectoplasmic doctor.
Some action/comic cliche lines in the movie. Forced romance that advances the plot (horrible thing to do in a movie). Abe Sapien looked great; loved the Prince villain, though I thought he was very Pinhead derived (maybe it's just all that Hellraiser watching I did). Far better than the first, but suspend your disbelief in the beginning, and your discerning tastes during the last two reels. I don't think non-comic people will get much from this, but "it sucked" to "it was alright".First review in my "MOVIES ALL THE ZOMBIES ARE SEEING" feature I'm doing whilst visiting the northeast and doing a proper "summer at the movies". A movie that went from great to mediocre/annoying at a steady rate. FAR better than the first, though.
Flixter politics: Just this first one I'm sending to everyone on my list so you know I'm doing this feature; further recommends won't be sent to people who have "Not Interested" marked for any movie I want to recommend whilst on my movie adventure.posted 11 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Hellboy 2)
by TiffanyI must say I wasn't a big fan of the first Hellboy but Guillermo Del Toro out did himself in this one. I went to an advanced screening of this and was completely blown away by everything. The fight scenes were great the monsters were even better and alot of the scenes were just plain hilarious. Even if your not a fan of the comics this is a definite must watch!
Hey, you should really see this!
posted 15 days ago -
I recommend you see...
In the Name of the Father
by ElviraThis is a very strong film, very harsh. Jim Sheridan is really a director who doesn't get in the way of his story: he tells it like it is, with no free interpretations, and just the right amount of insights from the characters. Thanks to that very inobtrusive philosophy, the story of Gerry Conlon and his father comes through with great credibility and clarity, which makes it all the more easy to be enraged at the unbelievable injustices committed against them. Above all, it's a film that left me with a need to reflect and, somehow, appreciate what that real-life tragedy left as lesson to people in countries across the world.
The film, often narrated in first person, is sober, collected, and precise, but not cold: Daniel Day-Lewis's flawless performance, as well as Pete Postlethwaite's and Emma Thompson's, is tridimensional, human enough to cause an immediate empathy, if not sympathy, for his character. None of the individuals depicted were perfect, and it would be challenging to relate to them if they were being described on a piece of paper, but the actors and actresses do such an amazing job that it's impossible not to. Daniel Day-Lewis inhabits his character and seems to follow him through his transgressions. He alone is worth the watch (as usual).
In the Name of the Father is not only a very successful cry against injustice, but also one of the rare films that can approach the subject of the judicial system without having a lawyer with a coreography walking around the room or displaying an inaccessible latin vocabulary in front of the camera. In that sense, the film is not commonplace: it doesn't focus too long on the part of the tribunals, and when it does it is effective. That skillful narration and the poweful soundtrack, plus the amazing performances, make this film a worthy watch, and an obvious choice for anyone interested in Daniel Day-Lewis's not-very-extensive but excellent work.Hey, you should really see this!
posted 16 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Super High Me
by KellyI've been meaning to write a review about this for a while, but I've been too stoned. When Doug says in his standup, "So I will be smoking pot all day every day for thirty days in a row", I would have heckled in reply, "Welcome to my life!!!"
A nice blend of stoner humor and serious documentary film-making on the political movement and people affected by the battle for legalization of marijuana in America. I'm a well rounded pothead, so I love this approach of going serious to silly several times in the same reel. ssssssmoke!
I'm totally high right now, and I love this movie. I woke up yesterday wanting to watch it again, and I wasn't even high then.
I sound daring to say this is innovative. I guess some of the activists in the movie really got to me, esp the guy who opened the first dispensary primarily for AIDS patients and when he talked about his place getting raided, he referenced Stonewall, saying to the state police, "Don't you realize - these people are going to fight back?!" Pulled at my little gay stoned lung pipes.
But there's hard-hitting stuff for everyone - who doesn't love a blunt paraplegic or a cute honor student with cancer? And since the film is set against the backdrop of the standup comedy profession, you're treated to snippets throughout that prove why Doug should be the #1 pot comic in this year's High Times.I'm recommending this while high. Only two ppl on my friends list have seen this (and ur getting my redundant praise as well). I gave this movie that extra half star because I was stoned when I rated it, and being even more stoned now, I don't disagree.
posted 19 days ago
by Giannis
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