The French New Wave is, I think, the most influential filmic movement to occur in the latter half of last century.

A few essays I wrote to read at your leisure (and pleasure): A Brief History of the French New Wave . That will give you a short introduction to it, and to get specific, here's a review of A bout de souffle/Breathless (1959), a film in which you will find an endless amount of Tarantino-like references and in-jokes to popular culture.

Happy reading,
Mick

Thief - (Mann;1981;USA) - ***1/2
A safecracker who strives to complete the picture of his life with a wife and child finds working with his new criminal boss has created several strings tied to him in the midst of also being hassled by the police.
Michael Mann begins his career on a good start with this. Like his other work, this is a very intelligent thriller that also keeps the drama in the mix. It's characters are believable and the direction is strong. Caan, Weld, and Prosky are all very good in their roles. The music is yet again great for the film like Mann's other works. The main flaw is the finale's effects which seem very dated.
#25

I was kinda disappointed tonight while watching WWE: The Monday Night War. It said that it was 3 hours and it was only an hour and a half. I was ready to go for 3 and find that it ended early. I was like, where's the rest of it!?

Sideways (04/Alexander Payne/US) 8/10

Everything in this movie is so real that you just feel the characters. This is very much the same as About Schmidt but instead of an old loser this time, it is about two losers with very different attitudes caught in the midlife crisis; nonetheless a very interesting take into their relationship and how they help each other to overcome their vices. And by loser, I mean the way most of us look into our lives and the inner feeling of being a loser: Half my life is over and I have nothing to show for it.


The Phantom of the Opera (04/Anrew L Webber/US, UK) 8/10

One of the best musicals that I've ever seen. Dazzling Costumes and settings with great songs.

Amores Perros
8/10 after first viewing
This is one of the best "newer movies" I've seen
We see different/parallel stories which are connected to each other very well. The movie starts very strong with a very interesting story about a guy who falls in love with the wife of his brother and gets in conflicts with his brother all the time. He earns alot of money with Dog Fights (brilliant scenes) and wants to leave with her...
The second story is sad and gives you alot to think about too. The only flaw is that afew scenes were unnecessary there, not boring though. The other plotlines are great too and make this movie to one of the best in the last years....
Amores Perros reminds me of Pulp Fiction (The Direction and Style) and of City of God (Plots/Visuals)
Im sure Quentin Tarantino had a big effect on this director. And he did a very good job, GREAT MOVIE!

Not to mention their moral shortcomings. Stealing from one's own mother, promiscuity, turning a blind eye to such adultery, and everything done without a trace of guilt. The empathy Payne shows for his characters in this film is worrying. I still loved it.

Donnie Darko *** (3rd Time)
2001, Kelly, US
In 1980s suburbia, a high school student finds himself under the control of a strange rabbit.
Highly enjoyable mystery that is delightfully fresh and packs both originality and emotion.

Mick

By the way, Aziatic, regarding Amores perros (2000), I rate it as one of the best films this decade also. Although it may remind you of Pulp Fiction, I consider González Iñárritu a much better director than Tarantino. Judging from this and his 21 Grams, he packs a lot more emotion into his work than Tarantino; his style is far moer visceral too.

Mick

Seconds - (Frankenheimer;1966;USA) - ****
An aging man is approached by a secret company and blackmailed to fake his death and undergo a surgery to become a younger man to find happiness, however his new life brings new problems.
Frankenheimer's best film. The music is excellent and eerie along with many of the wide-angle lens shots used throughout. The middle drags a little at times, but it is made up for by a great ending. Both Rock Hudson and John Randolph are great in their acting. A truly disturbing film, with a painfully beautiful final image. I appreciated it more with this second or third viewing.
#26

I was a little disappointed with Samurai Champloo Vol. 3 today because it just wasn't as good as Volumes 1 or 2. The episodes missed some action and there was a lot more story in this volume. The last episode was really just a recap and one big joke, but I still love this anime!

LOL, I just watched this as well. I liked it sure the last episode was just a recap but they have those in every anime. The one with the beetle is great and one of my favorite episodes ever.

