Didn't really live up to the hype, sort of like the Matrix all over again. The premise may have been mind blowing for several people unfamiliar or only mildly into scifi, but seemed rather convoluted and uninspired to me. It wasn't a bad movie by any stretch, but the hype surrounding it just left it rather flat in the end. 

Repulsion is absolutely awesome in my book.

Would like to hear why you didnt like it though. 

kona, you've just made me sit and think for the past half hour and i'm not sure i even have a solid top 5 any more :)

my problem is i often like different films for completely different reasons. so it's hard to compare them. ones that will always work for me are:

human traffic - mainly because it reminds me of the happiest nights of my life but also for being hilariously warped, brilliantly acted and with every true-to-life nuance down to a T, all wrapped up with a heartwarmingly simple message that has resonated with me over the years. that said it's not one i'd recommend on filmmaking qualities alone; it's more of a cult thing

donnie darko - i know a few have criticised the time travel elements for being too fantasy; i personally love the fantasy element and found it suitably captivating in an escapist kind of way. i love the dialogue, i love the atmosphere, music, editing & visuals. i love how i actually feel a part of donnie's world rather than merely being an appreciative onlooker, sucked in through a portal of my own into kelly's ever-repeating tangeant universe...

the truman show - i'll always remember first watching this expecting a typical jim carrey comedy and suddenly realising part-way through just how dark the actual premise is. it actually left me profoundly uncomfortable in places, which possibly made the ending feel all the more uplifting. i've appreciated the satirical elements on repeat viewings, too

memento - i like all of nolan's movies but this will never be topped for sheer ingenuity. no real emotional connection for me in it; i'm just consistently blown away by how awesome it is

that's almost five! i might just give #5 to fight club since i can't decide between the usual suspects, l.a. confidential, in bruges, t2, aliens, dead poets society, requiem for a dream... and my 'to watch' list is still looking absolutely huge with some pretty notorious names on it 

Yeah donnie darko, the truman show and memento are all brilliant movies. i think a lot of people, the 'film critics' who won't put any post 90's films in their greatest list, would overlook the truman show because of jim carey and the elements of comedy he put in it. but carey made that movie for me; the last 15mins when he escapes the house was very gripping. 

well i haven't finished it yet nitin, but I was expecting an intense, psychological thriller. instead it's been quite boring so far because her downward spiral seems to be poorly done and poorly acted, consisting mainly of her staring into space and ignoring people and a couple rape hallucinations.
there's no reasoning behind her issues, as yet. she's quite an unlikable lead character.

and roman's long, lingering shots of nothing of relevance (ie the weird band marching across the street, took forever) aren't that appealing.

still, i'm not at the end yet so maybe i'll like it more once i'm finished watching, as is often the case. 

All his stuff. The Truman Show is proof that he can actually act, without always having to be OTT. But yeah - beautiful movie.

Watched No Country for Old Men. That was kinda arty.

Human Traffic is good, and it reminds me too of going out and getting completely fucked up on Ecstasy. But allas, those days are gone. Which makes a large portion of the movie seem trashy. Having said that there are some awesome scenes. Peter fucking Andre!?? Yeeah - I'd like to get a fuckin' coathanger, and fuckin RAM it down his fuckin japseye....

Anyone else put Forrest Gump in the top 5?

The Green Hornet - enjoyable. Kinda like The Dark Knight meets Pineapple Express. 

interesting because I think Catherine Deneuve puts in one of the all time great performances :)

Also, as for reasoning behind her character, all you get is the final shot really (which I personally think is enough but your thoughts may vary). The rest is upto you.

As for Jim Carrey, I forgive him for all his crap for doing Eternal Sunshine and Trumans Show (although the latter really works because of Peter Weir). 

Watched it all Nitin. Yeah the final shot was good and explained a lot, although they should have ONLY shown it at the end instead of the other couple times in the film.

All the little things symbolising her descent and sexuality were good. I'm not a big fan of, not necessarily slow movies, but slow camera shots. At the same time I hate that blockbusters have to have big entertaining scenes every 3mins, but watching the camera pan from a cushion to rug for 30secs just annoys me. It's too artsy and film schooly.

I suppose it makes sense in this movie, it was supposed to be slow like that.

Anyway I certainly didn't hate the movie, but I didn't love it either. Eraserhead and Persona were better crazy movies. 

fair enough, I dont mind slow stuff (movie or camera shots) provided they obviously serve a purpose (which as you say in this movie was more for mood rather than anything else). If done right, I dont consider something like that film schooly (although its definitely artsy but I dont consider that a criticism).

