Damn it! You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt monkey!

Xander ,'Lessons'


Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell  

A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.


Frankenbuddha - Jul 05, 2007 7:41:05 am PDT #9906 of 10001
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

Of the Kurosawa I've seen, YOJIMBO is probably my favorite. SEVEN SAMURAI is epic and amazing, but I like the concentrated black humor of the former so much (this may be similar to my preference of TOUCH OF EVIL over KANE).


DavidS - Jul 05, 2007 7:43:59 am PDT #9907 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Heh. Roger Ebert has a new book out titled Your Movie Sucks.

Here's the review that provided the title:

From Roger's review of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (0 stars): "The movie created a spot of controversy in February 2005. According to a story by Larry Carroll of MTV News, Rob Schneider took offense when Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times listed this year's Best Picture nominees and wrote that they were 'ignored, unloved, and turned down flat by most of the same studios that . . . bankroll hundreds of sequels, including a follow-up to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, a film that was sadly overlooked at Oscar time because apparently nobody had the foresight to invent a category for Best Running Penis Joke Delivered by a Third-Rate Comic.'

"Schneider retaliated by attacking Goldstein in full-page ads in Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. In an open letter to Goldstein, Schneider wrote: 'Well, Mr. Goldstein, I decided to do some research to find out what awards you have won. I went online and found that you have won nothing. Absolutely nothing. No journalistic awards of any kind. . . . Maybe you didn't win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven't invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who's Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers. . . .'

"Schneider was nominated for a 2000 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Jar-Jar Binks. But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo while passing on the opportunity to participate in Million Dollar Baby, Ray, The Aviator, Sideways, and Finding Neverland. As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks."


bon bon - Jul 05, 2007 7:47:29 am PDT #9908 of 10001
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

I have been appreciating Ebert more and more, and not just from the Deuce Bigalow review. I saw Firestarter for the first time the other night-- couldn't sleep-- and I checked out his review:

FIRESTARTER contains a little girl who can start fires with her mind; her father, whose own ESP causes him to have brain hemorrhages; an Indian child molester who is a CIA killer; a black scientist; a kindly farmer; a government bureaucrat; and a brilliant scientist whose experiments kill 75 percent of his subjects but leave the others with powers beyond the imagination of mortal man. The most astonishing thing in the movie, however, is how boring it is.


Polter-Cow - Jul 05, 2007 8:00:45 am PDT #9909 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

His movies are all about the particular experience of huge myths, and while I'm baffled by P-C's boredom at Seven Samurai and Laga's feeling that they were homework

I liked Nashville, though! Do I get any points for that?


Sue - Jul 05, 2007 8:05:39 am PDT #9910 of 10001
hip deep in pie

His movies are all about the particular experience of huge myths, and while I'm baffled by P-C's boredom at Seven Samurai and Laga's feeling that they were homework

I'm wondering if they saw them on a TV or a big screen. It can make all the difference. I had a friend who was a huge Kurosawa fan, and he absolutely insisted it was pointless to watch Ran unless you saw it on the big screen. I have to admit that I turned off Seven Samurai after only a few minutes, but I have ADD when it comes to watching things at home.


Polter-Cow - Jul 05, 2007 8:09:07 am PDT #9911 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

It was on TV.


Sean K - Jul 05, 2007 8:43:42 am PDT #9912 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

Corwood, I can't help but notice Kurosawa's Dreams is not on your lists. Have you not seen it? Moving and powerful. Of course.


Glamcookie - Jul 05, 2007 9:03:56 am PDT #9913 of 10001
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister

I am Corwood with regard to Kurosawa.

Me, too! Kurosawa and Mifune rock.


§ ita § - Jul 05, 2007 9:27:23 am PDT #9914 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

How Movies Could Help The Terrorists Win.

Okay, hyperbole.


Hayden - Jul 05, 2007 10:00:36 am PDT #9915 of 10001
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."

High and Low: yeah, the police procedural. I liked how it was about classism in Japanese culture without the script mentioning it once (that I recall, at least). It sort of reminds me of The Battle of Algiers in how it allows you to throw your sympathy to the horrible criminal before the end.

Throne of Blood: I was torn between first list and second. I was trying to save the Massively Great list for those that filled me with indescribeable emotion, and I think Throne of Blood, while the best MacBeth on film, was more on the describeable side for me.

I liked Nashville, though! Do I get any points for that?

Sure, if I was giving out points! I gotta say, I used to love Nashville a lot, but the more really great Altmans I've seen, the less it stands among his best work for me. See McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us (now on DVD!), California Split, The Long Goodbye for the best of early Altman.

it was pointless to watch Ran unless you saw it on the big screen

I don't think so, but I can see how the big screen would improve your experience. I mean, dig the color scheme and imagine a 40-ft tall version of this: [link] I mean, the scene that shot came from is really the best huge battle scene ever captured on film, hands down.

I can't help but notice Kurosawa's Dreams is not on your lists

Never seen it, but it's in my Netflix queue. I have to space out watching Kurosawa movies (like I have to space out the works of any great directors) to prevent sensory overload.