Movies that hit you like a Sledgehammer(Fuck the Radar)

[Ardent]

Pi is on my eternal top ten list.

Those of you bagging on Memento, take another look. It is most certainly NOT a "gimmick" film, although it may appear that way in a single viewing. There are layers upon layers happening in this movie that have nothing to do with the backwards logic. This movie has a tremendous amount to say about the power of human memory, and how we manipulate it to rationalize our own failures, disappointments, and holes in the soul. It's one of the most illuminating films about the true workings of the human animal ever made.

I once wrote a dissertation of the multiple philosophical and spiritual concepts Memento touches on, but lucky for you people, it's on my other computer and I'm too lazy to pull it off to post here.

[Rasix]

I once wrote a dissertation of the multiple philosophical and spiritual concepts Memento touches on, but lucky for you people, it's on my other computer and I'm too lazy to pull it off to post here.

Heh, if you get a chance please do.  I like reading academic papers that tie into cinema.  My last year of undergrad I wrote a semi-term paper on Odysseus characterization in film.   The professor I was writing it for wrote extensive papers on the Three Stooges.  Good times.

[WonderBrick]

Long ago, Amadeus and Reservior Dogs showed me movies were more then just entertainment.

Somewhat more recently, Titus(directed by Julie Taymor) made me sit up and take note.  It is currently my favorite movie.

The best feeling I have had walking out of a theatre had to be seeing Seven and The Prophecy back to back for the first time.  I was numb and overloaded at the same time.

[Ironwood]

 
Those of you bagging on Memento, take another look. It is most certainly NOT a "gimmick" film, although it may appear that way in a single viewing. There are layers upon layers happening in this movie that have nothing to do with the backwards logic. This movie has a tremendous amount to say about the power of human memory, and how we manipulate it to rationalize our own failures, disappointments, and holes in the soul. It's one of the most illuminating films about the true workings of the human animal ever made.
 

I would have said what he said, but I just couldn't get beyond "Yeah, Oh Yeah ?  Yeah ?  Well FUCK YOU !" to those who disliked Memento.  I'm afraid I like it that much.

I personally would have added the enormous insight into the pysche of the human condition in the film and how, in the end, we are all someone's tools.

But still can't get by Fuck You.

(Oh and Seven Samurai is one of the best films of all time too.)

[ahoythematey]

Schild, didn't the original Insomnia have Stellan Skarsgaard?

[Shockeye]

Schild, didn't the original Insomnia have Stellan Skarsgaard?

Yes.

[ahoythematey]

That settles it then, I must see the original Insomnia.  I enjoyed the Pacino/Williams remake a good deal, but everything is better when Stellan Skarsgaard becomes involved.

[Rasix]

[

(Oh and Seven Samurai is one of the best films of all time too.)

So is, Yojimbo (points at avatar), although it's not quite as socially powerful.  Still has its profound moments.

[Abagadro]

There is supposed to be quite an interesting flick here at Sundance by Neil Gaiman and Dean McKean called Mirror Mask. I'm going to try to get a ticket to see it but it is a tough one to get into.

There is also a film called The Aristocrats that is basically a whole bunch of famous comedians telling the same joke over and over again. It is apparently a well-known joke among comedians but is so fithly that it is never told in public. The punchline is apparently really lame but each comedian does an improv riff in the middle of the joke which is the really funny part.  They say that if it is submitted to the MPAA it will be the first film to get an NC-17 based solely on language.

[Shockeye]

Only movie that interests me at Sundance is "Strangers with Candy: The Movie".

World Premiere: January 24th, 2005 (Sundance Film Festival in the Park City at Midnight category)

Cast: Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Sara Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ian Holm, Allison Janney, Dan Hedeya, Kristen Johnston, Chris Pratt, Justin Theroux, Deborah Rush, Sarah Thyre, Greg Hollimon

[Rasix]

There is also a film called The Aristocrats that is basically a whole bunch of famous comedians telling the same joke over and over again. It is apparently a well-known joke among comedians but is so fithly that it is never told in public. The punchline is apparently really lame but each comedian does an improv riff in the middle of the joke which is the really funny part.  They say that if it is submitted to the MPAA it will be the first film to get an NC-17 based solely on language.

There's a South Park version of that joke.  Wish I could find the vid.  It's absolutely filthy.  It had my wife cringing.

[Abagadro]

Ya, they did the SP version for this flick.

[Rasix]

http://www.spschat.com/RareMedia/videos/southparkjoke-thearistocrats.wmv

Not even remotely work safe.

[sidereal]

The punchline is apparently really lame

That's an understatement.

As far as I can tell from the South Park version, it's just an excuse to go buck wild with maximally offensive imagery.  That's not a joke.  It's verbal trolling.

