donniedarkos 2013 self challenge

Yeh I love everything Tarantino to be honest, I got his XX box set with every film so Death Proof is the last one to see, I've heard it is generally considered his worst but I'm really interested in the style as Tarantino deliberately did it as a grindhouse/explotation/gritty style, like you said I would have loved to watch it as a double feature with fake trailers + Planet Terror in the cinema, I would have imagined that to have been a great experience.

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I know I recommened four directors earlier but I'd also like to suggest Donald Siegel and when you're ready for great British cinema, try Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Powell/Pressburger....oh yes

You could make one fun month out of that duo

Death Proof as a single film is great.I like it as much as other Tarantino films.But,to be honest,in the whole Grindhouse project Tarantino failed.He just made his style movie instead of a grindhouse type film.Planet Terror is better for grindhouse but Death Proof is better as a separate film.

Don Siegel is great! Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry, and all the other great collaborations with Eastwood make for a truly underrated director. Running through almost all of his films is a distrust of groups and institutions.

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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock

Week 4- Robert Downey Sr.



Works viewed:
Babo 73
Chafed Elbow ++
No More Excuses -
Putney Swope +
Two Tons of Turquoise To Taos Tonight

Well as the title of the eclipse set implies, I stayed up all night watching the disturbed mind of Robert Downeys Srs underground New York films. It was a memorable experience for sure, and one I don't think I'll soon forget. The films weren't great, but they were fun.

The first Downey Sr. film I viewed was the political satire Babo 73. The film had a view good moments early on, such as the confession scene, but it quickly got boring and even predictable. I understood the satire of it, in fact I feel like the satire in this one was to simple. You don't even have to think about it, it's all laid out for you. As a directorial debut it's certainly not a great one, but it has a few sparks of energy. Chafed Elbows is my favorite of the Downey Sr. explorations. It was the story of a man involved in incest with his mother, and is a direct involvement in a murder. It was a hysterical piece, the dry humor therapist scene had me laughing my ass off. Just these wise one liners all the way through, and underground cinema inside jokes made it an extremely interesting film. I thought the dubbing was annoying though, and would be better just to make it a regular shoot. No More Excuses paralleled the civil war, animal nudity, and the sexual revolution. What do you mean what do these things have in common? Isn't it obvious, psh. The first twenty minutes or so was interesting, but it became to repetitive, going over the same things again and again. It was enjoyable over all, but I thinking adding a couple more topics would make it a legit satire master piece.

Putney Swope is the most acclaimed Downey Sr. film, and it's because it was one of the riskiest films I've seen. Hardcore satire here, the whole story is of a black man taking over an advertising company as a fluke. He then fires the white crews, hires stereotypical African Americans, and the film goes full pledged racism. The crew demanding watermelon breaks, instead of smoking breaks, and that's just average. I was laughing for the majority of the film, and the hilarious advertisements. I think some of the techniques were questionable, such as dubbing Putneys voice, but it paid off. It felt a bit like a publicity stunt, but stuck to the roots. Even has a Chafed Ellbows Easter egg in there. I think I'll probably re watch this with in the month. Finally there's Two Tons of Turquoise To Taos Tonight, if it sounds like crap, it's because it is. Nothing more than a home movie, with Downeys wife at the time playing twenty plus roles. Just a little montage, and I don't think it was really made for the publics eye. Uninteresting, I couldn't even find a reason to watch it all the way through.

In conclusion, other than rewatching some of these, I'm not in a rush to watch other films from the original Robert Downey. I would like to learn more about him as a man, and inspiration for his films though. If you like satire, you should appreciate the first four of these films. And no matter what it's a good time.

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I haven't seen any of those movies, but I think I'll put Chafed Elbows on my to watch list.

^Def. worth it, I'm pretty sure you'd like Putney too, and I forgot to say who's next.
Michael Haneke. And here are the films I'm watching.

Haneke is always good for discussion whether you like him or not.

you have to watch Amour, then too naturally.

Watch Amour.

