2000s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 2)

[GringoTex]

double post

[GringoTex]

Triple Agent - There's something incredibly poignant about the fact that Rohmer was the only Nouvelle Vague director to experience WW2 as an adult and yet he waited until age 85 to directly address it in a film. It deals with his familiar intimate themes, but against the backdrop of the greatest historical stage of them all. The film is surprisingly tragic and infused with an unexpected sense of mourning and loss. I haven't seen The Romance of Astrea and Celadon , but it will be interesting to see how Rohmer decided to cap his career, especially in relation to this one.

[knives]

As I understand the rules -- TV mini-series ARE eligible, TV _episodes_ are not.

So Just to clarify, I can put Paranoia Agent on instead, wasn't really sure if these shorties counted as miniseries.

[Michael Kerpan]

Well, I don't see why any animated mini-series would be less eligible than a live action one -- but I am only a participant in -- not a rulemaker for -- this process.

[SoyCuba]

On IMDb those two are listed as TV-series instead of TV mini-series though.

[Michael Kerpan]

On IMDb those two are listed as TV-series instead of TV mini-series though.

All I can say is that these are fully developed works -- with a start, a middle and an ending. It is quite possible that IMDB doesn't bother to distinguish between animated series (that are episodic and run for years) and short animated series that are basically long movies.

Other short series (like the fairly good Kino's Journeys) are much more episodic.

[swo17]

IMDb also calls Dekalog a TV series. I can't speak to the other one, but Haibane Renmei definitely should be eligible.

[Michael Kerpan]

IMDb also calls Dekalog a TV series. I can't speak to the other one, but Haibane Renmei definitely should be eligible.

Texhnolyze involves a more complex "world" and has more focal characters than HR, but is just as clearly a single unified (very dystopian) work. It is less loveable than HR, but is probably the most visually impressive animated series (up to that point, at least).

[LQ]

Well gee, if these anime series are being considered, then I suppose I have to start thinking about where FLCL will place on my list.... :-"

[Michael Kerpan]

Well gee, if these anime series are being considered, then I suppose I have to start thinking about where FLCL will place on my list.... :-"

FLCL struck me as pretty ...uh ... random. Nothing like a mini-series. ;~}

As much as I love Azumanga Daioh, I don't think I would call it a mini-series (despite the fact that it did have some overall structure).

[LQ]

Well gee, if these anime series are being considered, then I suppose I have to start thinking about where FLCL will place on my list.... :-"

FLCL struck me as pretty ...uh ... random. Nothing like a mini-series. ;~}

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree then, as it is my favorite anime mini-series

[puxzkkx]

IMDb also calls Dekalog a TV series. I can't speak to the other one, but Haibane Renmei definitely should be eligible.

Texhnolyze involves a more complex "world" and has more focal characters than HR, but is just as clearly a single unified (very dystopian) work. It is less loveable than HR, but is probably the most visually impressive animated series (up to that point, at least).

Serial Experiments: Lain - mini-series or series?

Would love to have included Evangelion on a 90s list... but I guess I'll have to regard it as one of television's greatest works of art.

[GringoTex]

Dogville - Boring and predictable. Three hours is a very long time to spend with a film when you see everything coming from a mile away. Trier's camera work was especially clunky in this film as he strained to show off his stage in every shot.

[Michael Kerpan]

I would think Lain could have counted as a mini-series -- in any event, I think I voted for it. ;~}

Many people like FLCL, our household (mostly) did not. ;~}

[GringoTex]

Blissfully Yours - My first Weerasethakul film. The pre-credits section in town was very nice. Weerasethakul is a filmmaker who will try just about any kind of shot and when he has a structured world to bounce it off of, the results can be interesting. But the minute we hit the jungle, it all went flaccid with about 75 minutes of literal navel gazing. His slapdash mise-en-scene felt uninspired in this section and I lost all interest in conflict of his characters.

[Michael Kerpan]

Enjoyed Hong's "Like You Know It All" lots ad will enjoy re-watching it -- but "Woman on the Beach" and "Virgin Stripped Bare" remain my favorite Hong films.

