What quirky DVD's have you watched lately?

Hey, how come Donnie Darko isn't here.

Saw the film
Then found the Web Site Top Tip (PC Volume up - Turn Off Pop Up Blocker)
Then saw the DVD and the extras (Very Important - Find the easter egg)
Then Mad World hit the charts - In the context of the film it's a perfect fit but as the song in and of iteself I'll stick with Tears For Fears

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Originally posted by Stuart M:
Hey, how come Donnie Darko isn't here.

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It is: see my posting on page 2!



Stephen

AMERICAN HISTORY X, damn hard film and if you can put up with the consistant swearing its a very hard hitting film. (not for the easily offended) (is fairuza balk in it- looks like her)

what were barn owls called before barns were invented?

I just rented, and look forward to watching this weekend:

Raising Victor Vargas
Owning Mahowny
American Splendor
Lost In Translation (still curious)

I almost grabbed Spellbound (a forum reco IIRC); maybe next time. The Believer, the story of a Jewish kid who's in... a neo-Nazi group, also looked interesting. Has anyone seen it?

Ludders,

Watched 'Lost In Translation' last night -- it's a great movie. I can relate to staring at the ceiling at 4am in a city where I dont speak the language. The lead actress was also in Ghost World -- a must see for vinyl adicts.

I also watched 'Blue' the other night -- if you've yet to see this you should add it to your list.

cheers,

Dan

Dan,

I've added "Blue" to my list and will do some due diligence later.

All,

Owning Mahowny was great. Philip Seymour Hoffman is top notch. This flick was pretty depressing (addicted gambler psychodork loses grip), while very engaging. Recommended.

Thanks for the links, nodrog.

BTW Spirited Away is now out on DVD in the UK, for anyone who's interested.

I recently saw Kiki's Delivery Service, also by Miyazaki. It's a very characterful and inventive animation about a young witch who follows tradition by flying off (complete with her talking cat and her dad's radio) to spend a year in a new town, where she starts a delivery service. Magical, and suitable for all age-groups.

A reserved recommendation for another anime: Voices of a Distant Star. I think it's superb but fear this may be too idiosyncratic a reaction for others to judge by. It's the story of two teenagers who are separated by time and space: he stays on Earth while she flies off into space to do battle with evil aliens. Thanks to the ship travelling at warp speed, her text messages take increasingly long to arrive, and he reaches the advanced age of twenty four, or something, in the process. Then they are reunited or not... There's really little more to the story than that. There are battles with some very alien aliens but these are almost superfluous to the story, which some may find rather twee.

However, the animation is superbly atmospheric - literally. There were one or two scenes of clouds that seemed "hyper-real", in the sense that what could never have been mistaken for a photograph seemed to capture an emotional dimension of reality that photographs can easily lose, and which suited the mood of the story.

The story is very well paced, and I was able to switch off my critical faculties and simply experience it, which is more than can be said for ninety-nine percent of what I watch these days.

The UK DVD also includes five-minute and shorter versions of a black and white anime, She and Her Cat, which takes to a further extreme the idea of a plain story done very well. Somehow an almost mundane description of the life of cat is transformed into a touching animation.

The best explanation I can give of why these appeal to me is that when people really care about their art it shows, one way or another. Think of Thunderbirds...

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Originally posted by jason.g:
AMERICAN HISTORY X, ..... (is fairuza balk in it- looks like her)

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Yes she is!

Re watched 'Ghost World' at the weekend. I love, love this film.

Stephen

I've just finished watching "Frankie the Fly" for the first time, with Hopper, Sutherland, and every big boys dream Daryl Hannah, cool film, innit.


Fritz Von Ohthestressofitall

I recently saw Beat Takeshi's Zatoichi on DVD and loved it. A quirky samurai drama about a blind 'master' righting wrongs in the manner of Robin Hood, but without the tights.
Great 'music' as well-a bit like the group 'Stomp', splashing about in ricefields.
Peter

Yeah, Spellbound is definitely worth a rent, IMO.

Not sure when they are out on DVD, but I saw The Station Agent and Valentin last week, both of which were very enjoyable.

Secretary Complete with James Spader at his weirdest.

Great scene with lead chick in toilet too.

Basically its legalised porn.

Love actually The worst film I have seen in years from the British, oh we are so funny arent we four weddings and funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones Diary house of film horrors. Couldnt wait for the ordeal to end. Quirky only for its ability to insult ones intelligence.

