Rough House Hockey

[Sittler]

Numbah4
Moderator

PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:26 pm

As I was cruising BestBuy with the retirees this morning, I came across the movie Sexy Beast.

Starring (literally - he's fantastic) Ben Kingsley as a gangster visting L.A. from Britain to recruit a retired thief to a big-time vault job. Kingsley is insane in this role, one of the most intense acting performances I think I've ever seen. This man won an Oscar for Ghandi? This role is the exact opposite.

Roger Ebert calls him "the most savage mad-dog frothing gangster in recent movies". Rolling Stone says this movie is "galvanized by Kinglsey's acting triumph". Rotten Tomatoes shows 97% of the reviews were positive, with most raving about Kingsley's performance.

The rest of the movie ranges from decent to alright to weird. There may even be a Donnie Darko-esque giant rabbit, but I was rolling with Maloney prior to watching this in the summer, so I could be making that up. Kingsley's acting job is worth the $5 rental for sure. Not everyone will enjoy this film, but I think those who post here will.

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Zedia
Veteran

PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:34 pm

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! NO!"

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Sittler
Site Admin

PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:20 pm

Two that I've seen in the past couple of days:

Capturing the Friedmans (2003) -- A documentary on a family that was torn apart in the 1980's when the father and his teenaged son were sent to prison for sexually abusing children. The thing is, it doesn't appear as if either of them was guilty of the crimes (although the father was definitely a pedophile with a large stash of kiddie porn). The police come off as stupid, arrogant, and corrupt -- but for some reason they're very willing to cooperate with the director. It's not quite as grim as my description makes it out to be, though, as many of the people involved in the case -- the family, lawyers, police, judge -- are funny and/or fascinating characters. The DVD extras are great and shed even more light on the case. Maybe the most interesting extra was the video of the movie's premiere, attended by many of the participants in the case, who wound up in a heated argument afterwards.

The Stepford Wives (2004) -- Like a number of other big budget comedies -- Death Becomes Her, The Addams Family, Mars Attacks -- this film has a great cast, a great look, and terrible pacing that kills the gags. Everything just falls flat. I think this was doomed from the start, with the decision to remake the 1970's movie into a light-hearted comedy. They either should have played it straight and gone for the creepy/suspense angle, or made it a very, very black comedy. Some really nice DVD extras, though, including interviews with many of the cast (Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Glenn Close, Christopher Walker, Bette Midler, Jon Lovitz) and a nice director's commentary.

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johnz
Captain

PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:25 pm

Ok, I just saw Dead and Breakfast. An independant zombie film that had a thick satire towards other horror films. Pretty funny and entertaining for this independant film.

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GL
Moderator

PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:25 am

Some good movies that I've seen recently:

- Sideways (2004) - I watched this for the first time the other day and really liked it. A very quirky movie. I think most people have seen it or heard about it so I'll skip the description.

- L'Auberge Espagnole (2002) - Another good movie. (I just copied the imdb description) As part of a job that he is promised, Xavier, an economics student in his twenties, signs on to a European exchange program in order to gain working knowledge of the Spanish language. Promising that they'll remain close, he says farewell to his loving girlfriend, then heads to Barcelona. Following his arrival, Xavier is soon thrust into a cultural melting pot when he moves into an apartment full of international students. An Italian, an English girl, a boy from Denmark, a young woman from Belgium, a German and a girl from Tarragona all join him in a series of adventures that serve as an initiation to life.

- Siki (1992) - This is a documentary by Dutch filmmaker Niek Koppen and I'm not sure if it's widely available or not. It's about the life of former Light Heavyweight boxing champion Battling Siki who was the first African fighter to win a world title. It follows Siki from his childhood in St. Louis, Senegal to his leaving for France without telling his family at the age of 8 with a German dancer whose ship had docked in St. Louis and on up to his shooting death at the age of 28 in the Hell's Kitchen section of New York in 1925 with footage from his boxing career (including rare footage of his title loss when he fought Mike McTigue, an Irishman, on St. Patrick's Day in Dublin right in the middle of the Irish Civil War, lol) and stories of his colorful life in between. A very interesting person and film.

