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At 1/27/14 04:13 PM, Atlas wrote: I didn't get a chance to watch sadly, Sorry. I will definitely watch the next one.

No worries, though you should definitely try to watch the film anyway at some point, it's great.

Does Saturday/Sunday still work best for you (and everyone) though?

At 1/27/14 03:30 PM, Dean wrote: @Dr-Worm can you include me in any future "Movie of the Week" posts you make?
At 1/28/14 01:09 AM, Piggler wrote: I humbly express my wishes to be involved in the Movie of the Week, if the Cinema Club obliges.

Sure thing guys, the more the merrier. I'll make sure you're @ mentioned in future MotW posts.

At 1/28/14 02:47 AM, Dr-Worm wrote: Does Saturday/Sunday still work best for you (and everyone) though?

for me, yes, considering how routine my schedule is

At 1/27/14 03:37 PM, Dr-Worm wrote: So I had initially figured Saturday and Sunday would be the best days for discussion, but considering how a few people had said they wanted to get involved last week but never ended up doing so, maybe I was wrong? Would a different schedule work better for you guys in terms of everyone watching the MotW in time? Or should we keep it at Saturday and Sunday?

I'm fine with Saturday and Sunday.

Sorry I couldn't get involved last week. I'm done with my exams now, so I should be able to join in this week.

Finished up the first Hobbit movie finally. It was quite fun to watch. Martin Freeman and Sylvester McCoy were quite good in their roles. The troll scene was a nice little bit of humour and action to keep me interested. I also thought the special effects were good as I was expecting. Now I must see the sequel.

At 1/28/14 02:47 AM, Dr-Worm wrote:

At 1/27/14 04:13 PM, Atlas wrote: I didn't get a chance to watch sadly, Sorry. I will definitely watch the next one.

No worries, though you should definitely try to watch the film anyway at some point, it's great.

Does Saturday/Sunday still work best for you (and everyone) though?

Yeah, I should be able to find some time on the weekend to watch whatever movie is chosen.

Wow I fucking suck but please let me blame it on the exams.

I'm still eyeing all this, and I will eventually watch one of the movies of the week stay tuned for my 2 sentence review.

Huh? What? Shit. Okay.

For the movie of the week, I'll pick Dark City (director's cut). I'm a big sci fi fan and I thought this one was great.

But I cannot stress this enough. DIRECTOR'S CUT ONLY. The theatrical cut has this stupid narration that ruins it. And this is a movie that you're probably better off going in blind.

At 1/28/14 07:12 PM, Sense-Offender wrote: For the movie of the week, I'll pick Dark City (director's cut)

Ah there it is. And that's a great choice! I haven't seen Dark City in a few years (I don't remember which cut it was) so I'm excited to rewatch it.

So just to clarify, this week's film, to be discussed on Saturday, February 1 and Sunday, February 2, will be:

Dark City (Director's Cut) (Proyas, 1998, USA/Australia)

Sorry for the short notice, next week we'll definitely have a new picker by Sunday night and a new film by Sunday or Monday.

@Atlas
@TheMaster
@Natick
@Slint
@darkjam
@Makeshift
@Jackho
@Auz
@Sekhem
@Dean
@Piggler

At 1/28/14 01:35 PM, Dean wrote: Also, I think you'd probably want to have the next film chosen by Sundays at the latest.

That's what we're going for ideally. I only left an extra day this time because I wanted to give everyone who said they wanted to be involved a chance to participate and have as large a pool as possible for the next week's picker.

That way, if it's a film people want to watch, they should be able to order a copy and receive it in time to watch it by (or during) the weekend it's due to be discussed. Or maybe I just have an old fashioned way of thinking and everyone acquires their movies by "other means" or via some streaming service.

Yeah, I think for the most part people are getting the movies through streaming services, digital rentals and "other means," plus they're mostly waiting until closer to the end of the week to watch them anyway.

But I definitely want to accommodate people who prefer or need to get physical copies of the films (and you're not the only one, I think TheMaster is also mostly using physical copies), so we'll definitely try harder in the future to get the announcement of the next week's film in as soon as possible.

However I do want to try and be a bit more open minded with films so unless someone picks a film that they've chosen because of how shit it is

Yeah, I mean I'm totally not opposed to someone picking a movie because they think it's bad in interesting, discussion-worthy ways, but I can see how something like that could be a problem for people who have to pay for physical copies.

At 1/28/14 04:07 PM, Slint wrote: Wow I fucking suck but please let me blame it on the exams.

S'all good man. Though like I said to Atlas, you should watch The 400 Blows anyway at some point because it's fucking awesome.

Once we're a bunch of weeks in I'll make a Letterboxd list of every MotW so people can catch up if they want.

Saw Inside Llewyn Davis.

Really liked it. I posted a few pages back about how the Coens have never blown me away before, always thought they were consistently very good, but never great, but this one comes close to crossing over. Funnier than Fargo or Lebowski, for a start, and that phenomenal soundtrack certainly doesn't hurt it.

