Okay–a proposal. We are (obviously) already starting conversations, suggesting films, following up on others’ suggestions and entering into discussion…. but for the summer months, I’m proposing that every week or two, someone suggest a movie that we all (or many) try to see, and jump into conversation on. I might suggest picking something less familiar, or an old favorite not recently seen, or insert-motif-here. But what the hell: let’s say anything goes. I’m not even going to suggest a timeline or anything. I’m just going to offer up the open-ended proposal.
If you’re interested, post on a flick–Summer Club: “X”–and those of us who are interested will track down said flick and watch it, too. I will wait a couple of days and do one of my own.
Obviously, I am trying to take my mind off tonight’s Sopranos closer, which I will see in a few days, thanks to Jeff.
Not to pooh-pooh your idea, Oprah, but aren’t we coming close enough to that now? I certainly try to check out films that people here speak highly of, new releases or not.
What if Arnab and Gio make me go see Goal: The Dream Begins, or if they make a third Baby Geniuses film that you force us to see? What if there are Further Adventures of Traveling Pants?
mark, i think oprah is suggesting not that we recommend films to each other but that we try to watch them roughly simultaneously and all talk about them together. even though, with the world cup and the nba finals about to start, my movie-watching is probably going to take a hit this month i think it is generally a good idea. it has been a long time since a larger number of us have been involved in the discussion of a movie we’ve all recently seen. (however, jeff should not be allowed to recommend films.)
i will recommend wim wenders’ the goalie’s anxiety at the penalty kick. or werner herzog’s dribbly man–an epic film about a single-minded austrian aristocrat in the wilds of mauritiana, who against all odds swims the straits of gibraltar with a herd of jersey cows so that he can set up a tannery to produce soccer balls and bring football to the sahara.
I recommend Baby Geniuses. Or Cabin Boy.
Yes, Arnab gets my point–it’s not that we don’t already talk, but we seem to be spinning into small sub-groups. Which is fine and fruitful, but… might be nice to actually see and discuss something in tandem, rather than five, six weeks (or months) after the conversation’s run its course.
I’ll go ahead and put up a suggestion. Give me a day or two. If other people are gung-ho, go right ahead.
Are there any good soccer movies, at all? I recall Victory, during the period of Hollywood’s contractual obligation to hire Michael Caine, but… it wasn’t good. Does Bend it count as a soccer film? (I didn’t see it.)
cup final, really excellent, and that movie about the world cup and buddhist monks, whatsitstitle.
i’m game for the communal watching, although, like arnab, i’ll also be EXTREMELY BUSY watching the world cup. may i pray pray pray that we avoid cult and those silly action flicks (hong kong included) that make you all drool? thank you thank you thank you.
mike, you should see bend it. i loved it so.
jeff, i will watch/read everything you recommend, bar nothing.
Great idea Mike. Let’s do it.
Based on suggestions here I have seen in the last week (all new to me): California Split, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and The Passion of Joan of Arc. A sublime week of movie watching, so I’ll watch anything anyone here recommends.
If anyone gets to see Zidane, post a review.
I notice, BTW, that the new X-Men is so dreary and formulaic, so different from its predecessors, that no one has bothered to post about it.
arnab, i’d like to ask you a favor. could you tell me what the code is for those vertical bands on the sides of the blog? i’m putting my request here because if i email you i’ll never hear from you. feel free to delete after you’ve given me an answer. thank you dear.
Gio, you should be able to find your answer here.
I’d like to play the movie club game, though I will suggest film titles. As for X-Men III, I thought it was fun. Nothing revelatory but entertaining. I was never so mad for Singer’s films so I didn’t feel anything was tainted by bringing Brett Ratner on board (he does a pretty good job). I understand if you are in to the whole Jean Gray/Phoenix series of comics, you will be disappointed by how they compress everything into 100 minutes. It was a lot more fun than M:I:3. And there are a handful of great set pieces. The climatic scene is a bit of a let-down, but I thought it was worth $6 (especially given how dreary things are at the cineplex at this point).
I’m up for the summer club. let me put forth a suggestion which has the advantage of bringing together our discussions of violence, gender and 70’s angst: Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs which I’ve been meaning to watch since the History of Violence discussion started. It’s nothing if not controversial and conversation-producing. Of course, too,all of those films Chris mentions would be excellent choices, too.