Jonathan, you haven't seen much porn recently, have you?

Secretary was very good indeed.

I actually, thought Love Actually, was the best british film for a long time, actually. It had some great performances (especially from Emma Thompson) and was very moving. Even Hugh Grant was bearable. I feel it'll be seen, in hindsight, as a british classic, actually.

And I hated Four Weddings and Notting Hill.

No accounting for taste eh?



Stephen (quite cheery considering someone has pranged his new car again)

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Originally posted by alexgerrard:
I have just watch _Igby Goes Down_ which I thought was very good indeed, in a darkdarkdark way.

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Crikey, Alex. I thought that was truly horrible. Shoddy script, piss-poor acting, unsympathetic characters... but what do I know?

I'd like to nominate An Everlasting Piece my cool 'n quirky choice du jour..

Davie

Have to agree there Davie

If you want a laugh I'd recommend Chris Guests 'A Mighty Wind' and 'Best in Show'. And 'State and Main' is hilarious.

Don't forget the classics 'Annie Hall', 'Manhattan' 'Zelig' and 'Stardust Memories'

Where's the complete Woody DVD boxed set then?

Regards

Stephen

I watched Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself at the weekend. I enjoyed most of it, but the lack of sympathy for one of the characters wore me down. I felt quite depressed by it at the end. Still Julia Davis was great in a proto-Jill role.

I enjoyed Igby Goes Down alot. Not to the extent Rushmore did, but definite Harold and Maude cribbing going on.

The BFI have a small but growing list of archive TV titles, my favourite of which is Jonathan Miller's 'Whistle And I'll Come To You', originally broadcast as one of the BBC's Christmas Eve Ghost Stories [a wonderful tradition which seems sadly to have lapsed]. Adapted loosely from the M.R. James tale, [best ghost story writer ever by quite some margin, IMO] it has a virtuoso performance by Michael Horden as a cranky academic on a rather bleak holiday in East Anglia, who finds something in the dunes that he really should have left well alone.

In beautifully composed black and white, with very little dialogue, the film [60's] is quite timeless, with only the hairo of one of the chambermaids betraying its date, and Horden's gibbering at the final denoument is quite unsettling - it has the ring of truth in depicting the way that people might behave when confronted with something beyond reason in a way that horror films rarely capture, or even consider a possibility. Highly recommended, even if it is a bit short and quite expensive [but they're not going to sell that many copies, I suppose].

In the same list is 'A Warning To The Curious' - good, but not quite of the same calibre, and 'The Stone Tape', which made a big impression on me at the time, and while still creepy has rather a lot of shouting, & Michael Jayston chews the scenery. Worth watching, though.

The BFI also carry Genet's 'Chant D'Amour', which is a beautiful little film, but maybe perhaps a little too quirky for present company. Essential if you rate his written work, however.

throb

Just got Paul Bartel's 'Eating Raoul' as an R1 DVD from CD-Wow. I've been looking out for this for some time, although haven't watched it yet .... middle class canibalism doesn't get any funnier - and it has a happy ending!

Northfork

The reviews linked below capture it rather well. As long as you aren't expecting it to make sense in a movie kind of way, you might like it. I loved it, myself. Either way, it is gorgeous to look at.

Northfork reviews

Oh, I forgot - for Lynch fans, there are a couple of new recently released two disc sets worth snapping up - a definitive edition of 'Dune' [none of the 1 1/2 hrs of extra footage, but then we're never going to get that], but exquisite pin sharp quality from the archive master and 5:1 sound, with the extra disc having an excellent documentary and a few other interesting snippets. I feel sappy for admitting it, but this is my favourite film of all time [although of course, not by any means the best, - I'm not that daft]. I can't say how many times I've seen it, but it's approaching Sound Of Music fetishistic levels [20? 25?]. It's almost a total failure, it's confusing [no surprise there], and everyone hates it. I can't quite explain its hold on me ... There's just something.... dazzing imagery, a vision that, IMO, way exceeds Herbert's [not a very visual or descriptive writer], and also the general perviness has a lasting charm. Kyle McLachlan's performance is merely workmanlike, but the rest of the cast is superb. Even Sting has the enthusiastic glint in his eye that perhaps only Trudi Styler sees after six rather dull hours, if she hasn't nodded off.

I've got the 'making of' book, I've got the computer game [also a classic], - I'd even like the action figures. And who would have thought that Toto could do a good soundtrack, or even show any sign of talent at all? Why did Brian call on Roger Eno - was the 'theme' that hard - it's only five notes? Salvador Dali had been signed up to play the Emperor - imagine!!? Would H.R. Geiger have made the better designer? It's all so wonderfully convoluted.

