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| andaroo's f.a.i.r.t.(b.h.d.n.w.t.c.a.s.t.f.e.d.f.h.s.) http://www.worldofkj.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=12889 |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | andaroo's f.a.i.r.t.(b.h.d.n.w.t.c.a.s.t.f.e.d.f.h.s.) |
Topic: Andaroo’s foreign and indie film review topic (because he does not want to create a separate topic for every damn film he sees). Here you will read about my exploits in the land of foreign and indie cinema. Because I see a lot of stuff and I see smaller films that we don’t need to create endless topics for, I will post it here. I welcome any discussion about any of these films at any time. I do not grade at this time, I merely give impressions. I appreciate constructive criticism, argument and discussion. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:16 pm ] |
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Jigureul jikyeora! ("Save the Green Planet!", 2003) Country: South Korea Director: Jun-hwan Jeong IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0354668/ Ahhh Netflix. There is one thing I can deduce from the movies that Netflix recommends me, and that is that Netflix as a computer entity thinks I’m bat-shit insane. I mean really. I think it has lost its patience with me. Some on this messageboard may feel the same way. Anyway, oh masterful Netflix god made me click on Save The Green Planet! (Jigureul jikyeora!). Save the Green Planet!... much like last year’s Returner (not The Return, … I’m talking about the Japanese) liberally steals from the biggest Hollywood movies over the past decade… 2001, Hong Kong Kung Fu movies, The Usual Suspects, Seven… It basically revolves around Byeong-gu, a 20-something man who occupies his time watching after his mother, who (she says) is undergoing an experiment by t3h al1i3nz (OH NOS!), enjoys beekeeping, going around town buying up alcohol cleaners, and watching after his semi-retarded girlfriend Sooni, who spends all day playing with Barbies. Oh they also injest mass quanitities of a pill form of meth. One day Byeong-gu cracks (for the seventh time) and captures a prominent businessman, Mr. Kang, who Byeong-gu thinks is an alien. He cuts off his hair (because that’s where the telepathic powers are, duh!) and he and Sooni begin to viciously torture him. This is all because they want information. See, an eclipse is coming, and Byeong-gu thinks that the aliens are trying to destroy Earth because humanity cannot-be-saved-from-violenceâ„¢. Byeong-gu thinks that alien Kang can hook him up with the prominent Andromeda prince who supposedly can stop all this madness. It’s just too bad that Byeong-gu is bat-fucking-insane. In the meantime Inspectors Choo and Kim have a mystery to solve! Choo is a washed up psycho, who upon finding the meth evidence, consumes it himself, and Kim is the young cub inspector who ends up making the most progress. Oh and don’t forget to witness the flesh eating but otherwise kindly shaggy dog… who happens to be named Earth. If you look at the cover, you see a happy South Korean guy in a weird hat and you might say… “Hey this romp looks like Earth Girls are Easy or some other crazy space movie!â€Â. You sir (or ma’am) would be wrong. THE COVER HAS ALL THE SMILING YOU WILL SEE FROM THIS MOVIE. The film has endless gruesome torture scenes (think The Passion of the Christ, Misery, etc.). And is in general, far too creepy to be endearing. Inspector Kim, the non-methhead is a bit of a hero in the story, but we spend all of 15 minutes with him, leaving us with the poor (but slightly shady) Mr. Kang as the hero of our story. So while it’s creepy as fuck, and weird, it’s creepy in a way which is tangible and forced, because it’s so non-sensical. In this way, it’s an average South Korean film. There is twist upon twist, which leads to the ending, most of you will never see it, but I won’t tell you anyway. Rent it if you are going to drink while watching it… not for the ultra squeamish. |
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| Author: | Dkmuto [ Sat Sep 24, 2005 11:48 pm ] |
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I saw that in your queue, roo. Looks like a winner. 