- Tampopo (1985) - I just watched this again not too long ago. A very quirky and entertaining Japanese movie. (imdb description) In this humorous paean to the joys of food, the main story is about trucker Goro who rides into town like a modern Shane to help Tampopo set up the perfect fast-food noodle restaurant. Woven into this main story are a number of smaller stories about the importance of food, ranging from a gangster who mixes hot sex with food to an old lady terrorizing a shopkeeper by compulsive squeezing of his wares.

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Numbah4
Moderator

PostPosted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 6:00 pm

Stevie

A documentary that turns out to be as much about the filmmaker as the subject. From the director of Hoop Dreams, Steve James returns to Southern Illinois to visit Stevie, a young man that James played big brother to while in university. After graduating, James moved to Chicago and lost all contact with Stevie. Ten years later, James returns to catch up with Stevie.

The film synopsis says that as James does this, Stevie commits a brutal crime, but in truth, James loses contact with Stevie for two more years, and then returns upon the news that Stevie has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor.

I found this film to be really exploitative, for while James certainly mave have an affection for Stevie, he continually gives the impression that he is merely working, and Stevie is nothing more than a meal-ticket. James realizes this at times, and questions his own motivations. Ultimately, he does little other than document Stevie's tragic life -- Good for a filmmaker, lousy for a big brother, which is how Stevie views James, and likely why he allows himself to be captured on film.

It's a pretty distressing film, as it illuminates the life of true trailer trash. Stevie was born out of wedlock, and essentially given away to his step-grandmother after his mother marries another man. As a young child, Stevie suffered horrific abuse at the hands of his mother, who admits to whipping him, and would do so to any child who "talks back". Highlights from pysch reports reveal that Stevie is treated as a pawn in a battle between his mother and his "grand-mother". Stevie was eventually removed and placed into foster-care, where he was definitely raped by other children at least once, likely more.

As an adult, Stevie has been married and divorced once, to a woman he proudly admits to beating, cause he "won't take shit", and is now engaged to a woman modestly described as slightly retarded.

All of these people realize that Stevie likely commited the abuse he was accused of, but do not seem to hold him accountable. Certainly his past should be taken into account, but only the mother of the victim seems truly upset by what he did. Even the community lets it slide, because they're not directly involved.

The most interesting thing about this movie is the window it allows you to gaze through into the community of poor rural America. Whenever I've made trailer trash jokes, I assume that they're an exaggeration of the truth, having reached cliche status. Think of all your stereotypical characteristics, and they're a truth in this film. It's eye-opening, that in a country so rich and prosperous, people live like this. And I'd imagine there are quite a few communities like this throughout America, though I suspect Stevie and his family are the worst of the worst.

A lot of people have this movie as one of the best of 2002/03. While I wouldn't rank it nearly that high, it might not be a bad choice, especially if you're eyeing up "Charlies Angels 2".

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Canucko29
Veteran

PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 1:14 am

I watched Batman Begins and was absolutely shocked to see how good it was. Easily, the most entertaining movie I have seen since Kill Bill Vol. 1.

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Sittler
Site Admin

PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:47 am

I just watched the original Planet of the Apes on a 35th anniversary special DVD. This was my favorite movie as a kid, and as I hadn't seen it in a number of years I wanted to see if it still held up (it does --although I'll no longer vouch for the many Ape sequels and the TV series, which I also used to love, ha ha).

The best part of this was the bonus documentary, hosted by head chimp Roddy McDowall and featuring many of the movie's main players (Charlton Heston, the actresses who played Dr. Zira and Nova, etc.). The most interesting tidbit came from Kim Hunter (Dr. Zira), who related how lunch breaks went down on the set. She explained that the actors in ape costumes couldn't remove their makeup (too time-consuming) and so had to eat dressed as apes. And how, without anyone telling them to do so, they separated into groups depending on which ape they were -- so that all the "gorillas" sat at one table, all the "orangutans" at another, and the "chimps" at another still. Self-imposed segregation!

Hunter went on to say that even though she was quite good friends with Sir Maurice Evans (who played the orangutan Dr. Zaius), they completely avoided each other while they were in makeup.

Highly recommended!