Yeah the beetle one was pretty cool. Didn't you find kind of a lack of action during this volume? I liked the killer who Muugen goes after in episode 10 I believe it is

Lost Boys 1987

Not to mention their moral shortcomings. Stealing from one's own mother, promiscuity, turning a blind eye to such adultery, and everything done without a trace of guilt. The empathy Payne shows for his characters in this film is worrying. I still loved it.[/b][/quote]I don't know if it worries you even more to say I can relate to them. They are just like these two opposite feelings inside us, the depressed snob who overlooks whatever he does because there has been an explanation to overcome the guilt and the crazy throw everything out the window, be happy and don't worry feeling.

What did you think would happen on a weeklong trip for old buddies before the wedding? You are broke, you want to show a good time to your old buddy who is the exact opposite and a womanizer and rest is obvious. I don't know, maybe it is because I'll be reaching that age in a little while. It is all about one last time doing this and that, because we are not getting any younger.

Everyone would get the sympathy when the story is being told from his or her viewpoint.

Agree, that's why you feel certain connections to the protagonists.The music was also really great.
21 Grams is high on my to-see-list.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
9.5/10 after first viewing

Amazing movie
I think everything has been said about this movie. Its on soo many Favorite-lists and it just joined mine.
The ending is one of the best Ive seen and my favorite Eastwood role. Leone created a masterpiece. I will have to re-watch OUATITW and OUATITA to decide which ranks higher on my list....

Once Upon a Time in the West - (Leone;1968;Italy) - ****
A widow is in the midst of violence between land grabbers, a stranger seeking revenge, and a falsely accused criminal.
Seeing this again has blown me away. For some reason I now appreciate it more. In fact, I feel stupid not putting this ahead of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly in terms of greatness. Morricone's scores for each character are some of the best. The characters themselves have extremely well written dimensions. The cinematography is beautiful, especially the wagon trip. The film has a depth that beats all of Leone's films except [i]Once upon a Time in America. Excellent story, great actors, and a classic. The greatest western ever.
#27

1) Once Upon a Time in America
2) Once Upon a Time in the West
3) The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
4) For a Few Dollars More
5) A Fistful of Dollars

I just got back from seeing Cinderella Man and it was awesome. It's easily the best picture of the year (although I'd put Sin City up there as well). Great performances from Russell, Renee and Paul, not to mention a great job directing by Ron Howard. It should do to the Oscars what [/i]Million Dollar Baby[/i] did to the Oscars this past year

Uh, isn't it a little early to say that? :p

Did you see Million Dollar Baby yet?

No, I'm gonna wait for it to come out on DVD next month. But I seriously think this movie should & can win those 3 Oscars (plus more)

The Searchers #96 on the AFI Top 100 List

Another pretty good movie from the AFI list. This was my first John Wayne movie to see in its entirety. I had previously seen the first 30 minutes of Rio Bravo but shut it off and never started it again. Wayne had some pretty funny lines in this picture and it's what I would think a Classic Western would be. The story's pretty interesting too in that an Uncle (Wayne) goes searching for his niece who's kidnapped by Indians.

A true classic there and not only the third greatest western to me, but also one of the most influential. In fact, Ford's excellent use of the Monument Valley inspired Leone to use it in Once Upon a Time in the West. Everything a western should be, and John Wayne's role. A lot of depth for a western.

Well my little berg was finally graced with the presence of the film “The Layer Cake”. I’ve been reading about it for a while now, but every time I looked it up it was only in LA or NYC. Well this week it finally arrived and I’ll be dammed if I was going to miss it.

