Apr 8, 2016 Since the communal film club has failed a couple of times due to participation, I've decided to try something new... an individually curated film club. Each week I will announce a film I am planning to watch. Whoever wants to join will watch said film and then come here to participate in the discussion. If no one joins, it ends up with me just providing a review of the film on my own, so no harm done. I will take recommendations of films to choose and if people catch on I'll start nominating others to choose the film for that week. I'll try not to pick overly obscure films, but I will definitely be picking films that challenge the viewer and which may or may not have been on their radar but which remains, for whatever reason, unseen. Mainly, it'll be for myself, and I'll be picking films that I want to watch anyways. But basically I'll try to pick films that people generally want to watch and I'll be consulting with the IMDB top 250 list to make sure the film I choose is popular enough to perhaps bring some non FlickYouCrew members in here. The film will be announced each Friday, with the hopes that by Sunday I will have watched and made a post about it, something which will perhaps entice you guys to watch it yourselves and to come in to discuss. If you've seen it, obvs shed your two cents. @Twan @Woody @Vahn @Rowjay Stan @Old_Parr @Charlie @Bleed @captain awesome @Howie @Dew @Kon @King V THIS WEEK'S FILM: Film This Week (May 29) Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984) A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087843/?ref_=nv_sr_2 Past Films: La Haine Magnolia The 25th Hour On the Waterfront Once Upon at Time in the West Jaws
Apr 8, 2016 This has been on my radar for a while, so I will most likely get around to it. Good idea bb.
Apr 8, 2016 La Haine is a great film, I've just watched it recently. It definitely won't give you any romantic ideas about living in Paris! look for the director Kassovitz in a cameo appearance near the end
Apr 8, 2016 Oh, right... I'm supposed to do that thing. I was hoping for a legal option for the other people who are unwilling to do this.
Apr 8, 2016 I have yet to see La Haine, but something tells me that the film Un Francais (or French Blood -english title) might be up your alley.
Apr 8, 2016 This is awesome. I'm so busy these days I don't think I'll be able to contribute, but I'll definitely be reading!
Apr 8, 2016 Cool idea, I'll try to contribute if I can, but I'll definitely check in at least for the reviews. La Haine is pretty dope btw.
Apr 10, 2016 Just got done with La Haine. It's fun seeing the day in the life of hoodrats, the lil adventures they go through. Seeing them gettin in fights, making scenes in public, evading people that are after them, etc. all through an almost-personal lens is hella interesting, it gives an immersive feel. & it's cool how it encapsules all emotions. At one moment it's comedy, then it's all action, then HEAVY drama, etc. it just goes with the flow. I like the characters as well, all interesting in their own ways, they grew on me a lot as the movie went on. All in all, i enjoyed it, it's one h--- of a movie. Very good, 7.5/10 & my f---ing god that ending holy s---
Apr 11, 2016 La Haine was pretty dope, indeed, and clearly an important precursor to films like American History X or French Blood (and probably many others). The stark black and white works really well to give the film that gritty feel of urban decay and desolation, and the cinematography is pretty d--- impressive with all the circling tracking shots to show both the front and back of the characters (as well as sometimes 180* cuts to the other side of them). It gives a sense that at any moment something could happen and illustrates that these men (boys?) have to constantly watch their back, as they're constantly in an agitated, anxious state, with the presence of the gun being this seeming answer or relief from that agitation/anxiety. The sudden whip pans and whip zooms are quite affecting and stylistically interesting, especially as they contrast moments of routine-like violence. The presence of the gun aptly and thematically acts as a motivation for much of the film's characterizations and narrative developments. The three characters which are focused upon are connected by their shared plight of poverty, living in the projects, searching for respect, etc. but they each deal with the threat of police and the threat of others very differently. Their unique personalities may be defined by how they respond to the presence of the gun. Each obviously spewing much hatred for others, their bred hatred is quite certainly the product of both environmental factors and the need to put on airs or bravado in front of one another. While Vinz' pain and possession of the gun causes him to act like more of a badass out of a mistaken sense of power which perhaps he has never before felt, we can see through and through that his convictions arise from a source of well intentioned guardianship over his self and friends. He doesn't show it outright but actions such as following his buddies on multiple occasions after they leave him behind with him saying "I don't need