How's your German, Raq?

I need the German word for "pleasurable irrititant" or "pleasing irritation." I know they have a word for that concept, but I can't recall it.

I loved M for the crazy art deco sets, the darkness at its heart, the hall of the mountain king, the film noir tropes it created, and, especially, the mock trial.

Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources ?

We watched them in French class when I was about thirteen, so anyone seen crying would have been mocked from on high. I do remember the general consensus being that they were great films though.

Do any of you remember Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources ?

I remember distinctly when they came out. My mom and I schlepped all the way to Hartford to see Jean de Florette and then there was the long six month wait before Manon des sources came out.

I highly recommend them. Provence looks gorgeous. Great acting from Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, the ubiquitous Gérard Depardieu, and a resplendent (and young) Emmanuelle Béart as Manon.

The fact these aren't out on DVD here just kills me.

To me, the most emotionally intense part isn't her face-off with Bill at the end, but the ragged edges at the end of the first one when Sophie has been delivered, one-armed to deliver her message

See what struck me in part the second was something that was very nicely elided over - Beatrix had bonded with her hard-assed teacher to the point that she'd taught her the big secret killing move. That carried a lot of emotional weight, and the realization of that was all over Carradine's face at the end. It also added a great deal of retrospective resonance to both her training scenes, and her showdown with Daryll Hannah.

My Netflix list is kinda TV-heavy, but there are a reasonable number of movies on it. The foreign films I watch tend to be from Hong Kong, or from Britain. Monsoon Wedding is in my top ten, but I don't recall if that's Indian or British-Indian. Ah, well...

I love both Kill Bills. They kind of meld together into one big movie in my head, though.

I love both Kill Bills. They kind of meld together into one big movie in my head, though.

As was the original intent. Tarantino said on the record that he couldn't abide cutting stuff out, but that a 3+ hour exploitation movie wasn't feasible either, but I suspect two movies was ultimately the work of Harvey Scissorhands trying to maximize profits.

I may have to look up a few of the French films mentioned, I'm not a huge fan of them and tend to find them, ah, pretentious and self-aware. From that standpoint, Quentin Taratino should start making French films. Although, I admit I loved the Kill Bills and own both of them. My preference is for Spanish films. Particularly Pedro Almodovar. I don't watch foreign films nearly as much as I'd like to, because I just have too many other mainstream movies I want to watch first. I also have to admit to a fondness for Japanese flicks. I saw "Shall We Dance" in the original Japanese and can not understand for the life of me why anyone would want to ruin it by remaking it in English. Another one I liked in Japanese was "August Rain." Man, did I cry buckets over that one.

I LOVED Kill Bill 1 and only liked KB 2. I didn't find part 2 satisfying as an ending. Uma just rocked it so hard. I didn't think she had it in her but I was impressed as hell. Tough, vulnerable, kick-ass, tender, funny, tragic: she nailed it all.