Quote: Netflix as a computer entity thinks I’m bat-shit insane. Yep. Sometimes they're spot-on, but sometimes I give something like Bad Education 5 stars and my recommendation page is full of Queer as Folk. So yanno. Could use a little work. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:54 am ] |
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Dkmuto wrote: I saw that in your queue, roo. Looks like a winner.   Quote: Yep. Sometimes they're spot-on, but sometimes I give something like Bad Education 5 stars and my recommendation page is full of Queer as Folk. I don't mind the movie selections, I just hate that when I say "Not interested" in like... Dead Like Me Season 1, then it suggests Dead Like Me Season 2. Otherwise I guess I can't complain. Brødre ("Brothers", 2004) Country: Denmark Director: Susanne Bier IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386342/ "Brødre" or "Brothers" is kind of a misleading title. While the film is definately about some brothers it oddly (and appropriately) focuses on the wife of one of the brothers, the lovely Connie Nielson who plays Sarah. Aside from Brødre, you will remember the lady Nielson as Lucilla in Gladiator (you know, *the* female character) and has been involved in a great film called Rushmore (she played the teacher) and a bunch of shit movies like The Great Raid, Basic, the Hunted, Soldier, Mission to Mars, The Devil’s Advocate (she got to commit suicide in this one) and in general… it’s best she sticks to rolls like Brødre. Moving along… Sarah’s husband Michael (Ulrich Thomsen, most will know him as one of the bad guys in the pre-credit sequence of The World is Not Enough, he’s also a scary German guy in Max) is a Major with the Danish military/national guard/I’m stupid/whatever and is going to be sent to Afghanistan to help “rebuild†the country. The night before he is set to go out, his younger brother Jannik (who is also in Max!) is released from “PRISON†and together they have a very awkward dinner with Michael’s family and the two boy’s parents, who love their military son but Jannik is, how can we say, a little farther from the heart of Henning, their father. As one can imagine, Michael’s plane is blown up, prompting a funeral, etc. and Jannik moves in to be a surrogate dad to the kids and a friend to Sarah. But Michael survives and is forced into a camp (FILLED WITH MUSLIMS!) who force him to commit an act that will shape his future. Brødre has a few problems. The primary problem is it switches between the three primaries quite often and it presents a little bit of a narrative challenge. Not only does one jump back and forth between the characters but there also appears to be a time jump. A focused story on Sarah could have worked better. The story is also imbalanced and in the last 1/3 of the film Jannik (although alive and around) is hardly in the film. The other problem is the act that Michael commits and all of his actions after that point. Without giving it away, and while it’s possible, I’m not sure a Major with a strong will and determination, with a heart as big as his, could have done that. I think he would have rather died. And because his actions seem a little… off center, that makes everything that happens after that point a little tainted. Overall a tight drama that should satisfy most. Watch out for the excellent performance by the oldest daughter of Sarah and Michael. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:26 am ] |
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Dare mo shiranai ("Nobody Knows", 2004) Country: Japan Director: Hirokazu Koreeda IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408664/ The thing that "nobody knows" becomes evident in the first 10 minutes of the film. Keiko, the mother of Akira gets a new apartment, telling the landlord only of her one son. The truth is, that she has two more in suitcases right next to them, and another one at the train station. Keiko presents herself as a very hard working single parent until she ups and leaves on a "business" trip... that lasts for a month. But it's okay, Akira, 12, was left with about 10,000 yen and he knows how to cook and clean and keep the kids in line. Then one day the mother comes back, baring gifts, then is off again just as soon. This time she doesn't leave any money behind except the promise that she will return for Christmas, which never happens. What follows is the 4 kid's decent into poverty and worse. Nobody Knows is not full of the quick, tearful emotions that would plauge a western film. There is a sadness and despiration which feels real. This is all credit to the four (or five) wonderful child actors who capture everything without ever ONCE going overboard. My favorite is Kyoko, who only wants to learn how to play the piano, but is a growing woman who is not experiencing life. Indeed, Akira is the only one allowed to leave the house. If I were to describe this film, it's part Grave of the Fireflies and it's part Flowers in the Attic. The interesting part about Nobody Knows, like Grave of the Fireflies, is that it would have just been so easy to call Child Protective Services and solve most of their problems in an instant, but still, children are resiliant to change, and Akira doesn't always steer his new family in the proper direction. The song near the end is a bit overbearing and silly, but overall the imagery is stark, and the sparce orchestration leaves time for the movie to have deep breaths and express the boredom and hopelessness of the situation. Recommended. One of the better films of 2004/2005. The images of Akira's shaking hands on the tarmac will remain with me for awhile. |
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| Author: | dolcevita [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:31 am ] |
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I saw the trailer for Nobody Knowns in theatres and actually wanted to see it quite a bit. I don't even remember catching its release date though, which is a shame because you write-up seems to be exactly how i felt about the film. Not depression, pragmatism and perseverence. I am still going to try and get my hands on it, especially after what you just said. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:34 am ] |
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I would recommend you watch everything I watch. 
