With the curious drought of good (new) content at in the multiplexes these days (there are a lot of great limited releases, but none where we could both have access) Kurt and Andrew instead shift gears a bit and have a solid look at three ‘older’ films: Bruce McDonald’s HARD CORE LOGO, Jonathan Glazer’s BIRTH and Michael Winterbottom’s THE KILLER INSIDE ME. Some tangents on Pontypool (again), Under The Skin and Winterbottom’s diverse filmography ensue before Andrew closes on a revisit to Lady in the Water and Kubrick’s proto-feature, the 67 minute noir Killer’s Kiss and Valhalla Rising (again!) It will be back to regular programming and the return of Gamble next week, but for now, we hope you enjoy our micro-movieclub styled episode. Be thankful you were spared Kurt’s political rantings which were not captured ‘on air.’
As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!
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http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_193.mp3
ALTERNATIVE (no music track):
http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_10/episode_193-alt.mp3
Full show notes are under the seats…
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS:
Music
New R3 Contributors
Spoiler rant clarification
REVIEWS:
Hard Core Logo (review/IMDb)
– brief Pontypool discussion (again)
Birth (review)
WHAT ELSE WE WATCHED:
Kurt
– The Killer Inside Me (Andrew’s review)
Andrew
– Lady in the Water (IMDb) | (Andrew’s review) | (MovieClubPodcast)
– Killer’s Kiss (IMDb)
– Valhalla Rising (IMDb)
| DVD PICK #1: | |||
ANDREW: Inception (R3view) (Netflix) |
KURT: Inception (R3view) (Netflix) |
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| DVD PICK #2: | |||
ANDREW: Cronos (Criterion) (IMDb) (Netflix) |
KURT: Videodrome (Criterion) (IMDb) (Netflix) |
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OTHER DVDs NOW AVAILABLE:
Restrepo
Lost in Translation [Blu-ray]
Shrek Forever After
Roger Corman’s Cult Classics
“Hoarders” (s2 pt.1)
Fox 75th Anniversary Collection
St. Elmos Fire [Blu-ray]
About Last Night… [Blu-ray]
Barry Munday [Blu-ray]
The Big Hit [Blu-ray]
OTHER STUFF MENTIONED:
Finite Focus post for Birth
Inception dream sequences in real time
NEXT WEEK:
Black Swan
The Tourist
True Grit
PRIVATE COMMENTS or QUESTIONS?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or email us:
feedback@rowthree.com (general)
andrew.james@rowthree.com
kurt@rowthree.com
It is sad that Birth never caught on with mainstream audiences. I find that the film gets better with each viewing.
Any chance you will get to Crash in the next couple of weeks, Andrew? Interested in hearing your thoughts on the film…
CS, I may try to get to it over the weekend. However, lots of good stuff finally showing up in theaters plus video games have started to take up a little bit more time (just got “Assassin’s Creed II” in the mail today – looks awesome!). And I still haven’t found time for Walking Dead season finale. Possibly Sunday night for some Cronenbergian goodness.
I love James Spader.
Probably the best essay on Birth on the web, and I consider it my fortunate discovery for today! Hope y’all enjoy reading this as much as I did. Note: This Essay contains mondo ***SPOILERS*** in regards to Jonathan Glazer’s film.
http://parallax-view.org/2008/10/27/why-is-this-film-called-birth-investigating-jonathan-glazers-mystery-of-the-heart/
*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
The author points out the dual tunnels in the opening shot, birth / death. He points out connections to The Exorcist, hints not so much of reincarnation as possession (the same weird contradictions are going on with Danny and Jack in The Shining). I love the comparison to the spanking scenes in Barry Lyndon, I had only picked up on the natural lighting (a Kubrick trademark in Barry Lyndon).
The big consideration is the first shot of Nicole Kidman, that she is silently asking permission from her dead husband to marry Danny Huston’s character, and the when she says OK to him in the car (her first words in the film) it is to Marriage Proposal, not, I’m done (although it’s that too) which makes the Kid’s entrance shortly thereafter, a significantly bigger BOMB on her psyche.
And now I am seeing huge connections to both Tarkovsky and Soderbergh’s SOLARIS, insofar that Kidman envisions re-incarnated Sean (as the kid) more of her ideal of Sean than what he actually was, and falls sort of in love with her ideal, rather than the real thing. FUCKING RESONANCE. I love this movie.
Link back to my own Tops of the Decade – http://www.rowthree.com/2010/01/08/kurts-tops-o-the-decade/
The star of Crash is actually the Ontario 400 series Highway system. Cronenberg takes the ‘Express way as Artery’ metaphor to deliriously ludicrous (= awesome) places. Crash is not a film that necessarily you warm up to on the first viewing, but having seen it 4 times now, I really love the film. Elias Koteas is wonderful here, as is Holly Hunter.
You’re welcome, Andrew.
Great to hear an in-depth discussion on HCL. Callum Keith Rennie and Hugh Dillon rock in everything they do.
