I share your Triplets of Belleville "eh?", PC.

More Truffaut--I watched Shoot the Piano Player and it's one of the most alive movies I've ever seen, which is ironic because it's about a guy who would like nothing better than to withdraw from life for good. It was filled with so many little touches and tangents that it really felt like life, truly real, even though it wasn't filmed in a ultra-realistic way. Fantastic editing and use of music, too.

Yeah, true. Can he just keep this one? Please?

I hope it's not close to the one he used for Laurel Canyon. It'd be nice to have at least a tiny part of me that doesn't want to hump Batman. (This was SO not a problem in the days of West or Keaton...)

Triplets is just so wonderfuly weird. and great music.

The appeal of The Triplets of Belleville, to me, was the atmosphere, and all that that encompassed: the music, the animation, the lack of dialogue, the oddity of all the characters. I can see it not being someone's cup of tea, but I loved it.

Polter-Cow, I am so very sorry, but you are now DEAD TO ME.

It just struck me as yet another corrupt cop story, and I like my corrupt cop stories with more meat in them (take, for instance, L.A. Confidential ). In its defense, I've been regularly falling asleep during everything for the last week or so, and the library DVD is scratched, causing it to skip terribly at points. It failed to draw me in. For classic noir, give me Sunset Boulevard. It has a monkey.

That best-ever-in-the-history-of-anything long, long opening shot!

Okay, so it was kind of cool, in a "Wow, how did he manage to pull this off way back then?" kind of way, but the actual content of the shot was disappointingly mundane. I think the opening shot of Halloween is fair competition.

I just saw Cube, which finally broke my streak of meh. A bunch of people wake up trapped in this grid of cube-shaped rooms, and they try to get out. Except there are booby traps everywhere. So they begin to search for patterns in the chaos, all the while trying to understand why they're there in the first place.

It's a great little idea for a movie because not only does it come with a built-in metaphor for human existence, but you get to use the same set over and over!

The first half especially handles the metaphor well, often very subtly, and in the second half, it pretty much shifts to full-out thriller mode. Oh, and it's mathy!

The acting is subpar at times, and the characterizations are a bit wonky (I wasn't quite sure who I was supposed to find likable, because they were all unlikable at times, but then again, that's people for you), but it's definitely worth checking out. (There's a sequel starring Kari Matchett (Beth from Wonderfalls ), but it looks to be a sequel in the "Let's remake the movie with totally different characters!" sense...and there appears to be a third one coming out soon. But this movie doesn't need a sequel.)

Just got back from Ju-on (The Grudge). I thought it was totally silly. It had suspense and some creepy images but overall, silliness. And I scare easily. The entire audience was laughing at certain parts that I'm sure weren't supposed to be humorous. I'll still see the SMG remake cause I want SMG to keep getting roles but now I'm not really looking forward to it.

I'm with you on Touch of Evil, JZ. I think Orson Welles is brilliant.

That best-ever-in-the-history-of-anything long, long opening shot!

You mean the shot that goes accross the border into Tiajuana? Wasn't that shot in Venice, or does it just look like it?

Just got back from Ju-on (The Grudge). I thought it was totally silly. It had suspense and some creepy images but overall, silliness.

Oh, GC. I loved it. I thought the movie was very effective for its microscopic budget, and creepy as all fuck. We'll have to compare notes when we see each other next, and you can tell me what you like in your horror movies.

Wasn't that shot in Venice, or does it just look like it?

Yep, although the sequence of the shot is it comes from Tiajuana into Venice.