The cinema thread

[Fade to Black]

I watched Heat since it popped up on Netflix as being recommended and I was in the mood for a crime film. For whatever reason I feel like it was a big influence on Nolan's A Dark Knight / kept reminding me of it in a weird way at the very least. Am I insane!?

Not at all. The influence is totally there.

[Servo2000]

There was a few scenes in particular - there was on where the camera started impossibly high in the sky and to a single violin vibrating slowly panned in. Reminded me of literally the first scene in the dark knight when its panning down from the roofs to the car with that skittering stringed instrument. Then the infamous Heat shootout aligns with the scene where they 'fake' the one fellows death at the hands of all the 'fake police' officers during the parade. Then there's William Fichtner who was in both movies playing a fairly similar role (although obviously more minor in The Dark Knight).

edit: decided to google it real quick and it's clear i'm not the only one / nolan said it was a major influence. makes a lot of sense - i was thinking a lot during heat how relevant it still felt

[Faust]

Not at all. The influence is totally there.

How? EDIT: Never mind, missed Servo's response.

Anyway, I love that film - one of the most underrated crime films out there. Servo, forget your computer - you gotta watch this on TV with a proper sound system. The downtown shootout scene is beyond epic.

[Servo2000]

I'll have to rent it when I'm back for spring break next week.

Also thinking about it more both films play up that 'relationship' between the police / criminals where they 'cant do anything else' and neither one of them can really be normal as a result but also don't want to - the scene where de niro and pacino get coffee is pretty similar to the joker's "like a dog chasing a car" speech in dark knight.

I'm going to stop now.

[Faust]

Do you know if it's true that reportedly they hated each other at the time, so the whole film was shot with them in it separately, including the diner dialogue scene?

[MASUGNEN]

Have you seen District 9? I did yesterday. I somewhat regret it, stressed as I was. It has pretty much of Avatar, a hair of Tetsuo, most of obvious political symbolism, yeah, yeah. I longed for Alien all the time.

[Faust]

I liked it. Yes, it was fairly obvious, but compared to banality of Avatar, it looked like utter sophistication. I give Hollywood a discount in the philosophy department, given their audience. I also liked the lo-fi-news-coverage type of cinematography. It did not look like a video game.

Anway, my disappointment of the year award goes to The Road.

[MASUGNEN]

You're right, Faust. My expectations were to high, I had heard something about sophistication. Certain features I find interesting, such as that a hybrid creature, thus a like, must evolve to destroy/liberate, that this risk/possibility lies in a »structural hole«, to speak with Ronald Burt.

Haven't seen The Road but heard both praise and slander. Those I trust most dislike it.

[swami]

Hilarious & exceptionally genius underlying connotations, Probably have to be a little past your youth to identify with it though!

[Fade to Black]

rented Factory Girl on a whim, it was pretty bad all around but Hayden Christensen's rendition of Bob Dylan is one of the funniest things I've seen all year.

[Fade to Black]

Just watched Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998). Derek Jacobi is so good in the titular role that I get the sense that's almost exactly what Francis Bacon was really like. (****)

[YoungM]

Watched, and loved, Charlie Kaufman's Adaptation. The man astounds me, and I'm going to watch Synecdoche New York very soon.

Beyond that, I have to give a 15 minute commentary on a five minute extract from Fargo on wednesday for my film class, and I'm rather worried. Still not sure exactly which excerpt to choose.

[rocknrollnigger]

[Fade to Black]

Beyond that, I have to give a 15 minute commentary on a five minute extract from Fargo on wednesday for my film class, and I'm rather worried. Still not sure exactly which excerpt to choose.

I'd recommend the uncomfortable reunion between Marge and her Asian classmate in the diner. In a film full of human discomfort, that scene stood out to me the most the first time I saw it. Along with Marge's pervasive nausea, that single scene really underscores the whole idea that Fargo is a state of mind and not a pleasant one.

[MASUGNEN]

Love is the Devil is a great film, intense and congenial. It deepend my vibrant feeling for Bacon's art.

Twin Peaks is my foremost TV series love. The personæ, the humour, the plot, the brilliant – and groundbreaking – genre combination...

The other day I saw The Devil wears Prada. It's entertainment vanilla. The clothing aspects (appearance, advertisment, branding, social symbolism etc) has certainly been scrutinized here before, but let me share my thoughts. Emily Blunt and later Anne Hathaway characters dress nicely, but I think Meryl Streep/Miranda Priestly/Anna Wintour is so constrained and blank in her coxcomb elegance. Even for a non-povera ideologist this must be seen as a tiresome look.

Unfortunately the television network cut the credits. Besides the explicitly mentioned (Prada, Fendi, Chanel to be remembered), I can consult Wikipedia for a list of contributors.