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FlyersHawks
Site Admin

PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:44 pm

I recently watched A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love.

Both are by the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. I hadn't seen anything by him previously although I've often seen his Three Colours trilogy in shops and thought about picking it up.

I'd suggest you try and see these films if you've not already done so.

Reviews:

A Short Film About Love

A Short Film About Killing

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Maloney
Captain

PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:26 am

I would highly recommend the "colors" trilogy as well, especially the first two. A brilliant filmaker who knows what the word "poetry" means.

Also another movie I was gonna mention that´s probably in rentals near you is "Mary full of Grace".
(Maria llena eres de gracia). The film is presently showing on HBO, at least in Latin America. It´s an HBO sponsored film about young Colombian women "mules". Mules are labels for those who smuggle cocaine in their stomachs, usually wrapped up in condoms. The director is American. Joshua Marsten. I actually met him at Schlump City´s film festival, and he grew up near me. Good guy, and really young.
I was sceptical that it would be crap, that an American director, who´s never lived here and who barely speaks Spanish, couldn´t get this Colombian reality right, but I think he did a great job, with some notable exceptions. It felt pretty real. They also had to film it in Ecuador because no one would insure the film crew in Colombia. The movie has won several awards and the main actress Catalina Sandino was nominated for an Oscar.
Not an exceptional movie, but definately worth checking out.

http://www.preview-online.com/w2004/feature_articles/maria/

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rangfan
Veteran

PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:04 pm

I recently watched A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. Both classics, and I'm sure everyone's seen them at least once if not multiple times.

I hadn't though, so I rented them. Great flicks, both of them, but I liked On the Waterfront better (the story was tighter). My only knowledge of Brando came from Godfather, so it was interesting to see him as a young buck.

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Huxley
Veteran

PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 2:41 pm

Along with Apocalypse Now the best war movie ever made: "The Battle of Algiers". Just look how good things can get if the filmmaker avoids writing stuff on our nose (I hope this Swedish proverb gets throe)

I stole this from IMDB.COM:

An historian writing about the Algerian war against the French colonial authorities entitled his book "A Savage War of Peace". "The Battle of Algiers" provides many answers to that enigmatic title. It does not attempt to show us the entire war but centers on the city of Algiers. Even though you are told at the beginning that no documentary footage is used it is at times hard to believe as many of the images you see have a stark and often unsettling reality to them. Considering that this was a co production between Algeria and Italy the film is remarkable in that it does not turn itself a political tirade by taking sides. Instead the camera is a sort of neutral observer allowing us to witness events that spiraled from individual demonstrations to a full scale war of savage intensity. French officers who fought the Nazis a few years before degenerated into the mode of their former enemy while Algerians had no problems exploding bombs that would kill their own people. The camera shows no heros or villains but humanity in its darkest forms. This is a powerful film with superb direction and cinematography. It truly is one of a kind and once seen will never be forgotten.

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GL
Moderator

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 1:07 am

I saw the first hour of The Battle of Algiers the other day. It was snowing pretty hard so my reception got too glitchy to watch the whole movie but from what I saw, it was pretty interesting. I especially enjoyed the part near the beginning of the movie where Ali La Pointe was running and got tripped by some guy who then had the smug, cocky expression on his face wiped away by a headbutt from Ali, lol. Some other films that I've recently watched:

- March of the Penguins - A good movie with the narration done by one of my favorite actors, Morgan Freeman. The scenery is amazing but it is a little slow at times, which I guess was to be expected. Overall, I would recommend it.

- EXPO - Magic of the White City - A documentary about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair narrated by Gene Wilder. Overview taken from columbianexpo.com:

Against the backdrop of 1893’s troubles with workers' rights, prejudice, discrimination and corruption, the World’s Columbian Exposition casts a brief ray of hope for the future of humanity.

Narrated by Gene Wilder, EXPO - Magic of the White City explores the world of 1893 through a cinematic visit to Chicago's Columbian Exposition. Many of the world's greatest achievements in art, architecture, science, technology and culture are unveiled there. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for his design of New York City's Central Park, and constructed under the supervision of Daniel Burnham. The Fair was an engineering marvel.

