Independent Films
I have joined the filmmovement club. They release an independent film every month. So far I have all six released so far. They have all been worth watching and some have been in the "not-to-be-missed" category- e.g. "Manito". the June release.
Has anyone here had any experience with this club? I need to learn from you why some of the films (e.g. "he died with a felafel in his hand") were harder for me to appreciate than they were for the professional reviewers.
Not sure how the club works, kul91 and welcome to A2K!
Could you explain how it works -- are the films sent to you on DVD on a rental basis? I either go to my local art film house or see independent movies on IFC or Sundance. I did subscribe to Netflix last year and was pleased with being able to select from a very large library including many small, independent films.
I am contemplating doing it again soon but just jumped into high definition and was exploring what's on cable in HD.
Indie Films
The films are on DVD and I get to keep them. If I do this right I might be able to link you to a recent article in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/04/movies/04VIDA.html?n=Top%2fFeatures%2fMovies%2fNews%20and%20Features
Hope that helps.
That's very good -- I would say it is an ideal addition to forming a comprehensive film collection. Not sure I would want every film, however. These films do show up on IFC and Sundance, so it might be a good guide to enter into their Website search and place an E mail reminder on the showings over cable. I'm going to explore the Film Movement Website more thoroughly. Thanks for the link.
You might want to try the link feature next time at the top of the "post reply" as some addressed can be rather long and can stretch the page.
Just click on "URL" at the top right and follow the instructions.
kul91 -- there should be an a permanent Independent Film forum and if you'd like to submit one as a new topic, I'll see that it is featured.
Hello Lightwizard, thanks for the lead to this thread.
I scanned the post and noticed that alot of them were about Adaptation which I skipped over because, I had akready planned to watch it tonight on PPV!
Interesting that you mentioned Magnolia too, because, just the other night I watched "Punch Drunk Love" on DVD -- same director.
One of the things I felt it conveyed was a feeling of intrusion. This guy is just going along and unwanted things just bombarded him constantly. Calm on the outside, noise on the inside. The score really conveyed the noise inside his head.
He was a victim of his anger, then when he has a welcome intruder in the form of a woman, love gives him strength and his rage is no longer an expression of his depression but is used to show power and commitment.
I noticed that there was alot of movement around him too. Very well shot. Unusual film. Have you seen it? What do you think?
Back to Magnolia for a moment: I think Tom Cruise is a very, very peculiar actor. For a long time he seemed just to be a pretty boy, and then he wiped Dustin Hoffman right off the screen in Rain Man (I thought). Sometimes he's good, sometimes he's awful. If you see the original Spanish film, Abre los ojos (a terrific film) and then watch Cruise in the American remake... actually, I could only watch about ten minutes of it and then had to turn it off. Anyone else puzzled by Tom C?
Funny about the Altman film and Magnolia -- I hadn't really thought about it. Altman, A Great Director, can be an awful bore sometimes. I had an uncle (whom I loved... but) who, like his siblings, couldn't cope with emotion. Instead of an outpouring of grief or joy or congratulations or whatever else might have been appropriate, he'd hastily write a brilliant piece of gently humorous verse, stepping back from the situation he couldn't cope with (one assumes). That's what I think Altman does, so his Short Cuts seems, in retrospect, to have be shot in quiet black and white sketches, unlike the blast of rawness and color in Magnolia.
I think Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July was one of the best performances I've ever seen. One scene I remember- he was on the floor after falling, couldn't move or get up. Very understated. I don't know. It really stuck with me. This was earlier in his career and I've always accepted him since then. It's funny how one bit can win you over.
Agree with you about Born on the Fourth -- he was brilliant.
Cruise was also brilliantly on target with his performance in "Minority Report." It's difficult to draw characterizations in science fiction as the premise and storytelling too often move the characters around like they are robots. There are only a handful of science fiction writers who pay much attention to giving depth to their characters. The protagonist in "The Demolished Man" is one of those rare instances but so far nobody wants to tackle it even though the rights have been bought many times. The thought that Arnold Schwartzenegger could end up as the main character is of a chilling thought then the premise of the novel. I thought he was the minus in "Total Recall," but was hired for the box office. Liked to have actually seen Cruise in that role.
"Magnolia" was certainly raw emotion thrust into one's face while "Shortcuts" was quietly introspective and analytic. Both are films people seem to love or hate. Altman's "Popeye" has to be one of the biggest yawners in cinema history.
As far as Altman or Cruise having some mediocre efforts in their careers, name any artist who hasn't. The artist Monet burned over one-hundred of his canvasses as being unsuccessful and would not let even a long time patron buy one of them as he didn't want his mediocre work to be shown to the public. Wouldn't we wish that film artists would think the same way? It's the production cost that films make it too the screen which are bad to begin with, the producers hoping to at least recoup their investment. Does anyone believe they don't know they have a turkey on their hands?
Don't remember what thread it was but someone recommended "Max," the film staring John Cusak as a fictious Jewish art dealer who befriends Adolph Hitler. It's fictionalized, of course, and it travels a lot of trodden over territory but all-in-all a very compelling and bravura effort. The final scenes are indeed chilling and poignant. A certain amount of it has an artificial, set-up appearance which keeps it from being a great film. It's just out on DVD and Pay-Per-View.
Thanks for the tip about film movement. Will check that out.
Saw "Solaris" for the second time on DVD -- the quality is extraordinary, picture and sound. Still, the story is so familiar, Ray Bradbury's "Mars Is Heaven" from "The Martian Chronicles" being the first to explore the subject matter. I still found it moving and most of that was due to the fine acting -- truly individual characterizations on a par with "Alien." Still, there's so much sci-fi that would be great as films -- I could see George Clooney as Lackland in "Mission of Gravity."
The big news this week was, of course, the two disc DVD of "The Two Towers." Tried to pick it up at Wal-Mart as they had a fantastic price on the set but already sold out! But if one can wait until November 18th and pre-order, the extended version is due out them with approximately thirty more minutes of new footage.
I've already ordered "Finding Nemo" (on Half.com for $15.90! and there are still some around that price). Love the film -- Ellen Degeneres was the perfect choice for the memory impaired fish. The digital animation just keeps getting more amazing.
The big news in DVD is, of course, the release of the Extended Version of "The Two Towers" with 43 minutes of newly filmed material further delineating the plot and characterizations. I guess you could say this is a must see in order to further appreciate the final part to be released next month in theaters. There are theaters showing the extended TTT now.
"Freaky Friday" was an example of a remake better than the original -- very funny, mainly due to Jamie Lee Curtis' comedic talents, up to the quality of her performance in "Trading Places" as the empathetic hooker.
"Bonjour Tristesse" was directed by the auteur Otto Preminger and has all the quirkiness and censor baiting one always expected from the director. He achieved a hit early in his career with "Laura" a film noir steeped with atmosphere and a tidy little mystery as well. David Nevin stars with Deborah Kerr and the film insinuates at all sorts of sexual innuendo and even at an incestuous relationship!
A good offering of classics, some with new special features this week and next.
"Death in Venice" is so sumptously photographed that I hope the DVD release is a vast improvement over what has been heretofore shown on TV. Blurry, washed out colors certainly do not do this film justice, one of the better adaptations of a novel and one of the most difficult to adapt.
