Top 100 Club: etdoesgood

[Teproc]

I certainly wasn't trying to call you out or anything with that comment about the horse, just wondered about it since you're passionate about that particular issue, and I even thought this scene being such a key point of the film might have played a role in that, since this film was so formative for you. But that's very cheap armchair pseudo-psychoanalysis, I'm probably reading too much into it.

I did like Wadjda, just didn't have as much to say about it, I suppose. I mean, that's why I always include ratings; reviews can give a wrong idea of my enjoyment of a film. I think Wadjda is also more of an even film, whereas Neverending Story has higher highs and lower lows. Interesting point about the Void re: storytelling, definitely did not think of that reading but I see what you mean.

[Eric/E.T.]

I certainly wasn't trying to call you out or anything with that comment about the horse, just wondered about it since you're passionate about that particular issue, and I even thought this scene being such a key point of the film might have played a role in that, since this film was so formative for you. But that's very cheap armchair pseudo-psychoanalysis, I'm probably reading too much into it.

I did like Wadjda, just didn't have as much to say about it, I suppose. I mean, that's why I always include ratings; reviews can give a wrong idea of my enjoyment of a film. I think Wadjda is also more of an even film, whereas Neverending Story has higher highs and lower lows. Interesting point about the Void re: storytelling, definitely did not think of that reading but I see what you mean.

I did not take it as a call out at all, and appreciate your thoughtfulness in mentioning the horse. I have been very sensitive about the animal issue for a long time, and I think it's quite possible that The Neverending Story played a role in that. Especially as a youth, the Artax death scene is difficult. I have seen a good deal of internet memes attesting to this, a few funny, but most just stating that this movie traumatized us young viewers for basically our whole lives (obviously an exaggeration, but it's a scene that's hard to shake).

If you ever have the mind to read it, the book is quite interesting. The original movie is only 1/2 of the book. The other half, Sebastian actually goes to Fantasia, able to wish for anything he wants, and it gets pretty crazy. It's a book that kids maybe 10 and up could read, but very rewarding for an adult as well, and is one of the books that I think used to show a respect for children audiences by not sparing them interesting language or word choice in order to make it easier to comprehend. I think both the themes of his past loss as well as storytelling are continued, with one or two new ones popping up. They did make two sequels to The Neverending Story, but I will not watch them; they were money-makers that probably didn't make much money, and at least the third one was straight-to-VHS. I'm hoping for a two-part remake some day.

I understand your thoughts on reviews and ratings. I tend to think it's opposite for me; the rating says so much less than what the review says, so I don't like giving them that much, and fiddle with them often.

[Sandy]

Very nice review Sandy. Your comparison truly fits the bill with this film.

Thanks, Antares. It was a weird experience thinking about Sunset Boulevard while watching The Wild Bunch, so I'm glad my train of thought worked for you.

[MartinTeller]

It's still nowhere near, say, the nasty murder of the horse Andrei Rublev or the death dance with the cat in Satantango.

I just rewatched Satantango and I have to say, the cat scene was a lot less extreme than what I remembered. She flattens her ears a couple of times but through most of it she looks pretty chill. I mean, yes, the scene is highly unsettling (and arguably doesn't need to be) but I don't think the cat was all that distressed (especially given that one prominent characteristic of cats is that they frighten very easily).

There's also this:

Can you believe that I would kill a cat?! Never! First of all, we knew the cat scene [was coming] and we knew that the cat would have to rehearse with the girl. Every day in the hotel room they would do this kind of ‘turning’ game. By the end, the cat was used to this and did not care.

We knew that the cat has to die, so I called my vet, who was looking after my cat at home, and he came to the location. I told him, ‘You have to give her a sleeping injection. We will push the button on the camera when you give us a sign that the cat is getting dizzy’. We shot on his signal and the cat fell asleep. The whole crew stood around waiting for 25 minutes until she started to wake up. It was totally okay. The cat did not have any trouble, believe me. All the cat noises you hear are samples that we found from the sound archive on the internet, because the cat was totally silent.