On opening day, President Grover Cleveland depressed a golden telegraph key which sent the first courses of electricity throughout the Fair powering fountains, machines, electric railways and thousands of lights. It was the first use of electricity on such a massive scale.

In addition, fairgoers enjoy the Midway Plaisance where a one-mile boulevard of fun offers camel riding and guilty pleasures such as belly dancing, street fighting and beer drinking. Nearly 28 million visit the "White City," which inspires future innovators like Henry Ford, Walt Disney and Frank Lloyd Wright, and debuts the Ferris Wheel and Cracker Jack®.

Filmed in High-Definition, EXPO - Magic of the White City immerses viewers in one of the world’s biggest extravaganzas and one of the most unforgettable events in American history. There will never be another event like it...or will there?

If you have an interest in this sort of stuff, I would also recommend The World's Greatest Fair which is a documentary about the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Overview from theworldsgreatestfair.com:

The largest World’s Fair in history included the first Olympic games on American soil, where competitors were openly administered drugs and marathon runners were chased off course by dogs; the first Ferris wheel, so large that a wedding was held in one of its compartments on horseback; a loin cloth wearing tribe that shocked and enthralled visitors by eating dogs; and the infamous Geronimo, who sold visitors autographs and his hat – and then replaced it with another one from a box hidden under the table.

These stories and many more are told in The World's Greatest Fair.

This engaging feature-length documentary looks at an important time in American history through a series of compelling, intimate and entertaining stories. The movie features hundreds of never before seen images, the first High Definition transfer of rare motion pictures of the Fair, and interviews with nationally recognized historians, authors and World's Fair experts. The documentary also includes firsthand accounts of the events of the day read by well-known St. Louisans including Mayor Francis Slay, Ozzie Smith, Stan Musial, Joe Buck, Clarence Harmon, James Buford, Mary Strauss and Stan Kann. A year and a half in production, more than 150 St. Louisans volunteered their time to work on this documentary.

Produced with the latest High Definition technology - the same technology used in making movies like "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" and "Spy Kids 2" - this documentary has received wide critical acclaim...

- Some Mother's Son - Saw this again recently. Plot summary from imdb:

Based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in a British prison, in which IRA prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. The film focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle to save the lives of their sons.

This a very interesting film set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Helen Mirren does a great job here (as usual). She even gets a cup of urine tossed in her face in one scene. I would definitely recommend this one.

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Maloney
Captain

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:57 am

"Vera Grave", most recent film by British director, Mike Leigh. A fucking miracle they showed it in Schlump City. I love Mike Leigh films cause they´re always brilliantly written and acted. Any of his films could just as easily be presented on stage, as there is almost never any special effects and is entirely based on pretty simple dramatic, original situations. Although I haven´t checked it out, I´m sure Mike Leigh must have extensive experience in theater, probably before he got into film.

Vera Grave is a look at abortion in London during the 50s. I guess it wouldn´t be for everybody, seeing as it´s filmed in dreary industrial, poorly lighted, slow, fashion, which for many would be a turn off (my sons weren´t very impressed), but I think it was a brilliant effect. Top notch acting as always, especially a particular character named Reg.

All in all, not my fav of his, but an interesting look at abortion, and at post war England as well. The film also won a lot of awards. Definately worth seeing, especially to escape all this Hollywood pap and other pretentious, quirky indie filmaker visions.

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Sittler
Site Admin

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:23 pm

I'm a big Mike Leigh fan as well. Life is Sweet, Naked, and Secrets & Lies are three great films, in my opinion.

There was also one clunker of his that I saw, Career Girls, but I'll give him a pass on that. I'll check out Vera Grave when I get a chance.

Last week I borrowed The Anchorman DVD from the library. Pretty awful. I guess I'm too old to laugh at boner jokes.

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Numbah4
Moderator

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:33 pm

I was disappointed in Anchorman, but there are some great quotable lines from that flick.

