Last Movie You Watched

[Madiel]

Keep telling yourself that.  You kept telling yourself the eye was a metaphor.

[Madiel]

If you feel I am misreading this, and that Tolkien writes of a physical eye, please draw me a diagram.

I feel you are misreading it because flames don't "stare" or "gaze".

You have absolutely no grounds for deciding that the "flame" is the real thing and the "eye" is the metaphor instead of the other way around. Or for not considering that flame-red is a colour description.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Keep telling yourself that.  You kept telling yourself the eye was a metaphor.

And there is still not any proof that it is NOT a metaphor, that part in the books is way too vague and I doubt a serious writer like Tolkien would fail to notice how ridiculous it would be to take The Eye of Sauron in a literal sense. How could anyone take that seriously?

[Madiel]

And there is still not any proof that it is NOT a metaphor, that part in the books is way too vague and I doubt a serious writer like Tolkien would fail to notice how ridiculous it would be to take The Eye of Sauron in a literal sense. How could anyone take that seriously?

Oh right. A book of orcs and elves and dragons, but you draw the line here? Suddenly you're invoking a need for realism?

LOL. I'm done.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I'm done.

About time.

[Madiel]

And there is still not any proof that it is NOT a metaphor

Nope. Couldn't leave this one alone.

I don't need proof, darling. I'm not the one who waltzed in declaring in snobbish definitive tones that Peter Jackson understood nothing and had got it all horribly wrong.

[Karl Henning]

He got a great deal horribly wrong.  That's not snobbery;  that's literary appreciation.

[Karl Henning]

I feel you are misreading it because flames don't "stare" or "gaze".

No, the flames do not.  The Eye is a symbol of Sauron;  and the use of stare and gaze there does not compel an actual eye.

The Eye was not turned to them: it was gazing north to where the Captains of the West stood at bay, and thither all its malice was now bent, as the Power moved to strike its deadly blow; but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally.

This expands upon the appositive.  This does not mean that the flame of red which stabbed northward is . . . an eye.

[Karl Henning]

To be clear about how I have always read this:

The Eye was not turned to them: it was gazing north to where the Captains of the West stood at bay, and thither all its malice was now bent, as the Power moved to strike its deadly blow; but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally.

This is not an Eye looking physically north;  it is Sauron's thought.  Indeed, this is underscored by the fact that this is from Frodo and Sam's perspective.  If this is a physical eye, looking north and not turned to Frodo and Sam, how should Frodo fall as one stricken mortally when he is out of the line of the physical eye's sight?

Why?  Because it is not a physical eye;  because the Eye is a metaphor.  A physical eye does not possess malice.

[milk]

Watched Rashomon today. I hadn't remembered that this movie turns on a rape. In fact, I couldn't enjoy this that much because of the way the rape is treated. Mifune plays the rapist and is the most magnetic performer here. His character is even the most likable at times, which left me pretty disgusted. It's magnificently filmed to be sure, but obviously for another time when women were treated non-seriously and as somewhat less than human. It's not just the way the characters are; to me, it's the perspective of the film itself which trivializes the rape and the significance of the woman's reality as well. Just my impression.

[Karl Henning]

Two minutes of "beauty shots" of Monument Valley:  whatever else may be said of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Spielberg gave us that.

In fact, I like the movie very much.  Even though . . . the fact that Indy makes it past the three tests, doesn't mean that Donovan and Elsa can just waltz through.  And the timing is such that, yes, they do just waltz through.

The knight in the Grail chamber says, of Donovan, "He chose poorly."  Which is odd, because Elsa clearly chose the chalice for him.  What does "He chose poorly" mean?  That his choosing to rely on Elsa was poorly done?

These quibbles aside, it's a wonderful "superior B-movie," as intended.

I am not one to denigrate I. J. and the Temple of Doom.  I like it very well, the odd quibble (as with this movie) notwithstanding.  I'll agree that Last Crusade is a couple of steps up, but this does not mean that Temple of Doom is bad.

[SimonNZ]

Frederick Wiseman's three and a quarter hour hour documentary on the New York Public Library.