Grrrr Regal has taken its sweet time bringing Amour to Knoxville.

Week 5- Michael Haneke

Works Viewed
Funny Games (1998)- Arthouse Rating:
The Piano Teacher- Arthouse Rating -
Cache- +

Funny Games is a movie that fights violence in film, by putting extreme violence into a film. Maybe that's the only way to do it. Most regular audiences will be disturbed and shaken, if you've watched enough violent films in the past you'll sit through it while feeling agitated. It depends on the audience really, and while it's film that's incredibly self indulgent, it's sophisticated. Two sadists terrorize rich vacationers, for pleasure purposes. For entertainment value, which is the exact reason the viewers keep watching. And the villains in the film, they will call you out for it. Not always directly either. The acting by the four adults was authentic and true to itself, I honestly applaud the actors. The films pacing is some of the best ever, other than the concluding scene (which was intentionally offbeat), the film moves itself in an extraordinary tempo. Builds a load of tension coming in, and while predictable later on, still uses the filming techniques to keep the audience involved. While I do understand the underlying message, there's a difference between Tarantino violence and this, and I believe that must be understood too.

The Piano Teacher had one ginormous problem, it was the protagonist Erika Kohut. She's the most irritating character ever put on screen. Egotistic, naive, uptight, selfish, she just had awful qualities. Therefore even the final scene couldn't draw pity out of me. Was Haneke really trying to make the mother seem like the pest? Because if that was the intent he has it reversed. The cinematographer Christian Berger did a phenomenal job, no wonder Haneke had re-casted him for future projects. Also the film editing made this smooth in transition, not a single scene was over bearing for me. Technical wise this film was brilliant, but the characters and story couldn't meet these achievements. Therefore this film fell flat, and truly it wasn't that disturbing.

Cache is a tight nerve wrenching, heart pounding, film. The greatest thriller of recent history. A couple with a near perfect life gets disturbed by video tapes arriving at there door of someone watching them. No character development lead into this, the film dived right into this. Smart decision in my mind, because this film never wasted a second. These tapes and occasional letters turned there lives upside down. There were no threats, no foul play, just the pure idea of being stalked crashed there lives to the ground. I was incredibly tense through out, I was always on the edge waiting for what's to come next. The editing by Muse and Hudeck was unbelievable, the pacing was spot on. The only thing I wish is that there would be at least some more of a conclusion. I'm not saying a give away, but a hint. The film can be interpreted many ways with the open end, I'm still pondering a few possibilities. No doubt in my mind though that this will be remembered as a classic with in the thriller genre.

In conclusion more Haneke will be happening in my near future. Amour and The White Ribbon were already on my to watch list. All these film were entertaining, and all were more or less open ended. I was always in the loop until the credits started rolling. I do feel like the immediate feeling I get from these films wear off pretty fast though.

I give ALL those . I find them interesting but unfulfilled; light on suspense and heavy on intellectual exercises. I think even less of The White Ribbon. I'm in the minority, at least of people who post about Hanake here, but I suggest you decide for yourself, like donniedarko did.

I've posted about Funny Games before, but I'm not a fan of it. It starts strong but devolves into sadism. I get the message, and there's a certain nobility in Haneke's efforts to re-sensitize his audience to violence, but I find the whole thing too mean-spirited and hateful of its audience. It's the only one of his films I've seen and Cache is the only other one that I'm really interested in.

I'm looking forward to watching more Haneke after your recommendation. The White Ribbon and Amour are the ones I've seen.

Who's the next director you're going to discover?

With Haneke, not sure why someone would remake their own film less than 10 years apart of each other (Funny Games). Haven't seen either but truly strange to me.

Right, keep forgetting to do that.

Next week: Todd Solondz


And as far as Raul's remake comment, I think it might be that he wanted more exposure to American audiences

Correct, the film was meant for our viewers, but you can't really get that when a brutal German film. I almost prefer the remake just because of the performances.


Hehehehe....Oh I really hope you don't hate this guy.