I love busting this one out at the bars:

"I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal ... People know me ... I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

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Huxley
Veteran

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:36 pm

[Sittler]

I just saw "The Corporation," a 2004 documentary on corporations -- their history, their "pyschological makeup," and the havoc they're wreaking on this planet. Not a bad documentary, although a bit simplistic in the way it delivers its message (soundbites, cartoons, clips of old movies), and very, very one-sided (plenty of interviews with Michael Moore, Noam Chomksy and the gang; almost nothing from anyone who might have defended corporations).

Probably the most interesting conceit here is looking at a corporation as a person, and putting that person on the pyschiatrist's couch. The conclusion is that corporations -- if they act as corporations "should" -- are psychopaths.

[*Maloney]

Prairie Home Companion (Prairie DOG Companion)

Of course I saw this whilst in Minnesota. Keillor and Altman really took a dump on this one. Had the potential to be a brilliant flick, and in fact had some ample breasted moments.

For one thing, if you don´t know squat about Keillor´s Prairie Home Companion, you see the movie and you think it´s a musical schtick. That´s not the jist . . . it´s the revival of old radio story telling narrative, stupid! Keillor limits himself to one half way comical schpeel on Duct Tape, which was ruined by Meryl Streep´s character´s jealous blathering, and that about it folks. Overought fairy tale plot, glowingly miscasted . . . and once again, I had to suffer through this fucking cunt, Kevin Kline. I´ve had an irrational hatred of this thespian since watching his mug on the Big(deal) Chill. Him and William Hurtin´, oh fur fuck´s sake, don´t get me started.

We have positives however. I thought Keillor´s acting was brilliant. Wierd looking geezer as well. Looks like someone took a two by four and nailed him right on the bridge on the schnozz, leaving a dent in the middle of his face, and popping out a fleshy fishgob below. Kind of resembles one of those geeks in Junior High School who were both annoying and funny, and a touch eccentric, but just bothered the fuck out of you for being such a dork. Meryl Streep was also excellent as usual. I just can´t think of a better actress. Ever!! Their scenes in this movie were usually spot on, and Woodsy Harrelson and John Reilly were enjoyable, as was the music and the original cast of Pririe Home Companion, Lily Tomlin barely ok, but after that . . . this movie took the Browns to the Super Bowl in the Cineamaplex batroom.

Although a fan of Maya Rudolf on SNL, what the fuck was she doing in this movie? Tommy Lee Jonesy was a waist of time as well . . . and then, there was Kevin Kline. I´m ready to start up an all encompassing Hate Kevin Kline club. As Guy Noir, he basically had the lead role here, and brought the movie experience down to new lows with each scene he dominated, which were way way, way way too many. Fuck you and your name, Kevy. God, I detest this guy. And the mysterious cunt in the white dress was just plain ridiculous. Lindsey Lohan was not as offensive as one might imagine, but obviously was cast for young viewer box office appeal.

But it spites me to say, the few good scenes makes this movie actually worth seeing, especially watching Keillor on celloid and Streep´s majesty, or if I may, at least to just hate the fuck (and savor it) out of Kevin Kline. Nothing like a jolly dose of unadulterated, inoffensive HATE.

Keillor with his screenplay really let´s us down. Yer one of the most subltle, funny storytellers of our time Gary, you and your well enunciated geeky voice, so stick to to it, dentface. Or at least highlight it at times, and not ignore it nearly completely.

And I´m dissapointed in you, Bobby Altman. You´ve made enough brilliant movies (most notably Nashville and Carver´s, Shortcuts), to realize what our humble narrator is going on about.

And oh yeah, fuck fuck fuck off, Kevin Kline, you schmatzy cunt!
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Sticks and stones and weed and bones

[FlyersHawks]

I saw Jack Black's new film, Nacho Libre, on Friday.

I quite like Jack Black and while this had a couple of funny moments, overall it was a disappointment.

One plus was the Mexican actress, Ana de la Reguera, who co-starred.

First time I've seen her but she's worthy of a place in the Hoofah forum:

[Sittler]

I watched "End of the Century" last night, a 2003 documentary on the Ramones. Although it wasn't as good as "Crumb," it was similar to that film in that it showed some pretty disturbing and unsavory stuff going on in the protagonists' lives. I hadn't known about most of these things as I'm not a huge fan of the group, but overall I really enjoyed this film.

