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I've been trying to see Cyborg for awhile , but can not come across it whatsoever - thanks for the review though 
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Coolio, it's online. I'm bookmarking now and will watch this when I get some time. Thanks!
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Originally Posted by meatwadsprite
I've been trying to see Cyborg for awhile , but can not come across it whatsoever - thanks for the review though
Meh yeah, just had a browse and looks like the Tartan PAL release might be your only english-language option at the mo
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Go for it PW. Body fetishism & excessive radish consumption, you can't lose
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Yeah was subs on mine - nice job too, no Koreanglish or anything (Tho everyone was saying the Oldboy dub was good, so might notta been a total disaster if i'd been stuck with it i guess)
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Jeez, Thirst is almost out and I still haven't seen Cyborg (I've not read the review either for fear of tampering with my expectations, but I'll get to it post-viewing ).
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Somers Town
A quietly wonderful tale. An amiable lad, astray in the big city, makes friends with a Polish kid left to dream his days away by his journeyman father. Actions and tone do all the heavy lifting. There's no need for colour-coded signals of intent - the actors all have enough presence to keep the film right on track. Meadows can often just frame the action and let the timing and the silences tell their own tales. Multi-camera shooting allows for plenty of comic and naturalistic interchanges, but occasionally he'll just sit back and allow a scene to play itself out.
The boys find some spice added to their lives by a French waitress in a local cafe. The eponymous region they're in connects London to France via the Eurostar, and it's no surprise that only a few local characters make an appearance. King's Cross is a mixing pot, populated by different trades and nationalities depending on the time of day. It's a perfect setting for this tale, which if it fails at all, is perhaps in that it is so very short and sweet.
Transferred from Movie Tab. Liked it so much thought it belonged here too
Last edited by Golgot; 10-12-09 at 11:58 AM.
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Y'know, I've had Somers Town bought, paid-for and unwatched for a few weeks now. Really must get my arse in gear.
Nice review.
Nice review.
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Ta I can see where some of the criticisms have come from for this one (the shortness, the sweetness, the Eurostar sweetners etc), but it's still a lovely bit of work by all involved.
I can see where some of the criticisms have come from for this one (the shortness, the sweetness, the Eurostar sweetners etc), but it's still a lovely bit of work by all involved.
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Copied in from the 'Last movie you saw at the theatres' thread... I figure I liked it enough to stick it here too
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
A gypsy cavalcade of Gilliamness that definitely doesnt disappoint. The many leads and supports curl nicely into this bundle of frayed imagination, which bounces along with trademark dark-tinted wonderment.
There are some familiar visual treats and treatises here, from the dreamer as dupe to the cardboard artifice of theatrical troupes. CGI has to do a touch too much heavy lifting at points in the imaginarium, but does manage to create genuinely dream-like moments at times, all of which contrast nicely with the ragbag crew peddling its wares on the streets of London and the like.
Im not sure what my reservations are, but the whole thing didnt quite hold together for me, or feel like the creation of a totally classic story. Which is strange, because it is a novel spin on the Malthusian bet, and its delivered with lots of elan and intrigue. I think perhaps time/money restraints show through in the odd imperfect take, despite the cast knocking spots off each other as things progress. Plummer is marvellously plummy, Garfield is excellent as the greasepaint monkey, Lily Cole is a model nigh-amateur, and everyone from Waits to the heavyweights keep the fantasy-realism on track. Its got laughs, tragic farce, and a strong thread drawing you through the middle of it. I guess its just a huge ask to make a dream completely real.
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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
A gypsy cavalcade of Gilliamness that definitely doesnt disappoint. The many leads and supports curl nicely into this bundle of frayed imagination, which bounces along with trademark dark-tinted wonderment.
There are some familiar visual treats and treatises here, from the dreamer as dupe to the cardboard artifice of theatrical troupes. CGI has to do a touch too much heavy lifting at points in the imaginarium, but does manage to create genuinely dream-like moments at times, all of which contrast nicely with the ragbag crew peddling its wares on the streets of London and the like.
Im not sure what my reservations are, but the whole thing didnt quite hold together for me, or feel like the creation of a totally classic story. Which is strange, because it is a novel spin on the Malthusian bet, and its delivered with lots of elan and intrigue. I think perhaps time/money restraints show through in the odd imperfect take, despite the cast knocking spots off each other as things progress. Plummer is marvellously plummy, Garfield is excellent as the greasepaint monkey, Lily Cole is a model nigh-amateur, and everyone from Waits to the heavyweights keep the fantasy-realism on track. Its got laughs, tragic farce, and a strong thread drawing you through the middle of it. I guess its just a huge ask to make a dream completely real.
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Encounters at the End of the World
'Beautiful Masons'
'Beautiful Masons'
You can see wondrous nature photography, interwoven with curious science and raw reality, in any number of wildlife docs. When Herzog casts his eye over Antarctica and its itinerant citizenry, however, you get an even broader gamut of alien odysseys and journeys into 'the heart of men'. Everything from single-celled organisms vying for the title of intelligent life, to eternity-shrouded cathedrals of ice, via hot blooded poetry and science zeitgeist, are explored by this free form expedition.
