BBC Blog Network

User Profile

dragliner78

Listed below are comments made by dragliner78 between Wednesday, 28th October 2009 and Friday, 11th December 2009.

«Newer
Older»

Christmas Movie Magic 04:03am on 11 Dec 2009 No TV for me this Christmas since I don't have a television anymore, so it's DVDs on the laptop. Hope Santa is nice...

Are Channel 5 doing their usual thing of using Christmas to put on a load of documentaries about the Nazis and the Holocaust? Tasteful.
The Serious Coens 8:02pm on 26 Nov 2009 I don't think the Coens see any difference between films like Barton Fink or Fargo and Intolerable Cruelty and the Ladykillers, in much the same way as David Lynch sees no difference between Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway or Fire Walk With Me, and The Straight Story or The Elephant Man. To them it's just a different way of telling a story. We the audience impose tags like "mainstream" on to them, I don't think they really see it that way, or even care. And neither do I.
The Serious Coens 1:57pm on 24 Nov 2009 Does it really matter if the Coens are "mainstream" or "indie" or whatever? Surely what matters is the quality of their films? I don't like everything they've made (I'm with Dr K here, The Big Lebowski just doesn't do it for me at all), but they do make quality films that offer a unique vision. Sometimes it strikes a chord with people and sometimes it doesn't.

Mainstream or not? Who cares.
Farewell Edward Woodward 10:25pm on 21 Nov 2009 I think I must be alone in just not getting The Wicker Man at all. It just seems like a total mess of a film to me. I think Edward Woodward was a great actor, not taking anything away from him or his performance in that film, but I just don't see what's so great about it. Maybe I need to watch it again, for the umpeenth time, to see if my mind can be changed.
Screening Room: Animation & Aardman 00:21am on 20 Nov 2009 Most certainly Akira, as well as a fair few others from the Manga/Anime world, the stories are sometimes bonkers, but the visuals are always stunning.

I would also add my voice to those mentioning Plague Dogs and Watership Down - dark tales that I remember growing up that were quite disturbing but carry important messages, and are also beautifully done. The Ralph Bakshi interpretation of The Lord of the Rings was another that was very dark and strange, yet mesmerising as a kid.

David Lynch's The Grandmother definitely deserves a mention, surely? Wonderfully bizarre, dark and haunting.

Personally, after The Wrong Trousers, the Aardman stuff starts to grate with me. All the cheese jokes and enormous grins just leave me cold now. It's well done, don't get me wrong, just not to my taste. And the wishy-washy sentimentality of Disney makes me want to vomit. Blech.
The Best Christmas Movie Ever 6:58pm on 13 Nov 2009 Definitely Die Hard and Brazil.

Basically anything that isn't about reminding me all about the "true meaning of Christmas" and filling my life with cheer and joy. Blech.

Oh, but I have to confess a guilty secret - Home Alone is actually pretty good, purely for the scenes of outrageous pain and torment inflicted upon Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.
Screening Room: Disaster! 4:14pm on 12 Nov 2009 John Carpenter's The Thing and The Prince of Darkness are both part of his "Apocolypse Trilogy" (just gloss over the terrible Into the Mouth of Madness), and they both end with the suggestion that all is not going to be well for humankind. As well as that, they're both excellent films. So come now, not all apocolypse movies are awful. But then it does depend on how you define the genre. My philosophy lecturer always told us - "Define your terms!" So, Dr Kermode, define away, then we can have a proper debate. Hurumph.
The ten-second vampire movie 4:25pm on 29 Oct 2009 The Fearless Vampire Killers! Yes, of course, how could I have forgotten that one. Brilliant spoof, beautifully shot.

I actually have a soft spot for all those old Hammer iterations of the Dracula/Vampire movie - yes, even The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. They're silly, but fun.

But in all honesty, I've lost a lot of interest in vampire films, the cliches have kind of worn thin. When it comes to "monster movies", I think there's more "life" in the zombie/werewolf movies, and I find the symbolism of those films more interesting than vampires and sex, or the vomit-inducing crap of the emo crowd. It just seems to me that the idea behind a lot of vampire films is to remind us of the dangers of sex, or the immortality of physical pleasure - it's a blunt instrument to beat us up with. Zombie & werewolf films are rarely used to punish us, but more to educate us about politics, social issues and the pains of growing up.

Of course, sometimes a rotting corpse groaning "Send more paramedics" is exactly what it appears to be....
The ten-second vampire movie 4:21pm on 28 Oct 2009 I agree that Near Dark is one of the best, for it's original take on the Vampire format, it was a refreshingly different way to look at it compared to the overblown bloated Interview With The Vampire. I am also particularly fond of Shadow of the Vampire, the movie influenced by the filming of Nosferatu. And I know some people that think The Hunger, with David Bowie and Susan Sarandon is a fine example of the genre, though I admit to not having seen it all the way through.
The second second time around 02:45am on 28 Oct 2009 One film that continues to defeat me, despite several repeat viewings, is Chinatown. As much as I love Polanski's films, Chinatown just defies me for some reason, and on paper, it shouldn't as it's all of the thing I usually like in my movies. I may have to set aside an evening and really sit with it and concentrate really hard.

On the subject of Director's Cuts - normally I prefer them to the originals. Aliens I thought added some interesting back story (admitedly, not really necessary); the aforementioned Final Cut of Blade Runner is by far the best. I saw it in my local art house cinema and it was amazing on the big screen.

The only director's cut that I thought wasn't so great was Donnie Darko - it ruined the mystery and ambiguity and literally explained the strange goings on to you with those stupid inserted book pages.

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

dragliner78