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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 21:26:43 GMT
I always wonder how far cinema can go and what the limits are, because in recent years, cinema in Europe has gone far beyond anything I ever would have expected. Considering the fact that Hedy Lamarr appeared nude in Ecstasy as far back at 1933, clearly there is no longer much left that can shock people. In France, for example, movies with graphic sex scenes including full view of genitals are generally forbidden to viewers under the age of 12. It should be mentioned, though, that extremely few people of this age see such things because they are far more interested in The Hobbit, Star Trek or The Avengers. The nasty stuff, anybody can see it on the internet.
But film directors keep trying to go a bit farther anyway. In France, it is almost de rigueur for certain actors to be shown with full erections from time to time, and this also seems to be true of certain surrounding countries.
But now we have the new Lars von Trier film Nymphomaniac being released soon -- Christmas day in Denmark and Spain but not until New Year's day in Belgium and France. Years ago I already saw Lars von Trier's movie The Idiots containing non simulated sex, but it was made with unknowns, at least for those of us who are not Danish. Nymphomaniac reputedly also has non simulated sex, but this time it stars people like Shia LaBeouf, Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Uma Thurman, Jamie Bell, Christian Slater, etc. So the whole cinema world is wondering who did what to whom? So far, it seems like Shia LaBeouf has been the only actor admitting to anything. Well, I'll go see it, not because I need to see non simulated sex (after all, I have access to the internet), but because Lars von Trier is an extremely interesting director albeit also an extremely weird one, so of course I am intrigued. I'm not even sure how long the whole movie is because part I is announced at 122 minutes, but then there is a part II coming out at the end of January.
Anyway, here is the trailer. Don't worry -- there is nothing shocking in it.
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Post by htmb on Dec 18, 2013 21:34:20 GMT
At first glance it appears to be absolutely depressing.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 21:44:00 GMT
Just about every film by Lars von Trier is depressing. And after all, nymphomania is a serious mental disease. Two years ago, the British film 'Shame' starring Michael Fassbender about male sex addiction was about as depressing as you can get. And also quite graphic, of course.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2013 22:13:50 GMT
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Post by htmb on Dec 18, 2013 22:37:11 GMT
Sometimes I watch a movie to be better informed, but most of the time I watch to relax, escape problems of the day, and to enjoy being entertained. I will skip this one because it seems to be just the opposite. Films of this type, covering mental illness and/or addiction, are just too exhausting for me and I find they stay with me and drag me down. I have no problem with anyone else wanting to see it, but it's not for me.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2013 11:45:18 GMT
This is the first time I've seen a promotional campaign for a film that offers free bungee catapulting.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2013 12:55:58 GMT
I recently saw American Hustle and loved it!!! Amy Adams, whom I think is one of our finest actresses around is fantastic. her range is amazing. Highly recommended.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 28, 2013 17:32:46 GMT
Oh -- I am jealous! I really want to see that movie & I want to see it on the big screen.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2013 17:42:12 GMT
It's always interesting to see how films are marketed in different countries. In France, the title is going to be "American Bluff" when it is released in February.
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Post by lola on Dec 30, 2013 18:26:18 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 18:40:32 GMT
I like perhaps six of the films on that list but have only seen ten of them. Even though I liked those movies, maybe only one or two of them would make my top ten, though. I confess that I have never heard of a lot of the movies on the list.
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Post by lola on Dec 30, 2013 20:12:04 GMT
Maybe that's why Brody is a highbrow blogger and not their regular reviewer. I thought you'd have seen them if anyone, K.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 20:28:14 GMT
Just taking the film "Les Coquillettes" as an example, I have no idea where he might have seen it, because it played in about 2 cinemas in Paris for about 2 weeks and the grand total of those of us who might have seen it might be 5000 for the entire planet. It was a completely self-indulgent and amateurish navel-gazing film about marginal filmmakers participating in a very minor festival in a minor Italian city. These three girls young women just wandered around and had boring conversations with other festival goers while one of them hunted for sex and another one tried to avoid it. Who knows what the third one was doing? There were hardly even any actors in it -- they just used the real festival goers for the scenes. At the end of the movie, they return to Paris an prepare a dish of miniature elbow macaroni ("coquillettes") which is a standard comfort food when you are feeling blue.
Yeah, I think my brain is damaged just remembering this movie.
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Post by lola on Dec 30, 2013 20:32:18 GMT
Funny! Reminds me of Junior High when I claimed my favorite singer was someone no one-- including myself -- had ever heard but I thought made me sound highfalutin.
Confessions of a Poser.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2013 20:37:28 GMT
And France was even the only country where the movie was ever released. Is it responsible for a major movie critic to list movies like this that he knows that nobody has ever seen? Maybe he just doesn't want anybody to be able to contradict him.
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Post by lola on Dec 31, 2013 0:47:50 GMT
Answer to your rhetorical question: Nope. Not a bit fair. Closer to goofy.