[knives]

Alexander
I expected to hate this. With my general dislike of Stone, for every half decent thing he comes up with he craps out four others, and the general shitting on by the public and critics I thought there was no way it would be good but it is. I saw the really long cut so that might be why I had a better reaction to it. Really if the opening fight were shorter and the Hopkins stuff was drastically reduced or taken out all together it may have actually been in the running, but for now it's simply really good.

[puxzkkx]

OMG! Alexander is on TV here right now. I'm shocked by how bad it is!

[GringoTex]

Bad Education - Way too deterministic and cookie-cutter about the way the movie unfolds- I think Almodovar just isn't very good at the film noir vibe. The stretch with Bernal and friend in drag was wonderful and all that followed was limpid in comparison. There was also something very smug and self-satisfied about the character of the director and his "passion" for the story.

Rudo y Cursi - The gang behind Y tu Mama Tambien reunite, this time with Cuaron's younger brother taking the directing/screenplay duties. The film smartly doesn't try to duplicate the melancholic depth of the earlier film, but creates its own pathos primarily through dumbass guy screwball on location in Mexico. It's like Landis meets De Sica. The comedic chemistry between Bernal and Luna remains unparalleled in cinema today, and Spanish continues to be a much better dirty-mouth language than English. I hope Apatow and all his disciples watch this.

[LQ]

Bad Education - Way too deterministic and cookie-cutter about the way the movie unfolds- I think Almodovar just isn't very good at the film noir vibe.

Could you explain a little more what you mean, here?
The way in which the film unfolds is certainly informed by film noir, by Hitchcock...but I wouldn't say Almodovar was trying for strictly a film noir vibe (or that he failed at whatever vibe he was going for...although that's a pretty subjective call I guess). It seemed to me that he was combining a number of different genres together to infuse the film with a powerful atmosphere completely of his own design.
And the film itself...it is such an ingenious labyrinth of plot and perspectives, unlike anything I've ever seen. Cookie-cutter, really?

[GringoTex]

The way in which the film unfolds is certainly informed by film noir, by Hitchcock...but I wouldn't say Almodovar was trying for strictly a film noir vibe (or that he failed at whatever vibe he was going for...although that's a pretty subjective call I guess). It seemed to me that he was combining a number of different genres together to infuse the film with a powerful atmosphere completely of his own design.
And the film itself...it is such an ingenious labyrinth of plot and perspectives, unlike anything I've ever seen. Cookie-cutter, really?

Ugh- "cookie cutter" was crap language on my part. I should have used the word "mold," as in Almodovar was trying to shove everything into one and it didn't fit.

[LQ]

Hmm. Well, I'm sorry to hear it didn't sit well with you! We all have those films in which we're so wrapped up that there's always a twinge when it doesn't completely jive with someone...Bad Education is definitely one of those films for me.

[knives]

The Man Without a Past
I am truly and genuinely shocked by how uplifting this one was. This is practically Capra by Kaurismaki standards. I also really love the colour pallet which is basically his standard. I have to go back to this uplifting thing, it took me that much by surprise. This one really didn't focus on the bad things, but rather examined the moral, to them, reasons why people might do bad things. Also the bit with the security camera was almost as funny as the similar button joke in Ariel. Speaking of which I'll place this between Shadows and Ariel.

By the way how does Lights in the Dusk compare?

[Michael Kerpan]

By the way how does Lights in the Dusk compare?

I love Kaurismaki's Lights in the Dusk (maybe even a little bit more than MWOAP). Many critics were a bit dismissive of it, however.

[SoyCuba]

By the way how does Lights in the Dusk compare?

I love Kaurismaki's Lights in the Dusk (maybe even a little bit more than MWOAP). Many critics were a bit dismissive of it, however.

It's a very fine film, though very different from The Man Without a Past in tone. Much more cynical and hardly uplifting.

Anklaget (Jacob Thuesen, 2005)
A great film about difficult subject of sexual abuse of a young girl by her father. The film doesn't try to make the father a likable character in the least or soften the subject matter (as in for example another pedophilia themed film The Woodsman) yet the character feel very real and we even learn to understand the pain they (all members of the family) are feeling, although I have to say that the weakest part of the film is the explanation given to what lead to the abuse in the first place. This doesn't matter much though, since the post-abuse situation is what the film consentrates on anyway. I especially love the very very dark tone of this film.