I know Muto saw Nobody Knows, since we are Netflix buddies. Should I keep this thread going? Doesn't seem to be generating any discussion! Next up Naked, Turtles Can Fly and Kontroll. |
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| Author: | dolcevita [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:38 am ] |
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Nothing in this forum generates that much discussion
It takes awhile to develope an *awareness* of threads here. Anyways, if you don't mind keeping it going, I like to read it. I don't usuaully respond to ones i haven't seen, but keep them in mind for renting (then I would respond). The thing is, the previous two you stated, I'd never even heard of (unlike Nobody Knows) so its tough. People would say "Never heard of it" as their post. That's why you might not get that many responses, but you have to see how many views you get, because I (and probably many others) read this everytime you post a new commentary. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:40 am ] |
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Okay, then I will keep going as I dip into my obscure-movie-madness. |
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| Author: | dolcevita [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:44 am ] |
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Can you get Moolaade on Netflix yet? 
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 12:47 am ] |
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Moolaade comes out on DVD November 14 |
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| Author: | Dkmuto [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:12 am ] |
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andaroo wrote: I would recommend you watch everything I watch. I know Muto saw Nobody Knows, since we are Netflix buddies. Should I keep this thread going? Doesn't seem to be generating any discussion! Next up Naked, Turtles Can Fly and Kontroll. I have Nobody Knows right now but haven't watched it. And, yes! Keep the thread going. ...or else. |
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| Author: | Dkmuto [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:13 am ] |
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dolcevita wrote: Can you get Moolaade on Netflix yet? Not coming for a couple months... But I have it saved in my queue.
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| Author: | kypade [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:29 am ] |
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I read it, too. Just haven't seen any of them, and really don't have much to say. I say keep it up, too, though. I wonder though, are you looking for recommendations? |
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| Author: | Dr. Lecter [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:58 am ] |
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Now I am not one of those who skips the review and just looks for the grade, but would you mind still giving grades to those movies at the end of the reviews? Save the Green Planet sounds like a flick I could enjoy, hehe. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:01 pm ] |
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Dr. Lecter wrote: Now I am not one of those who skips the review and just looks for the grade, but would you mind still giving grades to those movies at the end of the reviews? I can't in good faith do that. Besides, my grading system is way different that most people here (before I stopped using it). |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Sun Oct 02, 2005 2:54 pm ] |
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Naked (1993) Country: United Kingdom Director: Mike Leigh IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107653/ Mike Leigh (writer/director of this and also of Vera Drake) directs David Thewlis (Professor Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter movies!) as Johnny in a weird film that is about as cynical and male as you can get. The first frame of the film is Johnny having extremely rough/hardcore sex with a woman (whore?) that quickly crosses the line to something more along the lines of rape. When the girl threatens him with a beating from the unseen "Bernard", Johnny takes off and leaves Manchester, heading for his long time girlfriend who has moved to London and gotten herself a career. Johnny is a voratious reader and is insanely quick witted and intelligent, he's also endlessly nihilistic and... quite franky... dangerous. When he gets to his girlfriend Louise's house, he meets her flakey/burned out roommate, and they proceed to have rough/violent sex which is characterized by him pulling roughly at women's hair and raming himself into them until they cry... this happens multiple times in the movie. Despite this, Sofie falls in love with him. Not that Louise really cares, there's a rough kind of unspoken moral vacuum in this story. Johnny leaves the next day and wanders into a heavily accented Scotish couple who beat up on each other, a philosophical bent night watchman who Johnny tries to destroy, a woman the night watchman obsesses over who Johnny abuses, a nice lady at a diner who doesn't take any shit