Did not see many movies this year, so I've only got 6 total on my list, which you should be thankful for, because I can't write film reviews worth a damn. Thanks for posting your list Sarzy, you've got great taste.


The Good

1) Drive - Awesome, like a more commercial, modern day Vanishing Point. Minimalist, tightly paced male action-fantasy with art-house nuance and an effectively simple score by Angelo Badalamenti. A real human being... and a real hero....

2) Super 8 - A nice homage to the Speilberg of the 80s, with some violent Abramsisms tossed into the mix. Not as deep as Spielberg, but still a great time at the theater.


The Bad

1) Harry Potter: Part 7: Part 2: Part 1 - booooooooooring

2) Melencholia - boooooooooooring. Remember when Lars Von Trier used to make good movies like Dogville and Dancer in the Dark? No more. The movie focuses on a loathsome, uninteresting family during the last few days of the Earth's existence. Very little happens. Then they die. The opening credits are beautiful and have more to say than the entire rest of the film.

3) Cowboys & Aliens - Complete failure to combine some tried and tested elements (The Western, Sci Fi, Harrison Ford and Jon Favrau).


The Ugly

1) Sucker Punch - It's a bold, beautiful, ambitious and highly imaginative disaster. Ridiculously stupid story. If you like terrible movies, this is one to put on your list. Supposedly the directors cut is even better/worse.

I have been wanting to tell you that I finally watched dancer in the dark. WOW!!! made me like her 99.9% more. Thnx lizard lizard. =^..^=

Hachi the most loyal dog! I know of his story; I'll have to watch this movie with my son

Brokeback Mountain was brutally depressing.. I uh, won't be watching that one with my son anytime soon, lol.

In reply to this comment by berticus:
brokeback mountain, which actually sent me into a major depression for a few months

and a japanese movie called Hachiko Monogatari that i saw when i was about 15. i thought it was practically ipmossible to find, but what do you know -- someone's put it on youtube! i'm going to have to re-watch it and see if i have the same soppy reaction 15 years later ;


In reply to this comment by UsesProzac:
What are the other two movies, Berti?

In reply to this comment by berticus:
there are maybe.. 3? movies i can think of that have utterly destroyed me and made me cry almost uncontrollably, and this was one.

bjork was just sublime.

brokeback mountain, which actually sent me into a major depression for a few months

and a japanese movie called Hachiko Monogatari that i saw when i was about 15. i thought it was practically ipmossible to find, but what do you know -- someone's put it on youtube! i'm going to have to re-watch it and see if i have the same soppy reaction 15 years later


In reply to this comment by UsesProzac:
What are the other two movies, Berti?

In reply to this comment by berticus:
there are maybe.. 3? movies i can think of that have utterly destroyed me and made me cry almost uncontrollably, and this was one.

bjork was just sublime.

What are the other two movies, Berti?

In reply to this comment by berticus:
there are maybe.. 3? movies i can think of that have utterly destroyed me and made me cry almost uncontrollably, and this was one.

bjork was just sublime.

Excellent sift, @kulpims. I was going to link Björk's Dancer in the Dark version, but since I couldn't find it on the sift (to my utter surprise), I decided to put it there myself. http://videosift.com/video/Bj-rk-My-Favourite-Things-Dancer-in-the-Dark

Lars is a brilliant, nihilistic director. I'd highly recommend Dancer in the Dark and Dogville. Steer clear of AntiChrist - unless you are into clit mutilation. What's interesting about this trailer is how slick it looks. He was famous for developing a style of cinema called Dogme 95, which completely rejected Hollywood aesthetics. His style has slowly moved away from that, but this trailer has overt digital effects and stray planets and shit, so I'm pretty curious. I'll see it for sure.

Dancer in the Dark is probably the most cynical, emotionally manipulative and disingenuous film I've ever seen. The songs are good though.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

Great flick. This is a pretty fucked up thing to watch out of context.
If you haven't seen Dogville, do yourself a favor and see it, the ending is epic.


God yeah, I thought this was dark, but it seems like he was just getting himself warmed up for Dogsville. Absolutely fantastic movie! The follow-up aint bad either

there are also two parallel seperate categories of trailers
trailers that attempt to summarise the story of the film, ending up being a jumble of scenes pasted together
and trailers that attempt to convey the mood of the film
there's many films that don't have a clear linear story or a story that is irrelevant to the content of the film
like the fountain or antichrist or dancer in the dark, etc
any summary of the story would be an insult for the art of emotion and themes the film contains between the bulletpoints of traditional narrative

the distant suffocating mood this trailer portrays to me makes me want to see it
the imdb summary;
"An odyssey, in which the smallest gestures become epic and when the body is the last resource for protest."
"A compelling and unforgettable portrayal of life within the maze prison at the time of 1981 IRA hunger strike."
doesn't tell much either

the director should really change his name though

i used my jukebox playlist here.
set to random, first song of each page.
and then * starred the ones i found amusing

SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
** where did you sleep last night?

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
drive

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
mercy, mercy, me

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
heaven is a halfpipe

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
listen to the music

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
** two out of three ain't bad

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
hey ya

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
* bring it on

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
* strawberry fields forever

WHAT IS 2+2?
bell bottom blues

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
how it ends

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
tubthumping

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
** time after time

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
solsbury hill

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
* hard to beat

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
* like a stone

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
*** stupid girl

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
new world

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
drumming

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
cocaine

WHATS THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
ms jackson

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
creep

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
walk away renee

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
spem in alium

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
island in the sun

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
in the mood

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
** tiger in your tank

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
* hips don't lie

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
*** mad world

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
* gimme' all your lovin'

I really love Bjork. I think she's incredibly intelligent and gifted, and I loved her in "Dancer in the Dark" but I just can't listen to her music any more.

There are some movies that I can't watch unless they're in a cinema (or maybe, maybe a 'home equivalent', but it'd have to be a pretty fucking spectacular setup). 2001 is definitely one of them. My first viewing of it was at a cinema here that plays more to the 'arthouse' crowd, so the audience was fine. I had no idea what to expect and was blown away by how good it was!

Your overture experience reminds me of Dancer in the Dark - supposedly they had to re-do the start of the film and add in visual imagery because American audiences were getting confused as to why there was sound but the 'film' hadn't started. Luckily the copy I saw here didn't have the imagery, so I was able to get swept up in Bjork's haunting music.

This song makes me a bit sad (in a good way). Dancer in the Dark was intense.

Dancer in the Dark made me cry like a baby. ♥ Bjork.