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Post by lola on Dec 31, 2013 1:12:28 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2013 7:55:36 GMT
In any case, even though I will see one last movie today, for me the best movie of the year remains Heimat.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 31, 2013 8:36:38 GMT
Brody is a self-impressed twit.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 31, 2013 9:00:02 GMT
I recently saw American Hustle and loved it!!! Amy Adams, whom I think is one of our finest actresses around is fantastic. her range is amazing. Highly recommended. Yes ~~ totally agree! I couldn't hold out, so watched it on the small screen and reported on it in the appropriate thread, Reply #1337.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2014 21:15:52 GMT
Here is a headline from Le Figaro, the main conservative newspaper in France:
Le Loup de Wall Street, champion des «fuck»
French journalists love to count this stuff, so they have determined that "fuck" is said 506 times in 179 minutes, or, as they say, 2.826 times per minute, making it the new champion.
2. Summer of Sam by Spike Lee (435 fucks) 3. Nil by Mouth by Gary Oldman (428 fucks) 4. Casino by Martin Scorsese (422 fucks) 5. Alpha Dog by Nick Cassavetes (367 fucks)
"Fuck counter" must be an interesting thing to be able to put on one's C.V.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 18:04:18 GMT
Well, not exactly current, but it is coming out next month. It looks so silly, I think I might enjoy it a lot.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 19:22:54 GMT
Yes, I've been fascinated by the trailer for a couple of weeks now.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 19:40:31 GMT
Ralph Fiennes as a comedic character actor. Who knew?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2014 19:44:17 GMT
Well, he was pretty funny in Harry Potter.
Wes Anderson has never managed to pull me into his universe, but it is so quirky that I have never lost hope that he will succeed some day. I like it that he tries so hard. Michel Gondry has succeeded a bit more, in terms of similar directors.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 6, 2014 21:14:45 GMT
I echo your feelings about Wes Anderson.
Thanks for that trailer, Lizzy. If the movie is half as good, we're in for some fun. I love Ralph Fiennes & this looks like a great role for him. Also, the trailer immensely gains in value by the fact that Adrian Brody gets punched in the face. *approve*
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2014 12:54:21 GMT
I am very much looking forward to seeing this movie.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2014 15:47:22 GMT
That looks great.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2014 21:59:14 GMT
It was wonderful. I was lucky to see it at a premiere where the teacher and all of the students were in attendance. Since the filming was already two years ago, it was absolutely fascinating to see how they have all evolved -- and wonderful to see that they are all still in France. Meanwhile, tonight I was watching Anne Fontaine's "Perfect Mothers" on television. I mentioned this movie on this or another thread at some time in the past when it came out here, since it is excellent. The title has been variable as it was also called "Two Mothers" and has apparently been retitled "Adore" in English speaking markets. It is based on Doris Lessing's novella "The Grandmothers." The basic premise is the whole "MILF" thing, and if you don't know what that means, you should probably avoid such a film. Anyway, I went hunting on the internet to see what had become of the movie in other countries and was rather disappointed to see that it has a pretty terrible rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but most of the reviews that I read were totally moralistic about the subject matter but did not complain about the acting or the directing. Basically, most of the reviewers seem to think that such a subject should not be made into a movie. Oddly enough, I found one quite positive review from a Memphis newspaper: blogs.commercialappeal.com/the_bloodshot_eye/2013/09/adore---a-review.html
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2014 20:49:18 GMT
Today, I went to my normal Wednesday morning multiplex, swiped my unlimited pass through the machine and got a ticket for the Kazakh movie "Harmony Lessons" which is the sort of movie that fascinates me since it allows me to get a glimpse of a culture that I know nothing about.
Unfortunately, before the cinema opened at 8:45 (which is probably earlier than the starting time in most cities), just as I was having my free coffee that the cinema provides (they roll out a table with coffee and tea on Wednesday morning, which is the day that films come out), the stars of another movie showed up. The other movie was Les Gazelles, which is about 30-something women going wild (Sex in the City style but worse) and they announced "free croissants, pains au chocolat and vodka" for everybody going to the first showing of their movie. Serving vodka free of charge to random people is completely illegal in France which has very strict anti alcohol laws, but their total insouciance was very pleasant. Since you were supposed to show your ticket to get the free goodies, I didn't even try. Nevertheless, since I will be seeing "Harmony Lessons" no matter what, I walked into Les Gazelles instead. Before the movie started, the actresses were back and served shots of vodka and distributed croissants to anybody who asked. One of them tripped on the stadium seating steps and the croissants went flying, but it didn't matter. No, I didn't have any of it -- no vodka and no croissant.
Well, I didn't think much of the movie even though I always appreciate it when I can see that the actors had a lot of fun making it. But then again, I am not really the target audience for this sort of film. I will be curious to see if young (and not-so-young) women flock to see it.
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