Like his previous work this has no voice-over, nobody speaking directly to camera, just a cross-section and kaleidoscope of workers going about their business. Unlike some of his more recent films which had more of various staff going about their duties quietly with the occasional board meeting or event, this is as much as eighty or ninety percent group discussions dealing in one way or another with the politics and the philosophies of the duties and services. Therefor unlike some of his recent films this can't be watched passively - it requires, even demands, that you the viewer engage intellectually with the concerns and viewpoints presented. But like the rest of his work it is excellent and easily recommended.

[aligreto]

Spy Game





An engaging political thriller that is worth a watch.

[MN Dave]

The Golden Compass (fantasy) and Gallowwalkers (horror Western) were an enjoyable way to pass my Saturday afternoon.

[drogulus]

     I finally watched Black Book, and it's the most Verhoeven-esque movie ever made. All the strengths and weaknesses are present, and he explores the great themes about fascism, distrust of heroism, the need to survive in times that want you really, really dead, tithood (of course), and enough good guy/bad girl reversals to make your head spin.

     

     This is a great film.

[NikF]

Juliette, ou la clef des songes/Juliette or the key of dreams.

I believe almost everything photographed by Henry Alekan to be worth a rewatch and then another and still further possibly one more, if like tonight it was via a nice print in a private viewing. As a whole, the somewhat plodding along delivery of the obvious and banal was a constant reminder that this isn't Carne's finest hour, certainly if considered outside the time and place of the 1950s. But a bonus is that Suzanne Cloutier has a beautiful face with features which lend themselves to the type of light that resembles them, soft and full and warm, and when that reflects out from the big screen it's a pleasant touch - clearly, Alekan taught Suzie how to kiss.

An aside; after leaving the venue I stopped to buy fish and chips which I ate with my fingers on the way home while the wrapping paper hosted a battle between the vinegar and grease and falling rain. The winner? - imo you can't beat a piping hot fillet of freshly battered haddock.

[GioCar]

At the local film festival tonight: a restored print for the 30th anniversary of Wings Of Desire.

This was actually my favorite film when I was much younger so it was great to see it again and on the big screen.

I couldn't discern if the black and white was sharper, I did notice more detail, though thats probably just due to the screen size - but the colour parts, particularly after the "fall" were much more vivid.

Its not the subtitling I'm used to from my old much watched VHS copy, and while I thought some things might be clearer or more literal, I lamented the loss in a few places of having all the passing thoughts however fleeting subtitled. This was most noticeable in the library scene where the VHS had everything in quick succession, but here it was only the main three or four. But elsewhere most everything was covered.

There's also an odd translation choice in Marion's big final speech where the repeated word "alone" ("Now I can say it as tonight, I'm at last alone." "Only with him could I be alone") is changed to "lonely". That may somehow make sense in German with different connotations, but it really doesn't in English.

One of my favorite films as well but, sorry to say that, what a silly English title  .
I did recognize it only from the image, and imo that title completely missed the inner meaning and main character in the film which is the city of Berlin, a few years before the wall went down.

[ritter]

This really curious and hitherto unknown to me Spanish classic from 1951 was shown on Spanish TV last night:



La corona negra (The Black Crown) uses a plot devised by Jean Cocteau, based (very loosely, as far as I can tell) on Mérimée's La Vénus d'Ille. It's a Franco-Spanish coproduction, and the screenplay is by Charles de Peyret-Chappuis. The female lead is Mexican beauty María Félix (who is outstanding), and her male counterparts are Rosanno Brazzi and Vittorio Gassman. The director is Luis Saslavsky from Argentina. It's all unusually cosmopolitan for Spanish cinema of the time.

The film is set (and was filmed) in Tangiers and the Spanish protectorate of Morocco. A convoluted plot of crime, amnesia, passions and the occult, with some rather striking dreamlike sequences. Quite fascinating, actually.

[lisa needs braces]

     I finally watched Black Book, and it's the most Verhoeven-esque movie ever made. All the strengths and weaknesses are present, and he explores the great themes about fascism, distrust of heroism, the need to survive in times that want you really, really dead, tithood (of course), and enough good guy/bad girl reversals to make your head spin.

     

     This is a great film.

I enjoyed this one when I saw it some ten years ago. Underrated gem.

[listener]

from the Shaw Brothers
THE SNAKE PRINCE
people who change into giant snakes and breathe out streams of water or fire as the story requires
some female nudity, an impossibly large egg is born
all to the music and dance of  1970's style beach party music and dance.   weird and unique