from Johnny, a poster paster who DEFINATELY doesn't take any of his shit, and a group of thugs who kind of give him what he deserves. This whole time there is an alternate story line of Sebastian (Greg Cruttwell, who looks, sounds and acts exactly like Toby Stephens, Gustav Graves from Die Another Day, in fact I'm shocked that they aren't the same person) who, in a very American Psycho way, takes women home, basically rapes them while telling them he's going to commit suicide at 40. The whole thing is a bit much, and the dialog comes at a million miles per hour. How Johnny and Sebastian made it to this point in their lives without women cutting off their dick, I have no idea... or arrested. Not necessarily recommended... there are some interesting philosophical sections of the movie that involve the night watchman, that speak to why Johnny feels the way he does (he feels that there's no need for a future because apocalypse is right around the corner), but it's not worth watching this movie. The acting is powerful and it's great to see David Thewlis in anything. It's safe to say that maybe the point of this film went over my head a bit. I have no idea what Mike Leigh was aiming for. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:28 pm ] |
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Lakposhtha hâm parvaz mikonand ("Turtles Can Fly", 2004) Country: Iraq/Iran co-production Director: Bahman Ghobadi IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424227/ The first notable thing about Turtles Can Fly is it was shot last year on the Turkish-Iraq boarder. The film focuses on a group of Iraq children, mostly orphaned refugees that occupy a compound, near the boarder in what is called “Kurdistanâ€Â. The film opens with a young girl (about 14?) throwing herself off a cliff… you know where this is going. Soran Ebrahim plays Satellite, a 13ish year old named Satellite who is as handy with electronics as he is with politics and bartering. His skills in English and his rampant pro-Americanism give him a status in the village almost like that of the town leaders. He keeps the children occupied by picking live mines out of the ground that they sell for basic needs. One afternoon he travels to a nearby village to get a satellite so the village can watch coverage of the impending American invasion in 2003 when an Iranian doctor speaks to him of a child that can tell the future. It’s not long before this child, armless Pashow (Saddam Hossein Feysal) shows up in the village with his sister Agrin (Avaz Latif) and their nearly sightless brother. Although he instantly strikes up an adversarial relationship with Pashow, he at the exact same moment completely falls for Agrin, who couldn’t be any more disinterested. As the invasion approaches, the sometimes light-hearted affair turns quickly dour, and secrets between the children quickly come to the forefront. Young Avaz Latif really pulls through delivering some shocking acting, being asked to do some pretty harrowing things. The film is notable for its timing and setting but also because it asks us to except these children, not as poor refugees, just as kids at a crossroads. They do for themselves, they have fun, and they have lives. This film isn’t a pity party even though half the kids have some sort of mine related problem (missing arms, legs, etc.). In many ways, it’s empowering that life goes on despite it all. Well… life for most. Larger issues don’t plague the film. There is not the politicking or judgments made upon any regime or the American army, in fact, the primary character Satellite wants the war, and he wants Americanism, and all that he thinks it is. It just, is what it is, the story of a culture and of a people that the world has passed by, only cared for when we are looking for an excuse for Saddam Hussein’s crimes against humanity, but not much more. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:30 pm ] |
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Kontroll ("Control", 2003) Country: Hungary Director: Nimród Antal IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373981/ Kontroll is basically about the perils of fluorescent lighting. Set in the underground tunnels of (what I believe to be) Budapest, Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi) is a on a five man team who works with the “Control†which is a group of five non-police representatives for the underground subway company who basically make sure people who ride on the mass transit system have tickets/passes. As it seems, more often then not, they do not have the tickets. The fast-paced story bounces around for the majority of its running length, exploring the nooks and crannies of the tunnel system and the personalities of the off-beat Control officers. Bulcsú is the leader of his little circle which includesa narcoleptic, an older calm guy, the young upstart and a the slimy semi-criminal. We also meet Béla (Lajos Kovács) who has a daughter that comes and visits him (Szofi played by Eszter Balla) who wears a furry bear suit… … …anyway, the drama and humor keep us going between the scenes where someone is pushing people into the trains and killing them. Eventually Bulcsú stumbles upon a dark hooded man (called “the Shadow†on IMDB) who may or may not exist at all! But he has nice Doc Martens. There is no daylight in this film, leading it to have a very green/dirty look throughout. The soundtrack consists of upbeat dance music and a low fluorescent hum which is more prominent in some areas than others. The acting is passable but a lot of the plot threads go nowhere. At the end, I don’t know who Bulcsú is, and I don’t really care. The last 30 minutes or so swings towards the beginning of a decent horror film, and maybe they should have spent more time on this aspect of it. As it is, it’s just kind of a mystery that Bulcsú doesn’t seemed concerned with as soon as involved elsewhere. |