you" illustrate this. Sayid uses comedy to perhaps hide from the real drama and seriousness of circumstances around him. He is not only the jokester but he is a joke in himself, being told of by Nordeen, by the girls, etc.. He takes false pride in holding the piece and talking about the pigs, but most of what he says is superficial, and he's really probably the most insecure and afraid of the three. Hubert shows reason and an unbridled realism. He wants out and he has perspective about how hate breeds hate, how the cops respond to the rioters hatred and vice versa, and that not all cops are bad. Yet he is still a rather hateful person, a racist perhaps, and his speech that a skinhead doesn't deserve to live is one example of how we know that his restraint could be broken. When Sayid and Hubert are tortured by those corrupt-as-f--- cops, one can see Hubert's repressed violent side come out--a violent side which was perhaps more active as a troubled young thief and which was conditioned during his time in lock-up. This scene motivates the sheer amount of tension we feel when Hubert begins to walk towards the cop car holding the gun in his hand. Out to save his friends and now holding that symbol of power, we know that Hubert might be willing to do what Vinz could not: he could k---. He could especially k--- the cop that tortured him. The ambiguity of the final shot paired with the close up of Sayid's clenched eyes is perfectly exemplary of the reciprocal nature of this hate and violence. Like we saw Hubert try before this, the idea of erasing the present and somehow making the hate and violence in front of you disappear is bound in the lives of all these so called 'hoodlums'. But such magic doesn't exist, and a system can't change from 24 hours of constructed hatred. 83/100 - Great.
Apr 16, 2016 This weeks film is: MAGNOLIA It's a PT Anderson film I have not seen since High School, and have basically forgotten about. I've never rated it and don't know it well enough to understand how it fits within his oeuvre. I need to rewatch Boogie Nights as well, so I might do both. I know a lot of you have seen it. What do you think? It seems to be one of the more divisive films he has made. @Moviewatchers @MovieSXN
Apr 17, 2016 I've seen it multiple times and while I can admit it's flawed, it never fails to resonate for me. Like Hard Eight and Boogie Nights before it, it wears its influences on its sleeve (Altman by the way of Scorsese) and every choice from the camerawork to the music is excessive. With that said, there's still a strong emotional core, bolstered by an impressive ensemble cast (PTA, one of the greats at eliciting the best from his actors), and a moving story of fragile people in moments of personal crisis. And though his ostentatious style here can be grating to some, I always find it to be exhilarating.
Apr 21, 2016 Just finished Magnolia. Holy s---. It's a h--- of a slow-burning drama. Long as h--- but every second had my attention, it was very engaging. The characters & their story arcs were hella interesting, the actors killed their roles. h--- of a lot of heaviness throughout, especially when certain story arcs reach their boiling point, emotionally. Ending was weird as h--- but somehow managed to perfectly tie everything in/conclude everything so i thought that was dope as well. I guess my gripe is the cinematography & music. I agree with what Twan said in that both were excessive. I definitely noticed this. Sooooo much music throughout, too much really, & then that weird corny scene where they're all singing to the song, eugghh i hated it. Camerawork was also a lil too cheesy for me at times, especially with the whole "zooming into the subject during a dramatic moment" that was done so...blatantly (SO many occassions of this, with 0 subtlety). Besides those few gripes, i loved the movie, f---in h--- of a drama. d--- well executed when it comes to writing & story arcs. Great, 8/10
Apr 22, 2016 Great review @King V Excited to see it, but I've been too busy for a 3 hour film... Like for example tonight I wanna see a movie now that I'm home from work but a 3 hour midnight movie might be too much. Be back in with my review soon enough
Apr 23, 2016 I can understand now why I didn't remember Magnolia well. With rapid editing, montage, multiple climaxes, inter-cutting, etc. there's much to pay attention to and so much more to easily gloss over. Nearly the entire film plays out like its in this perpetual climax where each character is about to explode in relentless emotional expression. Even the music is constantly reaching cathartic heights that mirror climactic shifts, and the quicker the cuts the more extreme the circumstance seems to become, even when the events are all rather innocuous. What such a technique does extremely well is get the audience into the mind set of each of these suffering characters, their frustrations and turmoil, so that we can feel the connection they have with one another not only by their potential proximity to each other/relationship etc. but by their sheer humanism, their will, their isolated stories of struggle. 81/100 - Great. Definitely one of the quickest seeming 3 hours of film...