It's a far cry from what was done to the horse in Andrei Rublev.

[Eric/E.T.]

The Wild Bunch



"You used to be big." - Joe Gillis, Sunset Boulevard

No, It's The West that got small (or something like that). Interesting to see the tables turn on Ol' Joe, where now the world has changed around him and all he's got left is nostalgia for the glory days. He's not even looking for a Desmond style comeback - Just one last hurrah and off into the sunset, which he kind of gets, with a lot of flash and noise and probably something like those "pruning hooks from the garden" to hoist him up on his steed for that last ride. And that's about it. "There's nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful [revolutionaries off to make a difference!]"

While I'm not a fan of Sunset Boulevard, I can see the comparison. I'm more likely to compare it to Blazing Saddles, as a film that is both a western and severely critiques the western, especially, in this case, the white-washed bloodless western. It's savage (loaded term selected consciously) in its approach, and I found the finale quite shocking. I guess you would say both central figures of Sunset Boulevard and The Wild Bunch go out with the type of bang that you sort wince away. Both are meaningfully ugly films.

[Eric/E.T.]

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - I've never been a big fan of vampire movies (my personal favorite is Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary). I have seen my share of them though. Although I was never a goth myself, my crowd in high school was decidedly goth. So of course I was exposed to that holy triumvirate of "80's cool gothy vampire" movies: Near Dark, The Lost Boys, and The Hunger.

This movie evokes those to varying degrees. There is also a nod to the 80's in the decor of "the girl"'s room. And there is a distinct Jim Jarmusch/Wim Wenders vibe in the way the movie meanders around genre trappings to be more of a character study/moody romance. The problem is, the romance isn't that compelling and it's not really much of a character study. I didn't feel like I learned much about either of the main characters. It's a lot of style and mood without much to say. Even the feminist angles feel largely incidental.

Still, it does a good job of establishing that style and mood. The soundtrack is especially good, and does a lot of the heavy lifting. I would say I enjoyed watching this for the most part, but by the end I was left wanting something more. Rating: Good (73)

I can't say that I'm particularly intrigued by vampires myself, though I have two vampire films in my 100, so I must be susceptible. I will say that seeing this at an event called "Women in Horror" may have made it seem this way, but I felt the feminist angles here were pretty overt. The Girl seduces and consumes the men, while schooling the boy. While my silent film knowledge is still developing, I was very much taken in by the silent acting in various passages by Sheila Vand. This performance really lit me on fire, and is one of several reasons this makes my list. Also certainly agree with how good the music is here.

[Sandy]

While I'm not a fan of Sunset Boulevard, I can see the comparison. I'm more likely to compare it to Blazing Saddles, as a film that is both a western and severely critiques the western, especially, in this case, the white-washed bloodless western. It's savage (loaded term selected consciously) in its approach, and I found the finale quite shocking. I guess you would say both central figures of Sunset Boulevard and The Wild Bunch go out with the type of bang that you sort wince away. Both are meaningfully ugly films.

In agreement. I wonder what it would have felt like, seeing this back when it first came out. I have a lot of years and many deconstructionist Westerns to lessen my shock at The Wild Bunch. I may have left the theatre crying at the film “Why are you the way that you are!?” It would have shattered my “Shane” view of the Western genre.

[oldkid]

I'm making up a bit for past clubs I haven't posted for.

Offside
I've had the disc in my collection for a half a decade, but I never took the time to see it.  I appreciate this opportunity to catch up to a film I've been wanting to see.

I've seen a fair number of Iranian classics.  I generally think of Iranian cinema as that which mixes the perception of reality and fiction. Not always, but so much of the time that it seems to be a trope of modern Iranian cinema.  I think that perhaps it reflects the forced perception of the Iranian people and their reality, which seems easily mixed.  There is an agreement to live under a strict rule, as well as a disagreement as to how strict that rule should be, and reality itself seems hypocritical, not following its own rules.

