Comments | danschank: top twenty films of 2005 (part two)

danschank

top twenty films of 2005 (part two)

Jan 24, 2006 03:06

apologies that this took so long to get back to, folks (i know you were all holding your breath). i've been boozing it up and carrying on more than usual. anyway, if you're just tuning in, i've been listing the movies that meant the most to me, that i saw for the first time during the year 2005. and here are the final ten, listed-- once again-- in ( Read more... )

film, lists

Comments 18

arizona_jules January 24 2006, 02:23:38 UTC

i love underground. the brashness of it, the exuberance, the politics disguised as slapstick, the tubas! what's there not to like?

i've never heard of portrait of jennie, but that still has got me intrigued.

danschank January 24 2006, 11:11:26 UTC

portrait of jennie was made by william dieterle, who's more well known for the devil and daniel webster. i've only seen that one film by him, but i'm looking to change that in the next few months.

masculin January 24 2006, 23:35:58 UTC

I loved 'the devil and daniel webster', I'll have to check out portrait of jennie on Valentine's day.

moosemonster January 24 2006, 04:39:34 UTC

Thanks, I've added a few of these to my Netflix queue. It's interesting (difficult) to try and think of any really good portrait of the artist films. Have you seen Painted Fire?

danschank January 24 2006, 11:17:00 UTC

yeah, artist movies always hit a certain number of cliches... there's usually some very sanctified mother figure at the start of them... there's the inspirational teacher... the quirky underground... the viola! moment of clarity, signaling "genius"... the naive public... the self-destruction...

munch doesn't go there.

haven't seen painted fire, or anything else by him. i'm not exactly well-versed in korean new wave. i'll look into it.

p.s. netflix has el imperio de la fortuna. it might be listed as the realm of fortune. i mention this because i was pleasantly shocked to find it there!

that image from portrait of jennie is gorgeous mistercreepy January 24 2006, 11:45:34 UTC

i will definitely add that to me queue.

i think i may be the only person not crazy about Underground. i felt like it had moments of just absolute brilliance that made me want to weep and laugh etc etc and then there'd be a long scene about the main character's rise in the new government and i was so friggin' bored. i would say i just can't take 3 hours movies, but i love Red Beard

my library has black cat, white cat, so i'll give Kusturica a second chance before my college career is over.

also, i kinda love martyr films. not any one of course, i mean stuff like Schindler's List pisses me off to no end, but there's nothing like a well-done self-sacrifice film to get me all hot. which is probably why i love hero myths so much. i mean Buffy Season 5, self-sacrifice like wo.

Re: that image from portrait of jennie is gorgeous danschank January 24 2006, 12:05:25 UTC

yeah buffy sacrifice is good. i actually prefer the season two self-sacrifice, but i think that's because i have some incurably romantic notions of love.

i have more of a problem with the lars von trier idea of martyrdom, which always makes his films really hierarchical and unambiguous, gives them giant capital letters of DEEP MEANINGFULNESS, and undoubtedly involves watching a "pure" woman suffer. i got too many years of catholic school in me to tolerate that shit anymore.

but secular martyrdom is ok. and so is the less reactive spiritual sort that occurs in balthasar. and, to be honest, the sanctimonious kind is even good if it's beautiful enough like in the passion of joan of arc.

as for underground, i'm not sure what to say. you're crazy. hahahaa. actually, i think if nothing else, you've got to admire that someone would make that kind of film when he made it-- at the fucking scale he made it!

three hours is a commitment though, for sure.

is that mississippi john hurt in your icon? i love that guy...

yes, it is mississippi john hurt mistercreepy January 24 2006, 15:21:12 UTC

and this is almeda riddle.
two of my favorite artists currently.

I guess scale is something I never really bring into consideration. I was very impressed by the ending of the film, but it had some filmic pet peeves of mine. It seemed to have some obvious dicussion of the film within the film i.e. the discussion of whether or not the main character is telling the truth with his script, and also I felt like it suffered a bit from what I've called Good Will Hunting syndrome, which is what I've termed liking a film because you want to be one of the main characters. I mean they're these frumpy guys who end up being totally badass, and I think that appeals to all us frumpy guys.

Maybe if I watch it again in 10 years I'll like it.

Re: yes, it is mississippi john hurt danschank January 24 2006, 19:30:37 UTC

i didn't really feel like i identified with anyone per se, except maybe the guy with the monkey.

to be honest, i have a special place in my heart for films that don't expect me to make direct identifications. especially if they still involve me emotionally. i'd include underground in such a category.

Thread 6

school_he_bombs January 24 2006, 12:29:44 UTC

I am absolutly jealous at the amount of movies you are capable and able to see. God damn.

danschank January 24 2006, 12:41:37 UTC

i'm actually trying to scale back a bit... getting a little too obsessive, really.

masculin January 24 2006, 23:42:11 UTC

I must find a way to see edvard munch. I got all excited when I browsed through the video collection one of my city's library and thought I had found it. Unfortunately, every biopic of the guy has 'the scream' on the cover and, unless it's 50 min., I'm pretty sure it's the wrong one.
I should've rented that one before my movie store sold it. Have any idea where to find it?

danschank January 25 2006, 00:00:29 UTC

I must find a way to see edvard munch.

yes, you must! being three hours worth of stream-of-consciousness plot structure, improvisational story-telling, fairly involved socio-political content and almost no storyline, i wouldn't recommend it to everyone. but you, sir, will love it!

far as i know, the four-hour version that originally aired on danish public televison is being prepared on dvd as we speak. i found this:

http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/release/81/68981/features.php

i saw the three and a half hour theatrical cut.

and yes, the vhs version does have the scream on it (a painting that isn't of much importance in the film, btw). it looks like something you'd show to a high school art class, from the packaging.

and glad to hear portrait of jennie might make the valentine pic this year. i seem to recall you putting artofvision to good use for that last year. haha.

also, watkins' punishment park just became available on dvd. i'd try to start with ( ... )

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danschank January 25 2006, 20:17:15 UTC

re: jennie, my one complaint (and it's not really one) about it is that the romance tends to be somewhat one-sided-- like, it's all about this man's grief and his need to overcome it, moreso than any kind of real engagement with a woman. it's like he's reckoning with himself more than with her. however, there's something in the way that barrymore is, for lack of a better word, present that pulls the entire movie into a more legitimately interactive, romantic realm. which is why i think it gets to be odd and warm at the same time-- the warmth is coming from the wrong character (barrymore), whereas the interactions with the expected one (jones) are just sorta whacked out and weird ( ... )