Here's a brief clip from youtube.com. Dee Dee Ramone raps!

[boulton]

Saw the movie "Why We Fight" last night. It's about the Military-Industrial complex which has clearly become our foreign policy.

I pretty much agreed with 99.9 % of it...... and if hard pressed I'd have to 100%.

Anyhow, the film has a website.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/main.html
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pko_dABNcc8

[boulton]

[boulton]

By the way I'm litigating a case against a guy who's brother did the soundtrack for the movie Crumb. He told me about it two days ago. Is the movie any good? Funny, that I heard about this a couple of days ago.

Said his brother used to play with Leon Redbone too. A bright defense attorney who I really enjoy dealing with.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pko_dABNcc8

[Sittler]

Crumb's a great documentary, although you sort of have to be in the right mood for it. There are plenty of scenes from that movie that have stayed with me 10 years after I first saw it.

Here's a review from Roger Ebert that I think is dead on:

Link

Crumb

BY ROGER EBERT / May 26, 1995

People who have been damaged by life can make the most amazing adjustments in order to survive and find peace. Sometimes it is a toss-up whether to call them mad, or courageous. Consider the case of R. Crumb. He was the most famous comics artist of the 1960s, whose images like "Keep on Truckin' " and "Fritz the Cat" and his cover for the '60s album "Cheap Thrills" helped to fix the visual look of the decade. He was also a person hanging onto sanity by his fingernails, and it is apparently true that his art saved his life.

"Crumb," which is one of the most remarkable and haunting documentaries ever made, tells the story of Robert Crumb, his brothers Max and Charles, and an American childhood that looks normal in old family photographs but conceals deep wounds and secrets. It is the kind of film that you watch in disbelief, as layer after layer is peeled away, and you begin to understand the strategies that have kept Crumb alive and made him successful while one of his brothers became a recluse in an upstairs bedroom and the other passes his time literally sitting on a bed of nails.

Movies like this do not usually get made because the people who have lives like this usually are not willing to reveal them. "Crumb" was directed by Terry Zwigoff, who had two advantages: He had known Crumb well for years, and Zwigoff was himself so unhappy and suicidal during the making of the film that in a sense Crumb let him do it as a favor.

Of Crumb's importance and reputation, there is not much doubt.

His original illustrations and the first editions of his 1960s and 1970s underground comic books command high prices. His new work is shown in galleries and is in important collections. No less an authority than Robert Hughes, the art critic of Time magazine, appears in "Crumb" to declare him "the Brueghel of the last half of the 20th century." But "Crumb" is not really about the art, although it will cause you to look at his familiar images with a new eye. It is about the artist, who grew up in a dysfunctional family led by a father who was an overbearing tyrant - a depressive, sadistic bully who, according to this film, beat his sons and lost few opportunities to demean them. (There were also two sisters, who declined to participate in the film.) All three brothers retreated into fantasies in an attempt to cope with their home life. It was Charles, the oldest, who first started to draw comic strips, and then Robert began to copy him. The brothers seem to have had strong fantasy relationships with comic characters; Charles began to pretend he was Long John Silver. And while it is one thing to learn that Robert masturbated while looking at comics, especially his own, it is another to learn that his prime erotic fixation was with Bugs Bunny.

Many of the people in Crumb's life talk with great frankness about him, including his brothers, his mother, his first wife, Dana (who says he began to develop a "new vision" in 1966 after experimenting with drugs), and his present wife, Aline Kominsky, who recounts bizarre details of his lifestyle with acceptance and understanding. We learn most, however, from Robert himself.

He was intensely unhappy in high school, nursed deep grudges against his contemporaries and uses high school enemies as the models for many of the unattractive caricatures in his work.

It is surprising to learn how closely autobiographical some of his drawings are; in his comics, men are fixated by callipygian women and dream of riding them piggyback, and then we see Robert doing the same thing at a gallery opening. He pages through the faces in a high school yearbook, and then we see their look-alikes in his cartoons.