Like 'Dune', 'Blue Velvet' has ben scandalously served on DVD & video, current copies being barely one step up from someone with a video camera in the back of the stalls. Sanctuary Visual Entertainment [?], who produced the goods for 'Dune', have done a two disc-er, and although I haven't received my copy yet, I have high hopes. Although I think 'Mulholland Drive' surpasses it, it's impossible to underestimate the power or influence of this film. Everything from 'Six Feet Under' and 'The X-Files' to 'League Of Gentlemen' is indebted to it, and if Sanctuary have done as good a job as on 'Dune', then we're in their debt.

Both available from CD-Wow at reasonable prices, and both region 0 which is, I think, a very healthy development for important films.

[obviously obsessed] throb

I really like everything I’ve watched by this French director. However, I have real trouble explaining why. Typically they are very naturalistic, sometimes rather grainy (shot on 16mm), very wordy, lots of improvised dialogue and virtually nothing happens at all. As far as I can remember of the handful I’ve seen, there’s been no violence, no sex, almost no plot, not much music, and no laugh-out-loud moments. They are resolutely unpretentious. I haven’t done a very good selling job, but do recommend both the following if you can find them:

Conte d'été (Summer’s Tale)

Possibly my favourite. The central character is perhaps more sympathetic than Delphine in Le Rayon Vert (see below) and a bit more happens (or, more accurately, we are shown the potential for more to happen, even if it doesn’t). Here’s a pretty accurate plot summary I’ve googled:

“Maths graduate Gaspard decides to spend his summer holiday in the Brittany coastal town of Dinard. He is expecting his girlfriend Lena to arrive, but she doesn’t and he is left alone to sunbathe and compose tunes on his guitar. He strikes up a friendship with Margot, a young student who has a part-time job in a café. Although they spend a great deal of time together, their relationship remains platonic. Lena still hasn’t turned up when Gaspard is approached by Solène, a seductive young woman who noticed Gaspard earlier at a night-club. This liaison appears more promising and Gaspard agrees, reluctantly, to go away with her. Then, out of the blue, Léna suddenly appears… “ END

And extracts from a review:
“The third film in Rohmer’s ambitious Four Seasons cycle is a sunny tale about one man’s faltering quest for a summer romance. Filmed on the picturesque Brittany coastline in glorious summer sunshine, with an exuberant cast of talented young actors, this is easily the sunniest of the four films.
The contradictions and uncertainties of youth afford ample opportunity for comic relief, although Rohmer uses the comic elements sparingly, but to remarkable effect. Absent is the sense of dry melancholia which lingers over Rohmer's other films (particularly his Conte d’automne).
Although a notch warmer than most of his other films, this film is characteristically Rohmer. The former stalwart of the French New Wave has complete control over his medium, captivating his audience - at least those who want to listen - with some remarkably incisive and believable dialogue.
Although in his seventies when he made this film, Rohmer displays an uncanny understanding of the psychology and mannerisms of young people. You could easily believe that the film was made by a much younger director.
Rohmer is excellently served by his small cast of actors, particularly Melvil Poupaud who plays the moody yet strangely compelling Gaspard. The director is well known for getting the best from his actors, but here he should have no difficulty, with such a wealth of talent to work with. Poupaud is simply perfect in his part.
There is no great drama, no histrionics, no shocks in this film. Instead we are treated to a magnificently perceptive tale of summertime flirtation, but one which has so much to say about life. “

Also worth trying is Le Rayon Vert ((The Green Ray)

The Green Ray is a really good example of Rohmer. At times I couldn’t work out whether it’s really well acted or very badly. Of the 5 or 6 Rhomer films I’ve seen, this one has the additional virtue (?) of the most infuriating lead. It’s brilliant.

Another plot summary:

“With her vacation but two weeks away, Delphine's traveling companion cancels, so Delphine, a Parisian secretary, is at loose ends. Her last romance ended two years before; she doesn't want to travel by herself and she seems unable to meet new people. A friend offers to take her to Cherbourg; after a few days there, Delphine goes back to Paris, weepy and self-pitying. She tries the Alps, but returns the same day. Next, it's the beaches of Biarriatz; once there, she chats with a party girl, an extroverted Swede; suddenly, Delphine bolts, deciding to return to Paris. At the Biarritz train station, a young man catches her eye; perhaps a sunset and the sun's green ray await” END

Timo

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Originally posted by Stephen Bennett:
Jonathan, you haven't seen much porn recently, have you?