Well, okay–
I have been pondering a choice myself–had thought about returning to California Split, but then Chris noted he’d just seen it. Then I thought of one of my favorite bleak black comedies, Alan Arkin’s Little Murders… but Michael’s proposal of Straw Dogs makes me worry that I’d be reiterating his violence, gender, ’70s angst thing, but with more sick laughter than the Peckinpah film might get.
So–I have a suggestion. Let’s put together a list, then we can figure out a loose rough schedule.
Straw Dogs at Frisoli’s request.
My choice: Kamikaze Girls, a fairly recent Japanese film I’ve been wanting to see. It’d be a girl-power kickback at some of the testoriffic choices I was toying with. But it’d tie into some of our interests in pop and politics, the “new Asian cinema,” etc.
If, however, those of you without Netflix cannot find this, I’ll propose either of 2 back-ups: I’d be really interested in Moolade, which is out on dvd but not at Netflix. I’d be willing to go rent it elsewhere. There’s hardly any African film distributed around, and Ousmane Sembene’s film got amazing reviews. OR Black Narcissus, Michael Powell’s outstanding melodrama in a nunnery in the Himalayas–he’s one of those directors I find astounding but don’t talk about much, and so I’d relish the chance to discuss.
Oh–and back to soccer films–I saw that monk one. It was good, but wasn’t it more about soccer fans than the game itself?
Well, it’s no reason not to talk about Claifornia Split – Chris, what did you think of the film? Post a new thread on it – I could talk about that one all day long. So can Mike I know.
I had been thinking about my own summer movie projects, which included watching lesser known films – and rewatching films – by some of my favorite directors: Altman, Lynch, Cronenberg, Cassavetes, Gilliam, Dennis Potter (a writer, I know…).
I’d be up for watching a batch of Powell/pressberger films too – inclu. Black Narc. I saw Life & Death of Col. Blimp last year and it was awesome.
i am not watching straw dogs again.
here are some suggestions from me (of things that are actually in my netflix queue):
sembene, xala
herzog, aguirre, wrath of god (have been meaning to watch it again for some time.)
fellini, nights of cabiria
egoyan, ararat
lang, clash by night
ozu, tokyo story or early summer
weir, the last wave
ozon, sitcom
potter, orlando
lumet, the pawnbroker
malick, the new world
palekar, paheli or annahat
benegal, ankur
nacho libre
if there’s a concensus developing for california split, why not go with it–chris will just be one step ahead of us? I’m always in favor of Clash by Night. Several on Arnab’s list I know nothing about but from my side I am not sitting through The New World or Orlando again. and you know, some of them sound kinda foreign-sounding….
I’m happy with any of these, including ‘California Split.’ It might be worth bearing in mind that the more obscure (i.e foreign) movies will be hard to find. If the only place to get them is Netflix, and Netflix only has one copy, it will be three months before we all see it. One thing to be said for a strategy of (re)watching the classics (for example, ‘The Conversation’ or one of the conspiracy movies that we all alluded to in the ‘Syriana’ thread) is that we should be able to track down more copies, what with conventional video stores, college libraries and multiple Netflix copies.
I think I have about half of Arnab’s suggestions on my queue, as well.
Chris’ point about availability is a good one–although I found Kamikaze Girls at my local public library, I’m not sure it’s gonna be at every corner video joint. Still… I’m hesitant to give up on all the idiosyncratic stuff–the Sembene film Arnab mentions is also at my local library, and I’m kind of keen to see something by him, something I’ve not seen. Then again, I like the idea of returning to classics, or even more of returning to the ‘lesser’ or less-well-known films of big-name directors.
So, how about this: everybody post a short(ish) list of possible choices over the next couple days. Then (or just instead) email me your top three choices, I’ll collate and pull out the favorites, and repost — and we can just pick one for every couple of weeks thereafter.
My list:
Ousmane Sembene’s Xala
Michael Powell’s Black Narcissus
Fritz Lang’s Clash by Night
Robert Altman’s California Split
Tetsuya Nakashima’s Kamikaze Girls
Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky
It’d be kind of interesting to imagine double-bills, too. Like Altman and May for revisions of the male-buddy film–and maybe Holofcener’s Kicking and Screaming for a female-buddy film. Lang and Powell for the “melodrama.” Maybe Sembene and Peckinpah for male impotence? Nakashima and ??? The Conversation and Little Murders for claustrophobic paranoia?