If Robert was unhappy in high school, Charles found it an ordeal from which he never really recovered. In a visit to the family home, occupied by Charles and his mother, we visit the upstairs room that he rarely left, and with Robert essentially acting as the interviewer, he remembers, "I was goodlooking, but there was something wrong with my personality; I was the most unpopular kid in school." On a visit to Max, the youngest brother, we find him living as a monk, drawing a long linen tape through his body to clean his intestines, and showing recent oil paintings of considerable skill (he still has his mail-order test from the Famous Artists School).

Mrs. Crumb, interviewed while sprawled on a sofa and worrying darkly about the window shades, seems complacent about the fact that Charles never leaves the house: "At least he's not out taking illegal drugs or making some woman miserable." Zwigoff shows us details of many Crumb comic strips that are intensely violent, sadistic and hateful toward women. And he interviews such voices of sanity as Deirdre English, former editor of Mother Jones magazine, who finds his work pornographic - "an arrested juvenile vision." So it is, and her voice expresses not puritanism, but concern and simple observation. Yet as I left the film, I felt that if anyone had earned the right to express his own vision, it was Crumb, since his art is so clearly a coping mechanism that has allowed him to survive, and deal with his pain. "Crumb" is a film that gives new meaning to the notion of art as therapy.

[boulton]

Thanks Sittler. I think I'm going to check it out. The attorney I know does share the last name of the pianist from New Orleans that did perform a majority of the music (according to the official website).
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pko_dABNcc8

[GL]

Crumb is definitely worth checking out. He's an interesting guy for sure. I actually have a couple of autographed R. Crumb comics. There's a scene in Crumb where some guy asks him for his autograph and he says he doesn't do that kind of thing. I guess he doesn't do that unless he gets paid. (Off topic, but I saw an autographed copy of Muck on ebay a while back.)

I saw an interesting documentary called The Mushroom Club yesterday. It's about survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It's really interesting, though there are several disturbing images throughout. There was one boy being tended to right after the bomb had hit who was missing a lot of his mouth. He had his teeth but there was nothing covering them. You can read more about the film here:

Link

[*Maloney]

Speaking of documentaries, saw one last night that was rather fascinating. I believe it´s an HBO documentary and it´s called "Control Room", and it´s pretty much about the independent Arab world news agency, Al Jazeera, and their reporting of the Iraq war.

Focuses a lot on how much Al Jazeera pisses off the Bush Administration by showing the human Arab side of things in the war, showing the civilian deaths and the Iraqi rage and point of view, far different than the coverage of Fox and CNN entrenched reporters. While making no bones where their sympathies are, Al Jazeera´s reporters unveil the American propaganda machine the military contols which can be argued is just as bad, if not worse. One reporter sits there and laughs as a staged demonstration "welcoming" the invaders is carried out by "Iraqis" that don´t even have an Iraqi accent. This welcoming commitee was brought in by the military for a show, as was that famous footage of these geezers toppling a Saddam statue - sorry folks, it was all staged by American military propaganda.

While I´d say Al Jazeera is probably just as biased, or more, as their counterparts, they make no outrageous claims of "fair and balanced" and do come out seeming a bit sympathetic (at least in this documentary) especially as an underdog sticking up for their belaguered people in the face of a massive American military propaganda machine controled by Central Command, which goes by the title of CentCom, and which one Al Jazeera reporter laughs and calls, Sitcom. They appeared to be a much more professional operation than I would have imagined, crewed by Western educated, secular Arabs.

I´d have to wonder if Cheney and co had it in mind that Al Jazeera coverage would be what the Arab world would be rightfully and logically getting in this war, and what it would do to American´s reputation and interest in the Middle East . . . total disaster.

Anyway, a pretty fascinating documentary which definately casts a shadow on on the role of "free, independent media" on both sides. A huge advantage the West would have, however, would be a Press at home that doesn´t necesarily abide by Centcom´s colored propagandist vision of the war, whereas the Arab world must unfortunately rely on Al Jazeera as their lone independent source.

Here´s a link:

http://www.culturevulture.net/Movies8/ControlRoom.htm
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Sticks and stones and weed and bones

[Sittler]

I just saw "Igby Goes Down" (2002) starring Conkey McConkey's dark-haired brother, Kieran. J.D. Salinger should sue, because the producers figured out a way to make an updated, crappy version of "Catcher in the Rye" without paying him a cent.