Secretary was very good indeed.

I actually, thought Love Actually, was the best british film for a long time, actually. It had some great performances (especially from Emma Thompson) and was very moving. Even Hugh Grant was bearable. I feel it'll be seen, in hindsight, as a british classic, actually.

And I hated Four Weddings and Notting Hill.

No accounting for taste eh?



Stephen (quite cheery considering someone has pranged his new car _again_)

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Stephen, firstly you are right, I havent, but then, I have no need to these days.

Also, tell me you arent serious about Love actually. What a serious bunch of arse that movie is.

And perhaps your taste goes no further than your mouth?

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Originally posted by Dan M:
Watched 'Lost In Translation' last night -- it's a great movie.

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I think my expectations were too high. I thought it was "okay" and was thoroughly unimpressed by Bill Murray's performance.

Among the movies I rented with it, Raising Victor Vargas stood out. I feared it was going to be another "one summer, two teens discover love" bore but it was told with such care, and the characters were so strong that it really pulled me in. That the setting was a poor Brooklyn neighborhood instead of a yuppy white suburb also helped. Probably one of the better indie films I've seen in the past year.

I can't say the same of American Splendor. I stopped it after the first hour.

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Originally posted by Jonathan Hales:

Also, tell me you arent serious about Love actually. What a serious bunch of arse that movie is.

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No, I am! And quite a few of my arty-farty film criticy friends liked it too. So there.

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And perhaps your taste goes no further than your mouth?

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Ohhh, bitchy.



Stephen (who is unashamed about his tastes)

This morning - hmmm.., yesterday morning - it suddenly occured to me why the animes I have watched so far have seemed strangely familiar: they remind me of Marine Boy, which was shown in the UK between 1970 and 1974 (IIRC). At the time I thought, for some reason, that it was French or American but a quick Google revealed that it is an early anime. Sadly, it appears not to be available on DVD, so no nostalgia trip for me...

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I finally saw Spirited Away, last week. I was in a miserable mood at the time, and ready to be disappointed. Luckily, I was not - doubly lucky because I bought my own copy. My only complaints were an absurdly trivial one about the animation of the family's car and a not so trivial one - namely that I was disappointed that there was so much blood in a few scenes. I know lots of kids these days get to see Terminator etc. at the age of five but the point is that the story was quite powerful enough without it, and didn't need it... I found most of the story unpredictable but not arbitrary, which made a refreshing change. The English language dub is excellent.

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Today, I watched Dolls, written and directed by Takeshi Kitano. But for the fact that it got several five-star reviews at Amazon.co.uk I might have imagined one had to be horribly depressed to like it, which I was and did, if you see what I mean.

I can't fully explain why it works, so I won't try. There are three interwoven stories, all of which are contrived and none of which suffer for it. The main story is of a couple who spend much of the film tied together with a rope, walking through beautiful scenery. The second story is of a yakuza who regrets having deserted his girlfriend thirty years earlier, and goes to the park where they used to meet... The third is of a pop star who becomes a recluse after an injury, refusing to see any of her fans until one of them finds an alarming way to see her...

There is some offstage violence, including murders whose bloody outcomes we see. Luckily, for those who share my squeamishness about blood, these were mostly subdued by today's standards.

I somehow suspect others will find it pretentious or criticise the puppet metaphor for being heavy handed - because that's what part of me thinks I ought to have thought. Except I didn't: I thought it was superb. If it works when it "shouldn't" it's time to change my understanding of what works and why.

This one's going on my "To Buy" list...

[This message was edited by JeremyD on Sat 01 May 2004 at 1:26.]

[This message was edited by JeremyD on Sat 01 May 2004 at 1:27.]

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Originally posted by Ludwig:
'Lost In Translation'... was "okay" and was thoroughly unimpressed by Bill Murray's performance.

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I've heard this from a few people. Hummm... aside from the fact it is has the usual Japanese cliches I thought there was a lot to like. I could relate to watching the clock at 4am in a city where I didn't have a hope in hell of communicating. I liked that the leads didn't shack up (thankfully) and came to a kind of peace at the end. I wasn't aware of much hype with this movie, so it was a pleasant surprise. I's always good to have My Bloody Valentine in a movie. I'm now curious if you liked Ghost World which had the same actress.

cheers,

Dan