If you don’t know about it it’s an English gangster movie done by the guy who produced all of Guy Ritchie’s stuff, Matthew Vaughn. It even stars one of the many actors rumored to be the next Bond, Daniel Craig. The movie is about Daniel Craig’s character who just happens to be a large volume drug dealer. When his superior asks him to do him a couple of favors his whole life gets properly f*cked. He is supposed to find a girl for an old friend and that turns out to be a trap of sorts that puts him in a precarious position. The other favor involves a ecstasy deal with a “Wankster” that goes south on so many levels it is like a Greek f*cking tragedy.
Daniel Craig’s character (as I refer to him because I don’t know his name) is forced to come up with some plan to satisfy all of the parties that have become involved. With Daniel’s performance you believe that his character is able to do what he does. His eyes alone convey a layer of thought and performance all their own. It is a thoroughly enjoyable film and worth the wait to see it.
I’m not sure I saw what exactly snagged the job of director of X3 for Mathew Vaughn in this but then again I guess that really doesn’t matter now does it as he is off the project. Still yet the movie is fantastic and garners an 89 viewing score.

Brazil (85/Terry Gilliam/UK) 9/10

Brazil's main theme is Orwell's 1984 mixed with some Kafka seasoned nightmares. Those who like dark humor and visualized nightmares would enjoy this movie. The scary thing is we are headed to Brazil, if we're not already there.

I had a little bit of peace & quiet yesterday afternoon and retreated to the coolness of my basement and watched Hannibal. I've seen this movie three times now and have liked it more each time. The first viewing was in the theater and I was really disappointed, probably because of the excessive hype - I saw it the night it premiered. The film stayed pretty true to the book, without getting into some of the smaller subplots.

But I really think Hannibal holds up well with the other three movies in the trilogy. Anthony Hopkins was excellent, as was the barely recognizable Gary Oldman as Mason Verger. I thought that Julianne Moore was an excellent replacement to Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling character. Honestly, Foster was great in Silence of the Lambs, but I don't think she could have pulled as good a performance out of Starling in Hannibal. The only performance I didn't care for was Ray Liotta's Krenzler.

The ending is really hard to watch. Not going to give it away if you haven't seen it, but it's stomach-turning. The dvd I had had an alternate ending in the deleted scenes that was pretty cool.

By far, the best scenes involved Hopkins, both in his alias Dr. Fell character, as well as Hannibal Lecter. My primary criticism of the film is that it was well over an hour before the real action of the film takes place. There is a lot of plot development in the first hour. But it's important to the overall story.

The one minor detail that I really liked was the musical score. There was some subtle piano music that played over a few of Lecter's scenes that really enhanced the film.

4 stars out of 5

In The Line Of Fire

6.5/10

Nothing special. Above average with a great John Malkovich. Eastwood gave a good performance too. The idea of the movie was good but it still lacked great suspence necessary in this kind of genre. It had its great moments though but also some unnecessary and boring scenes...

La Bamba



I love this film,great sound track and a sad ending

Spoiler Alert********

What was the alternate ending? The one I saw, Lecter cut off his own hand to get away of handcuffs and escaped.

Spoiler Alert********

What was the alternate ending? The one I saw, Lecter cut off his own hand to get away of handcuffs and escaped. [/b][/quote]SPOILER ALERT***************

Lecter wasn't handcuffed in the alternate, thus no hands were chopped off. Starling just kind of lets him go. Her hair is still caught in the refrigerator like the theatrical version. We see Lecter driving away also and the scene with the kid on the airplane to close the movie is a bit lengthier. And if I recall, the "dinner" scene in which Krenzler is fed his own brain is a bit longer also.

According to the dvd, 3 endings were written, but only 2 were filmed.

Thanks Goombah!

Spoiler Alert! ********

I kind of get a kick out of what he did in the original ending. I thought he'd chop off Starling's hand but he did his! I'm sorry but I can't help it. It was funny, sweet and gross at the same time. But if I'm not mistaken Lector had hands in Red Dragon so I think the other ending fits better, unless I'm mistaken and the mentioned movie is not the third one.

Don't forget, Red Dragon was the prequel to both Silence of the Lambs & Hannibal so the fact that Lecter has hands in Red Dragon is accurate. You're probably confused because Red Dragon was the last of the three films to be released, even though it was first in the storyline.

BTW, did you read the book Hannibal? A different ending altogether. If you want, since this is a movie thread, I can PM you.