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| Author: | dolcevita [ Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:30 am ] |
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Andaroo, in regards to Turtles. There have been several films I've seen from Iran, all of them by the same director, but they're all incredibly strong. Her earlier ones are more self-authored, later ones more more activist. You might be interested in Jafar Panahi's films. |
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| Author: | kypade [ Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:42 am ] |
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One of the two (or very, very few) Iranian films I've seen is by Panahi. Crimson Gold, which I didn't much like at all. Coincidentally, that film is written by Abbas Kiarostami, the director of the other Iranian film I've seen. A Taste of Cherry, which I absolutely loved. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:52 am ] |
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dolcevita wrote: Andaroo, in regards to Turtles. There have been several films I've seen from Iran, all of them by the same director, but they're all incredibly strong. Her earlier ones are more self-authored, later ones more more activist. You might be interested in Jafar Panahi's films. I just added her The Circle to Netflix queue, so I will check it out in a few weeks. You have to love a synopsis that starts out like: Quote: Director Jafar Panahi's portrait of the status of women in fundamentalist Iran is, by any stretch of the imagination, depressing. Quote: Coincidentally, that film is written by Abbas Kiarostami, the director of the other Iranian film I've seen. A Taste of Cherry, which I absolutely loved. I love A Taste of Cherry... I have also seen his The Wind Will Carry Us, which is okay but epically slow (even for me, the Tarkovsky boy). Iranian film is really interesting... any film that comes out of repressed and semi-repressed regions is interesting
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| Author: | dolcevita [ Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:57 am ] |
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andaroo wrote: dolcevita wrote: Andaroo, in regards to Turtles. There have been several films I've seen from Iran, all of them by the same director, but they're all incredibly strong. Her earlier ones are more self-authored, later ones more more activist. You might be interested in Jafar Panahi's films. I just added her The Circle to Netflix queue, so I will check it out in a few weeks. You have to love a synopsis that starts out like: Quote: Director Jafar Panahi's portrait of the status of women in fundamentalist Iran is, by any stretch of the imagination, depressing. Iranian film is really interesting... any film that comes out of repressed and semi-repressed regions is interesting Seen The Circle - I couldn't sleep for days. Gender in that country is horrific, and makes me wonder how she was able to make films in the first place, more or less such internationally reknown ones. For the other end of her spectrum, watch The White Balloon. |
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| Author: | andaroo1 [ Mon Oct 10, 2005 1:58 am ] |
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Netflix don't ahve that one! :o |
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| Author: | kypade [ Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:20 am ] |
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andaroo wrote: I love A Taste of Cherry... :up: SPOILERS, perhaps, about A Tast of Cherry: What'd you think of that ending? After I watched it, I read some stuff over at IMDb, and quite frankly, I think most people are looking a little too deep. As far as I'm concerned, the film had already said all it needed/wanted/a ton by then through normal cinematic narrative - some of the most interesting dialogue in a long while take place in that little car. I figure, once the rain/storm fade out and the screen is completely black, the movie is over. I just saw the ending as...not part of the movie, yknow? Like those behind the scene deals, where it shows a scene of the move, then the camera pulls back and you see that you were watching that scene on the tv and the director yells out "that's a wrap" and the characters walk away muttering. Yknow? Am I making sense? Did you think it was some deep thing that's supposed to be thought of as part of the film itself? Did I miss something? Enlighten me. Or don't. Whatever. /SPOILERS, perhaps, about A Tast of Cherry ^ |
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