I didn’t even realize Hugh Dillon was the head singer of the Headstones. I just finally caught up with Hard Core Logo last month and wow, I love that movie. Bruce McDonald has skyrocketed to the top of my favorite Canadian directors.
“Went Down To The Ceme-tary; looking for love. Got There and my Baby was Bur-ied; had to dig her up.”
I figured you would like Killer Inside Me, Kurt. I am willing to give it another look, but my chief issue with the film was I couldn’t follow the plot. Partly mumbled dialogue, partly how scenes cut together, and like you admitted, the ending just doesn’t make much sense… and I don’t give a pass for a film being deliberately vague for no purpose. It felt like plot matters in this story, they spend enough time introducing characters and their interests and how they play out, but none of it ties together well. The character of Lou Ford didn’t feel real, any nuance to his psychotic nature is lost, its just “here I am a decent guy” “here I am a sadistic guy”. The childhood explanation angle feels weak if this is, in fact, supposed to be something avant-guarde.
It does look great, I give it that.
The Opening scene I had trouble, but it was only the part in the police station, after that, no problems. I do not think plot matters as much as you think it matters. It is the broader reach of the film, the american psyche as read through one of the great genres (noir) is what the film (I believe) is going for, and it hits the mark very nicely.
I’m liking the Kubrick-heavy discussions on this show. I’ll bet you both would like The Killing. I mean, it’s got Sterling Hayden in the lead – what more could you ask for?
Anybody who dosen’t like Kidman or realize that she makes some edgy films can suck on her oscar. Her new film Rabbit Hole is like Birth but without the visuals/atmosphere, hopefully Glazer can do with sort of seven-year return Schanbel or obviously Kubrick did with his new film, Under Her Skin.
LISTEN TO Norwegian Wood score, awesome, hope u guys do a top 5 each of best scores.
This is strange because I just watched Killer’s Kiss… I didn’t like it at all. I am kind of surprised Kubrick didn’t try to hide this film like he did his first. It is achingly amateur in v/o, in acting, in micro-budget (a boxing fight with clearly empty seats and fake sounds of an audience cheering). I couldn’t concentrate at all.
And Aaron, I adore The Killing, and I am planning to write a post up for a triple bill including it, part of the Now Playing at the Row Three Rep series.
I’m right in the middle of watching THE KILLING (had to stop it due to lateness last night) But I’ll say this. I really do love the actor Elisha Cook Jr. and the actress who plays his wife is fabulous too, sort of a starlet version of Illeana Douglas.
actually, let’s rank Kubrick:
1) Dr Strangelove
2) 2001: A Space Odyssey
3) The Shining
4) Paths of Glory
5) The Killing
6) Eyes Wide Shut
7) A Clockwork Orange
8 ) Lolita
9) Full Metal Jacket
10) Spartacus
11) Killer’s Kiss
and confession: I have not seen Barry Lyndon, so yeah bring out a blu-ray and I will buy it.
Kurt, watch Lolita… its low on my list but only because of how awesome everything above it is.
Darcy, agreed. I’m an unabashed fan of Kidman, and I’ll watch pretty much anything she’s in, even if I know it’s going to be crappy and she’s going to be crappy in it. She may be the most extreme example I know of someone who’s absolutely brilliant in some things and almost utterly hopeless in others. (Other candidates: Natalie Portman, Kirsten Dunst)
Brilliant: Dogville, The Hours, The Others. (Plus apparently Birth, which I haven’t seen but obviously need to, and hopefully Rabbit Hole. I also haven’t seen Eyes Wide Shut.)
Hopeless: The Stepford Wives, Bewitched. Like, not only are those movies bad, but if you’d never seen her in anything else, you’d never guess she had any acting chops or charisma at all.
Ranking Kubrick:
1) 2001: A Space Odyssey
2) Dr. Strangelove
3) The Shining
4) The Killing
5) A Clockwork Orange
6) Paths of Glory
I need to watch some more Kubrick.
I might be possibly taking my 7 yr old boy and 6 yr old girl to see a 70mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey, TONITE. We’ll see how that goes.
^^ Good luck. It’s a great film, but it’s pretty long and slow for young kids. That said, your kids are not normal kids in terms of cinema consumption. :p
More fun stuff with BIRTH. Here a comparison of the opening and closing shots of BIRTH with Truffaut’s 400 BLOWS. it’s not as airtight-awesome as the parallax-view.org one above, but it has its moments, and is told with sparse text over the actual shots
http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2009/11/the-400-births-a-video-essay/
Kubrick has been my fav director since I was 12, Lolita is a full-blown masterpeice in my opinion, as is The Killing.
Kubrick was one of the filmmakers who first got me thinking about film as a form of art – partly due in no small part to the doc Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures as well as his actual films. I remember being left absolutely awe-struck after my first viewings of 2001, The Shining and Barry Lyndon.
I haven’t listened to this episode yet, but I just finished #192, and I am mighty enticed by Birth. I will need to track down a copy – and I look forward to listening to this apparently Kubrick-centric Cinecast episode.