Magnificence and Mandibles
With only an occasional irritable aside, Werner draws out the passions of the scientists and contractors who've stationed themselves here at the edge of the world. It's another personal journey by the director, with pauses to highlight favoured topics of extinction and apolitical human triumph, but all explored via the tales he gets these peculiar pioneers to share. Decorated by so much 'found material', all contrasting with the backdrop of awe-inspiring scenery and perplexing life amongst adversity, it forms a very satisfying selection of views into hearths and hinterlands you wouldn't otherwise see.
It's somewhat episodic and haphazard, but that's also part of its charm. There's pretty much something for everyone here, amongst the bearded ladies, prostitute penguins, and beautiful sounds sung by seals.
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Great stuff, Gol. Coincidentally, I've got this sitting at home right now and nearly watched it just the other night; been on a slight Herzog kick lately. Looking forward to it even more now.
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Cool What else have you been watching by him? I've got Little Dieter coming soon-ish, and might follow it with Rescue Dawn. Prompted thanks to the great MOMI Q&A with him and Demme on the disc I had. If you've got the same one check that out for sure 
What else have you been watching by him? I've got Little Dieter coming soon-ish, and might follow it with Rescue Dawn. Prompted thanks to the great MOMI Q&A with him and Demme on the disc I had. If you've got the same one check that out for sure
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Most recently, I saw Fitzcarraldo, which wasn't exactly entertaining in the traditional sense, but was certainly audacious and had, as expected, a handful of breathtaking shots. Not sure of the order before that, but I've seen three others and liked them all at least reasonably well: Rescue Dawn (pretty good), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (again, a little more impressive than entertaining, but it's begging to be rewatched all the same) and Grizzly Man (both impressive and entertaining, even if I thought some of Herzog's philosophical ramblings felt a bit off, and worse, shoe-horned in).
Then again, he seems to be pretty prolific, and I haven't delved into his lesser-known works, so it seems probable that his track record with what I've seen is the result of some kind of cinematic selection bias.
Then again, he seems to be pretty prolific, and I haven't delved into his lesser-known works, so it seems probable that his track record with what I've seen is the result of some kind of cinematic selection bias.
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He does seem to range pretty wide, and leave a certain print on things - or at least I'm beginning to discern some of his idiosyncrasies i think. The only ones I've seen not in your list are The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, which is pretty much on the bleak and 'challenging' end of the scale, and Wild Blue Yonder, which has some foibles you mention (a touch of 'shoe horning'), but also glorious music and at the very least achieves a certain 'out of the ordinary' effect. Know what you mean about Fitz & Wrath, although I reckon I'd happily rewatch both - especially the latter to trace the build to that bewildered end.
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Great reviews Golly gosh and nice to have you back
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F is for Fake
To Change the Truth is to Innovate
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To Change the Truth is to Innovate
A wonderfully Wellesian take on documentaries and art, this delicious, lugubrious cocktail of impressions, half-truths, magical deceits and peacock personalities is in theory based on some bedrocks of truth. There was once an art forger, who had a biography written by an author who turned out (mid-filming) to be a faker himself, when his biography of the etheral Howard Hughes evaporated, exposed as a crowd-pleasing sham.
But that's just a launching point for the torrent of 70s sexiness and prismatic ponderings that Welles then sets free...
But that's just a launching point for the torrent of 70s sexiness and prismatic ponderings that Welles then sets free...
Everybody Loves a Lie
This definitely isn't the documentary the BBC would have made when they initially got Welles in to provide a knowledgeable voicover. It's thoroughly personal for a start. Welles is in love with his cursive editorial style, folding family and friends into the frothing mix. The whole thing is something of a joyous folly, like a cathedral he briefly holds up, in a moment of overt seriousness, as a testament to humanity's creativity. But such slabs of weighty wordsmithery are the exception here. Mainy we get fed: subjective zest and glee imbued in every edit; underlying identification with those frustrated by money men and the arbitrators of art; preoccupations such as magic, film deception & affairs of the heart. The film lies to itself, it lies to us, and it's never less than entertaining, and even informative, with it.
The opening sequences jump around, because that's how it was at the time we're told. a chaotic melange of events and improvisation. Visual verisimilitude. If a faked picture hangs on a wall long enough, it becomes real, we're told. And does it matter if it's faked anyway, if it fills your visual field in a pleasing way, if it's real, in front of you. If it entertains?
Does it matter if the incestuous world of this film seasons its truths with lies and leavens its falsehoods with facts? Not at all. It's all the better for it. And although it's quite naturally not 'entirely true', it's a helluva lot better than most 'based on a true story' tales (fake biopics stemming from fascinations with Howard Hughes excepted)
The opening sequences jump around, because that's how it was at the time we're told. a chaotic melange of events and improvisation. Visual verisimilitude. If a faked picture hangs on a wall long enough, it becomes real, we're told. And does it matter if it's faked anyway, if it fills your visual field in a pleasing way, if it's real, in front of you. If it entertains?
Does it matter if the incestuous world of this film seasons its truths with lies and leavens its falsehoods with facts? Not at all. It's all the better for it. And although it's quite naturally not 'entirely true', it's a helluva lot better than most 'based on a true story' tales (fake biopics stemming from fascinations with Howard Hughes excepted
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Last edited by Golgot; 02-24-10 at 11:46 AM.
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