Anyway, I always like to hear why people dont like particular movies (or vice versa) so keep them coming. 

Just watched another classic that you love Nitin - The Elephant Man. First time I've seen this one.

Lovely film (much better than Repulsion), but I am Lynch-biased. The b&w and old fashioned looking film quality was really well done, as were the film sets depicting 19th century London. The part where Treeves wife started balling and, of course, the train station scene were very moving.

My only criticism was John Hurts piss poor acting in portraying someone your supposed to sympathise and feel sorry for. In particular, the voice was waaaaaay too sympathetic and forced; he sounded like a character out of sesame street. But that's a minor criticism - still a brilliant film.

What did you love about it so much? PS what are your top 2 films? 

I didnt mind him as much as you but this is really Anthony Hopkins' film IMHO (Hurt gets the showier part obviously). Him and Anne Bancroft have some great scenes.

What did I like about it...some of Lynch's weird touches despite it not being his normal type of film (eg the elephant 'rape' scene at the start), but most of all the look, the writing and the performances were on the whole on a very very high level and you can tell everyone involved was generally on the same page.

Top 2 films - The Godfather and Chinatown. 

I thought I read somewhere that the voice was a pretty good imitation of the real person. Could be wrong about that but I do remember that from somewhere. 

Yeah Anthony Hopkins is the role that makes the film really. He was good. I typically don't like him that much, he does too many of the same role these days - usually the king or some gruff leader. You can't have a fantasy or historic epic without Hopkins playing the dad!

Chinatown is on my to watch list very soon as well :)

And yeah I liked the Lynchian stuff too. I also liked the quickcuts at the end of some scenes. They don't do that in movies anymore. 

just rewatched it. man, what an awesome movie. can you guys recommend similar stuff? 

French Connection 2, not on the same level but I still think its a good film.

As for Hopkins, out of what I have seen to date, his three best performances are Elephant Man, Remains of the Day and Silence of the Lambs. Out of recent stuff, he is very good in The World's Fastest Indian (the mvoie's well worthw atching too). 

while we're interviewing you Nitin, why Godfather and not Godfather II? I know everyone always says yeah it's the only sequel that's better blah blah... but I really do find it superior in every way that the first one was good (although it obviously depends on the first one, so that's an argument for the first one). 

it's like splitting hairs. One's a 9.5, the other's a 10 in my book. One's my favorite film, the other would be somewhere in the top 10 :)

I personally prefer GF1 because I found it to have a slightly higher number of more memorable scenes (the opening wedding scene, the horse in the bed scene, the gun in the restuarant scene, the cross cutting godfather scene, the sonny at the toll booth scene, and the final scene).

GF2 is definitely themtically and structurally more complex though, but I think it also becomes marginally more detached and colder in the process. I dont think I had as strong a reaction throughout GF2 as I did at the end of GF1 when Michael closes the door on Kaye.

Have either one playing though and I'll gladly sit through it no matter when I walk in :) 

Walberg and Bale. Brilliant. Massive Oscar potential. I love the film. Spoiler:
















The fact that the point of the movie is the part where Walberg's character gives Bale a real hiding and earns his respect. Done with sheer finesse, I tell you. <end spoiler>











Bate for shap 

saw it a couple of days ago. Melissa Leo and her family were scary. 

Lord of War

Bleh. Huge disappointment. Awful script or whatever was at fault for making it boring, pretentious and stupid.

Love the soundtrack though, got that for ages. 

Yeah pretty good. Funny in parts, 80s vibe, fine characters (Inigo Montoya should have had his own spin off movie/book/whatever.) Nothing terribly ... ehhh amazing about the movie really, but overall just really well done. 

Watched Tangled (Rapunzel for us Germans) yesterday. Without the annoying singing and the overly barbieish looks and most importantly better story telling or less weird "hops" it would have been a great animation movie. But even so it had some hilarious scenes and was a feel-good film. A bit too girly for sure (surprise!). 

It was alright. There were some parts in the beginning where the actress playing sarah had her try hard pants up to her chesticles. Overall it was pretty damn funny. 

Red was pretty fun, yeah. Would have been a good plane movie.

Enjoyed The King's Speech too.

Off to see Black Swan tonight. 

Everything is a remix part 2 focuses on movies, check it out: http://vimeo.com/19447662

Be aware that it is cut in a very weird way right in the middle, it does not end early but continues!

Also I am currently rewatching American Pie 1-3 and loving them.