SPOILERS BELOW

I'm not clear on the ending, though. At first I took it as most of the film having been a flashback, but thinking on I don't think that works out. The scenes at the beginning are similar to, but not the same as the ones at the end. Was it something more abstract? The rest of the film never really felt that way, but I suppose you can read it as a metaphor for how his life will continue to go in circles. The whole film is him going through cycles of failure due to his inability to plan ahead, so making the film cyclical too does sort of make sense.

I watched the animated Wonder Woman movie. Good stuff.

At 1/29/14 06:59 PM, TheMaster wrote: but I suppose you can read it as a metaphor for how his life will continue to go in circles. The whole film is him going through cycles of failure due to his inability to plan ahead, so making the film cyclical too does sort of make sense.

Well there you go. The cycle repeats because he hasn't really learned anything, or even if he has he's still stubbornly sticking to the attitudes he started out with anyway.

But also I think the repetition at the end punctuates the ways in which the film (appropriately) takes on the structure of a folk song. Each episode that we see in Llewyn's life acts as a "verse," until the first "verse" is repeated at the end of the film, with our knowledge of all the other verses informing and enhancing it. It's just like the songs Llewyn sings.

It was never new and it never gets old.

Watched two films today.

First I watched Dark City. I'll just stick to saying that I liked it for now and leave my comments for the weekend.

Then I watched Alien. One of the things that mostly struck me was that the sets of this film look incredibly good. This is seriously some of the best stage design that I've ever seen in a film. For the rest, the film is paced perfectly, the Alien's design is still pretty effective and ... well, it's a great film overall. I can see why it's regarded as a classic.

At 1/30/14 06:42 PM, Auz wrote: Watched two films today.

First I watched Dark City. I'll just stick to saying that I liked it for now and leave my comments for the weekend.

Which version?

At 1/30/14 11:10 PM, Sense-Offender wrote:

At 1/30/14 06:42 PM, Auz wrote: Watched two films today.

First I watched Dark City. I'll just stick to saying that I liked it for now and leave my comments for the weekend.

Which version?

The director's cut I think. It didn't have any narration.

Rewatched Dark City, it's just as great as I remembered it. Detailed thoughts later, sleeep nooow.

*To anybody reading that hasn't seen this week's MotW yet and wants to: Don't read unless you like spoilers.*

Alright, so I got around to watching Dark City last night and I have to say it was definitely a good pick.

I'll admit, when Sense-Offender mentioned it was a sci-fi film I was a little off-put because I don't particularly like the genre. To me, science-fiction is too outlandish and more often than not presents no applicable life lesson. I prefer films based in the past and the present that teach you something. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. Instead of one of those over-the-top intergalactic adventures with lasers and shit, I'm pleased to say Dark City was more about people and ethics. Granted, the protagonist and main antagonist did have a mind battle, but the crazy shit was condensed mostly to the climax of the movie.

In an effort to make my post as quick and to-the-point as possible, I'm just going to list shit out.

What I Liked:

-The originality: Not the fact that it's another one of those "ooooh unsuspecting guy gets super powers" flicks, but the little intricacies of the story and atmosphere made it great, like the fact that the bad guys are actually these gelatinous face-hugger things that dwell in the corpses of dead humans or that they made some doctor their bitch to scramble people's memories at the same time every night.

-Pacing of the movie: I was delighted to see there was no boring intro or anything, the suspense started almost immediately with the swinging lamp in the hotel bathroom. I wasn't bored a single moment of the movie. The director definitely wasn't fucking around.

-It makes you think: It begs questions of "Have I been unaware that my life/city/mind is a prison?" and the like.

-The environment: It was equatable to a 1950's noir film mixed with a dystopian malaise-y feel and just a small touch of space shit, so I was pretty much hooked from the beginning because I like mid 20th century-looking shit and the concept of dystopia. Right up my alley.

What I Didn't Like:

-Weak backstory I know the Strangers said WHY they made the city, but they didn't really say how or when and I thought that might've been cool.

Favorite Scene:
When Inspector Bumstead tumbles out of the room at the end of the city and gazes at the entirety of the city that has entrapped him his entire life as he begins his endless flight into deep space. To me that symbolized a sort of freedom from the harsh reality dropped upon him.

One Sentence Summary:
The Truman Show, except the protagonist kills aliens with his super brain powers.

8.5/10

I went to watch it but I think it was the version shown in Theatres so I didn't. Does the narration start immediately or 5 minutes in?

At 2/1/14 11:48 AM, Atlas wrote: I went to watch it but I think it was the version shown in Theatres so I didn't. Does the narration start immediately or 5 minutes in?

The theatrical cut opens with a voiceover by Kiefer Sutherland. "First, there was darkness...etc." It explains too much too early. It feeds you details up front. It was put in there because the test audience was full of idiots. I like what Rufus Sewell said about it. "Well, I think they probably felt that they didn't want to alienate certain people, but...I just think fuck 'em."

Going to watch Dark City tonight. Got the director's cut ready to go, thoughts tomorrow.

At 2/1/14 03:59 PM, Dean wrote: I think everyone is familiar with the Dracula character to some extent, but I've never actually seen any Dracula movies.