Ok so here’s my suggestion. Though I don’t mean to get too midcult, I think we should do this a little bit like book clubs in that each member gets to choose a film for the group. We set an appropriate date to make sure everyone can see the film (it might take us a while if we are all working through netflix; Reynolds and I can always share). Then, once that date has arrived, the individual who has made the choice for the month (or however we work it out), will make an initial post and we all jump in. If we do this once a month, then we don’t wear ourselves out AND we are able to continue our other ever-evolving conversations about films and other visual media/sporting events (go Dwayne Wade) we are seeing in the meantime. As I think of titles, I would probably advocate for Atom Egoyan’s Exotica, Royston Tan’s 15, Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, Lukas Moodysson’s Together, anything by Michael Haneke or the Dardenne Brothers. Aguire interests me as does Straw Dogs. There are also some recent films that I would love to discuss with members, and we might want to choose an upcoming release (like the suicidal, gay Steve Carrell film that dazzled the Sundance crowd or Scorsese’s take on Infernal Affairs)to see at the cineplex. What about that new Korean film about the giant, killer tadpole; that sounds like fun.
I like the idea of each blog member picking a film for (a monthly?) discussion and being responsible for the first thoughtful post to get things started—maybe Mike should pick first since he suggested it, then we can figure out who goes next. All of this suggesting and voting might be a little cumbersome. I would agree with Chris that we should avoid the overly obscure or hard to find–I have nothing available here but netflix and blockbuster. but otherwise we give each member complete autonomy in picking a film–and if you’re not interested, you can just sit out that discussion.
Second.
what he said.
You all make good points. So I’ll start — I’ll name the movie, and then in a week or so I’ll post a few of my initial comments. People can pick up as they see fit and we’ll chat on it for a while… until someone is bored enough to jump up and volunteer the next flick.
I choose Michael Powell’s Black Narcissus. It came out not long ago in a nice Criterion edition, so I’m gonna rewatch and then also plug through the really nice extras, including a commentary track with Powell and Martin Scorsese. I’ll post a reasonably-sized set of initial thoughts and reactions by 6/19, then we’ll go from there.
sexy and crazy nuns it is!
I’m in.
do you mean “reasonably sized” for you, or in general?
snap!
“do you mean “reasonably sized†for you, or in general?”
See earlier post regarding Mike’s penis.
Thank god we’re talking about my penis, again. That was really my only excuse for setting up this damn club.
I meant reasonably sized for me, meaning 750-1000 words, minimum.
okay, i definitely did NOT write “jeff is a poophead,” though i did write the comment about mike’s penis, i meant posts, so whoever gets to edit my comments, arnab or the original poster or whoever, is a juvenile instigator of discord among friends.
PLEASE DELETE THAT IMMEDIATELY, YOU BASTARD!
I agree with Gio: Jeff is a poophead.
Yes, this has degenerated. Or dropped from the occasional heights we can attain back into our more typical crap-slinging and guttertalk. Hear hear.
mike, if you don’t delete your juvenile addition from my comment i’m going to fuck you up. it’s called e.t.i.q.u.e.t.t.e., you twerp!
I’m confused–Jeff isn’t a poophead?
it don’t matter. i made my position clear. jeff is not a poophead, and i’m going to fuck you up.
I don’t get it..someone edited Gio’s post without her permission or knowledge? Isn’t that both rude and antithetical to the spirit of the blog? In fact, it’s a shitty underhanded thing to do. i want to see gio fuck someone up. italians are good with knives.
For the record, Jeff may be a poophead, but Gio does not think so. I am the culprit, following in the silly–not mean-spirited–pleasures of tech wizardry available to the posters in certain strange eerie instances. (For the record, I do not eat my boogers, either, although apparently in a blackout I wrote that on a post. Or–wait…maybe….) It was silly, and was not a challenge to blog spirit. I have blog spirit up the friggin’ wazoo. But Gio’s right to be pissed, and she can and will fuck me up. I’ll take my lumps.
as has been mentioned before: it is a silly “feature” of wordpress software that someone who starts a topic is able to edit comments made to it by anyone else. as far as i know mike is the only one who does this. he should be embarassed and mocked.
hopefully the next version of the software, which i’ll be upgrading us to any decade now, takes care of this.
to quote Jim Brown in (I believe) the Last Hard Men (a western, not a gay porno), She’ll “cut you three ways: long, deep and frequent.”