The main problem here was, the audience is supposed to care about a super-rich, disaffected, smart-ass, self-pitying teenager. And that was just never going to happen.

The McConkey kid was nothing special (I did like him in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, though). Ryan Phillipe sucked. Jeff Goldblum and Susan Sarandon, in supporting roles, were pretty good.

:fight: :fight: :fight: out of 10.

[JIMMY NAILS]

I saw Igby Goes Down when it was out in theatres, and I had completely forgotten about it until I saw Sittler's post. I guess it left a big impression with me. It was also a first date movie...ooops.

Watched Stranger than Fiction last week, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I try not to take expectations into films, but it happens. Strong supporting cast, and a feel good ending that (surprisingly) didn't make me want to vomit.

Also watched We Jam Econo recently on DVD. It's a documentary on political punk group the Minutemen, one of my favourite bands of all time. If you're not a fan of the group, you'll probably find it a little dull. I thought it was great, but they tended to show live clips of the band a little too often. I like seeing clips of the band, but I felt that it kinda broke up the storyline too much.

[Sittler]

I'm about 20 years late, but I finally caught "The Thin Blue Line," the 1988 documentary about a man wrongly convicted for the murder of a Texas policeman. A very powerful film. It was almost comical how inept/corrupt the justice system in Texas was (and I assume still is).

[jay]

Just saw Domino with Keira Nightley (sp) and Mickey Rourke. I came away with 2 things. Mickey Rourke is a cool Mofo. And Keira would be smoking hot if she had tits. Lap dance scene was rather pleasant. Oh yeah the movie was gritty and violent as well.

[Corson27]

Yeah, I've heard about Crumb for some time now and it sounds really interesting. I'll watch any documentary if there is something to learn from it.

Has anybody seen, Legend of a Porn Star: Ron Jeremy? I'm sure that would be interesting.
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An inbred hunter is in the forest and he comes across this hot, naked chick laying on a blanket with her legs spread wide open. She says, "I'm game". So he shot her.

[Sittler]

I've seen parts of it, and I didn't think it was that special. The best porn-related documentary I've ever seen is "Screwed" (and Ron Jeremy is in that, too), about smut publisher Al Goldstein.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117573/

There's just about no information there, ha ha. I guess it's not that popular. It might not even be available on video/DVD. I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996, and it really cracked me up.

EDIT: Found a review of "Screwed."

http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_05.08.97/film/coverb.php

[Corson27]

Thanks for the link, it sounds like a pretty good movie that pulls no punches. I like the fact that the director makes his movies the way he wants to make them and isn't worried about getting them into the mainstream. He sacrifices making a lot more money on his films, but in this way, he makes his films exactly how he wants without worrying about sensorship and ratings systems.

About "Crumb", I've been buying cheap VHS movies lately. You can find a ton of them in those bargain bins at Superstore and a lot of them are crap but you can find the odd gem. I've picked up a bunch of Stanley Kubrick movies, Scorsese's "Mean Streets", etc. and I took a chance on a movie called "Ghost World" starring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johannson and Steve Buscemi, and it was pretty decent. It was directed by Terry Zwigoff, his second movie after "Crumb". It came quite a few years later and I think he has only done the 2 movies. He may have done one since "Ghost World" but I'd have to check on Rotten Tomatoes. "Ghost World" wasn't action packed or anything, but it was a good character study.
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An inbred hunter is in the forest and he comes across this hot, naked chick laying on a blanket with her legs spread wide open. She says, "I'm game". So he shot her.

[Sittler]

"Crumb" is a great documentary. If you see it on sale in a bargain bin, buy one for me too, and I'll trade you my Shayne Corson junior fight tape for it.

I'll tell you what's not great, and that's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Some funny actors, some funny lines, some funny sight gags, but it's so damn flimsy. Just like Anchorman.

Maybe I just don't get "stupid" comedies, or whatever you want to call them. Dumb and Dumber, Zoolander, and Dude, Where's My Car? all gave me a headache. I liked There's Something About Mary and Kingpin, but for the most part I avoid that kind of fare.