All of that comes in play in Offside, about a group of girls that want to attend a World Cup playoff that is only open to men to enter.  Beside the fictional premise, there is the real game that was filmed with real fans excitedly participating. While the girls agree to some of the limits placed upon them, they do not agree that they should not participate with the male fans.  They see no harm, and a false boundary is placed between male fans and female ones.

What surprised me the most, however, is how many comedic elements there are.  This is, in a sense, a protest movie.  So much a protest movie that it has not been allowed to be publicly shown in Iran.  But I would call it a comedy.  The situations are clearly absurd and the restrictions are shown to be as silly as many of the restrictions placed on women are.  Beneath the surface there is the real hypocritical standards that women are forced to endure, but on the surface the situation is laughable, ridiculous, comedic.  For this reason, this is one of the most enjoyable Iranian films I have seen (although my favorite is still The Mirror).  Charming, a number of laugh-out-loud moments and an enthusiastic joy that cannot be contained.  Not even by the censors.

4/5

[Dave the Necrobumper]

So 4 months late, but I have finally pulled my finger out.

Spirit of the Beehive (1973 Víctor Erice)

I had heard of this film, but knew nothing of it, which is a starting point I really do like. The film is set at the beginning of Franco's reign in Spain and was filmed near the end of his reign.

The early scene with the woman town-crier calling out was lovely. It showed how little modern technology has arrived at the town (even for the 1940s). The bring your own chair to the cinema and the excitement of the kids was a moment of joy. I did like the train arrival.

The early part of the film is a bit aimless just providing bits of life in this unnamed village, but slowly the film coalesces around the story of a girl called Ana. I was reminded a bit of Tarkovsky with it's voice overs, but for me I prefer Tarkovsky's style.

I did like the performances of the kids and the fly-on-a-wallness of the film, the final shot is good also, but overall the film just did not capture me. I can see how if you get on its wavelength it could be seen as riveting. With films like this or Tarkovsky's there is a delicate balance between being drawn into the place with the use of long scenes with little drama, and being pushed away by the same. I was was too close to the line to fully appreciate this film.

Rating: 70 / 100

[Eric/E.T.]

So 4 months late, but I have finally pulled my finger out.

Spirit of the Beehive (1973 Víctor Erice)

I had heard of this film, but knew nothing of it, which is a starting point I really do like. The film is set at the beginning of Franco's reign in Spain and was filmed near the end of his reign.

The early scene with the woman town-crier calling out was lovely. It showed how little modern technology has arrived at the town (even for the 1940s). The bring your own chair to the cinema and the excitement of the kids was a moment of joy. I did like the train arrival.

The early part of the film is a bit aimless just providing bits of life in this unnamed village, but slowly the film coalesces around the story of a girl called Ana. I was reminded a bit of Tarkovsky with it's voice overs, but for me I prefer Tarkovsky's style.

I did like the performances of the kids and the fly-on-a-wallness of the film, the final shot is good also, but overall the film just did not capture me. I can see how if you get on its wavelength it could be seen as riveting. With films like this or Tarkovsky's there is a delicate balance between being drawn into the place with the use of long scenes with little drama, and being pushed away by the same. I was was too close to the line to fully appreciate this film.

Rating: 70 / 100

Anyone that I can get to sit down with this one is super great for me. Honestly, I hadn't seen it until last year when I was marathoning the Sight & Sound films, and I just fell in with its rhythms. Like you said, it's about getting on its wavelength, and I was so fully there, I just came out thinking that it was my own personal quintessential film - but no with the ego inherent in that statement, if that makes sense. Sometimes you just feel like a work of art was made for you, you just get it, and though I have no idea what it was like living under the terror of Franco in that point in time, Ana's formative experiences as well as Fernando's turn inward both resonate with me heavily, as does the deliberate pace and striking, yet understated visuals. I don't see anything knocking it off that spot anytime soon, but I also can understand your experience in that it just barely missed you. At least you took some great scenes from it; the theater scene drew me in. Ana's expressions watching that film are 100% real, she was really there watching Frankenstein and freaking out a bit. Erice worried about the impact this had on her and would call her occasionally, even into her adulthood.