Regarding Kubrick-esque films from the past decade/since his death – how about There Will Be Blood? I imagine that’d be a strong contender against Birth.
Finally, my Kubrick list:
1) 2001:A Space Odyssey
2) Barry Lyndon
3) Eyes Wide Shut
4) A Clockwork Orange
5) The Shining
6) Dr. Strangelove
7) Paths of Glory
8 ) Full Metal Jacket
9) The Killing
10) Lolita
Just got back from 70mm Screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (with my Kids along for the heady-ride). Tiny minds officially expanded, albeit my daughter Miranda took a nap after Hal 9000 was shut down. Willem took in the final moments of 2001 wide eyed and completely full of WTF-goodness.
EXCELLENT.
I simply cannot rank Kubrick. Only that I think Spartacus is his only non-masterpiece, yet still a solid bit of Blockbuster filmmaking.
I can’t rank him either. Clockwork is my favorite, but after that it’s a toss up between about 4 others.
How was the 70 mm? Was it like giving a great white shark a machine gun?
Ranking shit is bullshit anyway.
In what way?
The colour and detail in the DAWN OF MAN segment is shockingly good. The whole film looks great, extremely detailed, yet the extreme sharpness doesn’t expose any of the special effects. CRAZY how well his film has aged. I may go see this again before it leaves the Lightbox in the new year. I will treasure this experience, for the picture quality and seeing it with my young children. Very happy that this theatre is in the city.
Just came back from 70mm and wow… That is how you are supposed to see it… and the sound, my god. I felt myself going into a trance in the final sequence, I can’t remember getting that lost in an experience in some time. My only complaint with 2001 is I wish he edited out like a couple minutes of the heavy breathing pod in space sequence, it feels a bit long, but otherwise a perfect film.
question, did 2001 come before Star Wars? I can’t imagine what it must have been to see it when it first came out.
I think 01 predates SW by like ten years. It’s fruckin amazing.
2001 – 1968
Star Wars – 1977
In term of visuals, 2001 looks better than any Star Wars film. It even looks better than Moon ( I thought it had bland visuals).
Kurt, I saw that 2001: A Space Odyssey screening today with Greg from CriticalMassCast. It was tremendous.
You must have been in the theatre next door, I wonder if you let out as our TRUE GRIT screening was going in at 9:30pm (ish)
Oh, yea, Starwars is pencil sketches compared to 2001. $30M went a long way in 1967, and Lucas had only $11M in 1976. This movie hasn’t aged a damn day. Because everything is done so practical, there is a timelessness to the look of the film, even this newly struck high-rez print doesn’t show flaws in the effects. Amazing! And getting the most out of set-design has always been a Kubrick specialty. This film works on every level, flat out perfect viewing experience at the Lightbox screening.
Agreed 01 is way more visually striking than SW. That said, to say it’s pencil sketches is ridiculous. SW tries to do a helluva lot more with what it has in terms of motion and excitement. They aren’t really going for the same thing. 01 is trying to be fairly realistic and slow and plodding. It looks exactly like it really would be – essentially a hunk of metal floating in the dark of space. SW is ambitious as all hell for what it was trying to do – Top Gun in space with multiple pieces moving in different direction simultaneously. Not to mention the creativity with the props. On that front, nothing touches SW in comparison for its time. That said, without 01, there might not be a SW as we know it.
I was at the 4:20 2001 screening
I’d happily go again for another helping of 2001, if I can find the time over the christmas rush. My eyeballs were pleasantly vibrating and nuzzled in cinema goodness all during the screening of that film. Can’t wait to revisit ENTER THE VOID, hopefully on Lightbox1, a great screen and magnificent sound.
Someone should do a list of films that have a timeless aesthetic.
My nominations:
Alien
2001
Stalker
Amelie
le doulos
Metropolis
Au revoir, les enfants
La Haine
with regards to timeless style, two movies that feel like they were made yesterday:
Bonnie & Clyde
The Last Picture Show
Rewatched Birth and not sure if you picked up on this Kurt, but Nicole Kidman’s suite number was 2001. If there was any doubt Glazer was trying for a Kubrick homage.
I was really laughing at most of Andrew’s praise for The Killer Inside Me. I’m with Kurt on feeling lukewarm about that one. I liked the atmosphere of the setting and Casey Affleck’s performance, but that’s about it. The ending was just rotten. Please don’t mention this in the same sentence with the much superior American Psycho ever again.
Did you know that that book has been adapted previously? Stacy Keach played the main character in a 1976 version set in Montana. And author Jim Thompson worked with Mr. Kubrick (who was a fan of the book) on the script for The Killing. (Wikipedia facts)
Hey Mason, thanks for listening… but I think you are mixing up our names/voices. I (Andrew) had very little praise for Killer Inside Me. I think it was mostly a failure.
I know you’re right. Every time I think I have your voices straight, I find out I am wrong again. To me you guys are like voice twins. But I really like the show anyway!
A lengthy audio treatise on Glazer’s BIRTH: http://www.leftfieldcinema.com/overlooked-gem-birth-podcast