There's a bunch of good ones. Give Herzog's Nosferatu remake a go if you want something brutally grim, or the Gary Oldman one a shot if you want pure spectacle.

I'm also an unapologetic fan of Van Helsing, the dodgy action film where Huge Action kicks the shit out of all the Universal monsters.

At 2/1/14 03:59 PM, Dean wrote: I'm not really familiar with this era of cinema so I wasn't sure what to expect but given that it's a Dracula film I expected a creepy and gruesome film. It was neither.

I watched several of those Universal Monsters VHS tapes when I was a kid and I recall actually being scared, but once you've seen more contemporary horror flicks you really start to notice that the classics don't age well at all in the fear department.

just finished dark city

one thing i read on imdb a few days before watching it was that it had one of the shortest average length shots of any modern production at that time of 1.8 seconds and a cut every 2 seconds. i usually can't stand that kind of editing because in the inexperienced hands, it's very disorienting but i wasn't paying too much attention to the constant cuts throughout the film so that must mean it worked naturally for me.

interesting mix of cyberpunk and film noir art styles along with the themes of individuality and fixation on memories, reminded me of total recall and of course, brazil. due to all the anachronisms and idiosyncrasies of the characters (hotel manager: no breaks for good behavior), i felt like i was diving into something similar to oldboy, asking to myself, "this is going to be one of the films where no characters actions have any resemblance of normal human behavior until the very end, isn't it?" but i was quick to judge.

the ending battle between john and the head stranger was hilarious, gotta love how underdeveloped cgi effects were back in the 90's

also, as gorgeous as jennifer connelly was, is and always has been, she was incredibly deadpan in this film, i couldn't get over that

Does the final scene remind anyone else of Requiem for a Dream? The first time I saw it, I immediately thought of that scene where Jared Leto is calling out to Jennifer Connely on the dock. Kinda weird how reminiscent it is, especially having the same actress.

Piggler mentioned wanting to know about the when and how. I think it's best left ambiguous as it is. You wonder how long they've been there and you also wonder if that's all that's left. I like it that way, with that kinda disturbing uncertainty. "I'm sorry. I don't remember. None of us remember that...what we once were...what we might have been...somewhere else."

And that one scene with Bumstead near the end is also one of my favorite parts. That part probably sticks out the most in my mind. When I first saw it, all I could say was "fuuuuuuuuuck". I think I actually said that out loud under my breath. I was stoned the first time I saw the movie, so the experience of it was kinda amplified. haha

Also, notice how elaborate the scenery is in this movie, sometimes noticably more than necessary. The sets are fantastic. I really enjoy very visual movies like this.

As Natick said, the effects at the climax appear dated, but it doesn't really take me out of the movie much.

So yeah, Dark City wasn't what I was expecting at all. Went in expecting some sort of Blade Runner style neo-noir thriller, and it sort of was for a little while, before morphing into full on batshit crazy conspiracy theory lunacy.

If the theatrical does reveal stuff earlier I can see why the director's cut was recommended, because the information is drop fed perfectly. You're never left in the dark too long before another clue is given, which is crucial because the mystery is all that holds the film together. Couldn't really get invested in any of the characters, which would have been a bigger issue if the plot didn't move as quickly as it did. I suppose you can read that as being deliberate, as none of the characters have "real" personalities and as such aren't real, fully fleshed out people.

I really enjoyed the increasing absurdity, but the climax pushed it over the edge into the comical region, which I don't think is where the film wanted to go. When you've got two guys flying around shooting energy balls at each other like they're in fucking Dragonball Z you've gone a bit too far.

Enjoyable on the whole, though.

At 2/2/14 05:54 AM, Sense-Offender wrote: Does the final scene remind anyone else of Requiem for a Dream? The first time I saw it, I immediately thought of that scene where Jared Leto is calling out to Jennifer Connely on the dock. Kinda weird how reminiscent it is, especially having the same actress.

My first thought was "what is with with Jennifer Connelly and piers?"

So about Dark City:

Like I said, I enjoyed the film overall. Good plot, it has some interesting themes and I thought the whole city being swapped around looked pretty impressive.

One thing about the plot though, I feel like the situation with the aliens wasn't really resolved at the end. Their race was dying and it's somewhat understandable that they were desperately looking for a solution. However, it looked like we were supposed to feel that they were evil and simply had to die. I think that plot line deserved better closure to be honest. Also, I think their experiment about whether someone's memories make up someone's personality was pretty interesting, but as far as I remember the film doesn't dig deeper into it (apart from the ending where the answer simply seems to be no).

Since you were also talking about that narrative in the original version; I have the impression that the director actually meant to make a more intelligent film in general, but he underestimated his audience and decided to keep things simple. Not only with the narrative, but also at certain plot points.

Oh well, it's a good watch anyway. Thanks Sense-Offender.

Aww crap, I missed the first two weeks. Sorry guys, I'll start watching this time, what is the motw this time?

At 2/2/14 08:06 AM, darkjam wrote: Aww crap, I missed the first two weeks. Sorry guys, I'll start watching this time, what is the motw this time?

I think the plan is to decide on the next motw later today or tomorrow. Dr-Worm will announce who gets to pick.