It made me laugh. I have thick skin. I’ve put up with arnab for months and we’re still willing to type in one anothers general direction.
now that you’ve taken the poophead addition out of my comment the thread becomes incomprehensible. i think you should put it right back. i mean it!!!. i’m not pissed, just going to fuck you up three ways, in an unsuspected and ridiculously violent fashion.
arnab, please leave this little window of freedom we still have on the blog. pretty please. why should you be the only one able to change our comments? oh why? be kind, gentle fuhrer.
Credit where credit is due . . . I’m pretty damn certain Reynolds added the poophead remark. Arnab’s jabs are far more sophisticated (and, therefore, sharper).
But I am a poophead.
Don’t tempt me, Turner. OH……. too late.
I promise not to do this any more. Even though “poophead” is a very funny word.
And I added the “I eat my boogers” part to Mike’s comment. I had asked him to correct a few type-os in a comment I made to one of his posts. He said he was unable to change anyone’s comments in his posts, that no one had that capability. I told him that I did, and I showed him by adding the “I eat my boogers” part to one of his comments to my posts. But I forgot to delete it.
For the record, Mike does not eat his boogers. Well, I have no proof that he does. Innocent until proven guilty, I suppose.
I’m bored. So, Gio, do you want to choose the film title for July? Does Simon want to play or will he tag-team with you? Chris, would you like to choose the film for August? I’ll take September (I love that song!). Frisoli? John? Mark? Peter? Paul? Is Arnab alive?
I’ll take october I suppose–that’s my favorite month.
simon is a behind-the-scenes man. he comes at you from the back with often lethal blows.
i would like to re-watch kiewslowski’s white, the least watched of his trilogy. i’d also like to see walking and talking by nicole holofcener, which i’ve never seen (this may be hard to find for those who don’t have large libraries or indipendent video stores at their disposal). i’d like to see the candidate, which i’ve also never seen, because we are all gearing up for the november elections and because robert redford is supposedly very good in it. to remember billy wilder, we might see witness for the prosecution. finally, how about quiz show, so we can stay in robert redford mode?
i just realized that three out this five movies begin with a w. this is not a political statement.
I really love The Candidate. Great Peter Boyle role. I read recently Redford was thinking of making a sequel to it. A 30-years-later kind of thing. He could do worse than that. And he has.
if we’re voting then i don’t have much interest in watching any of the films on gio’s list for the second time.
You get to choose Gio; we don’t need to arrive at a consensus. You choose and those who want to play will play.
okay, i’m choosing white. white is our july film. i’m actually going to post by the end of june, so there might be time for another film by the end of july.
when my turn comes i’m choosing weekend at bernie’s 2.
i’m sure there’s a very good and sharp joke here, but i’m afraid it’s lost on me.
Great. You can have November Arnab and Weekend at Bernie’s 2 it is. I know you have an affinity for this film as it was one of the first titles you mentioned shortly after I joined this blog (something about feeling silly around Reynolds the first couple of times you interacted with him because you really did like the film). And why not engage such a film critically?
Arnab, however, is taking the piss . . . which leads me to wonder what discoveries could we make (what strange mutations would we have to wiggle through) if we were to read Mr. Dean through Arnab. Now that’s a post I’d like to see surface over at Clubland: Black Narcissus.
I’ll happily watch ‘White’ again, and I cede my August spot to someone else; this is way too much pressure!
jeff suggests that i pick walking and talking over white, because of my frustration over the elision of women (not just women’s subjectivity, i’m afraid!) from discussions on this blog. i’m going to stick with white. like chris, i am not enjoying the pressure, and, also, i’m getting a little bit tired of, as we say in italy, trying to punch holes in water.
not that i don’t love you all!
What is it exactly you are tiring of, Gio?
punching holes in the water, john–pay attention!
have you even tried to punch holes in the water, john? it’s friggin’ exhausting.
Have you tried a water hole-puncher? They have them at Home Depot.
too expensive, man, too damn expensive.
You’re thinking of the Heavy Duty Nibbler with Extra Punch. The Vermont American Center Punch is only $2.99
Don’t back out Chris!!!!
Is there going to be another film pick? and I notice we’re not getting full participation.
sorry, between the world cup and moving house i haven’t had much time to watch any movies. depending on what the next pick is i will try to join in.
I think Gio is up next with ‘White.’
Chris – Would you be so kind as to post some thoughts in a new thread about California Split? My summer has become a ridiculous cycle of work followed by rented movies, and weekends where I try to stay out of the sun. More can continue to be said about White & Black Narc. as more people see it of course.