[Abagadro]

Here's a blurb on the film:

The Aristocrats is a very unique film. It is funny and very perverse but has a seriousness of purpose that places it dead center in any discussion about values and mores and even more specifically the nature of taboo. It features more than 100 comedians and takes an unprecedented backstage look at the world of comics, both superstars and lesser-known lights. It is a labor of love by creators Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette; because of their own comic stature, they have access to people and situations that one cannot duplicate. And all in pursuit of telling one very, very, dirty joke, a joke that has been around since vaudeville but one that nobody I know has ever heard of or, more importantly, ever heard told. Well, in The Aristocrats you'll hear this same joke told 100 times. It's a joke that previously existed only in private, among comics, and it is the dirtiest joke you will ever hear.

While there is no nudity, no sex, and no violence in The Aristocrats, this is one of the most shocking and, perhaps for some, offensive films you will ever see. But its provocativeness is never gratuitous; it creates in its own singular fashion an absolutely arresting portrait of comic art.— Geoffrey Gilmore

Oh, and in reading up on Mirror Mask, it is sort of a quasi-sequal to Labyrynth written by Gaiman and directed by McKean. Combines live action and digital animation.

[schild]

It's one of the funniest jokes I've ever heard.

Closer should have been NC-17.

Edit: Did I mention I have a permanent copy on my desktop?

[sidereal]

You're fucking kidding me.  Unless there's some kind of deep meaning in 'the aristocrats', it's not a joke.  Christ, at least give me a pun or something.  The punchline may as well be 'Snickers Bar' or 'Wrist Cancer'.  It's just mouth noise.

[schild]

It's funny mouth noise.

[Cartman] While the mother starts licking the babies tiny little bal..

[kyle] Dude!

[Cartman] Hold on Kyle!

It's all such a buildup to a terrible payoff. And the timing from the Kyle/Cartman exchanges are hilarious.

Not everything is a knock-knock joke.

[HaemishM]

The Kyle/Cartman exchanges are what make the whole bit.

[Shockeye]

You're fucking kidding me.  Unless there's some kind of deep meaning in 'the aristocrats', it's not a joke.  Christ, at least give me a pun or something.  The punchline may as well be 'Snickers Bar' or 'Wrist Cancer'.  It's just mouth noise.

Okay, here's what to "get".

One: This joke dates back to before Television, before radio, before there were even well organized theatrical troups. It is That Old.

Two: an Aristocrat is a person of wealth, influence and power. The term itself dates back to midieval times. Anyone who was born to an Aristocratic family of an Aristocratic family was an Aristocrat.

Three: Quite often, aristocrats were the ones leading the call to censor the works of others, claiming things were "profane" or "inapropriate for the public".

At the same time, most Aristocrats are doing the most profane things themselves behind closed doors (See the many lovers of Catherine the great, Henry the 8th's history of STD's, hell, just go for the motherload with the Marquis DuSade.

The point fo the joke is to shock, amaze, and defame.

[Hanzii]

It's funny mouth noise.

[Cartman] While the mother starts licking the babies tiny little bal..

[kyle] Dude!

[Cartman] Hold on Kyle!

It's all such a buildup to a terrible payoff. And the timing from the Kyle/Cartman exchanges are hilarious.

Not everything is a knock-knock joke.

See that's the trouble with Schild and movies.
Sometimes you're very very wrong (with an almost SB-like arrogance) and sometimes you nails it in one. This is the latter.

I've had this SP-bit downloaded since it first made the rounds. I didn't know the background, but the delivery makes the joke.
Now, knowing where it comes from and why it was made, just makes it better and I'm looking forward to its first showing over here.

... and I'm a huge fan of Penn Gilette, who's a personal friend of Neil Gaiman, who's a friend of Dave McKean, who did the majority of the work on Mirror mask. Gaiman only helped with the script and gave advice, so it's a bit unfair to McKean to label it a Gaiman-McKean work.

Go to Gaiman's blog and search for Mirror Mask if you want to know more (as well as a lot of stuff on their viewing of the 3 hour unedited Labyrinth, we'll never get to see).

Back on the original topic:
The Prophecy. Christopher Walken as the archangel Gabriel making Viggo Mortensen look possibly benign as Lucifer himself. What's not to love?
Just like great bits of Sandman, Preacher and Hellblazer I have a fondness for stories that plays with religion and especially christian mythology.

I even kinda sorta like The Seventh Sign

[Ardent]

[I have a fondness for stories that plays with religion and especially christian mythology.

Then you might be interested in seeing "The Rapture" with Mimi Rogers. A very disturbing film ... I can't really say as I enjoyed it, because it's not so much a film you enjoy as much as absorb, discuss, and examine your own view of Christian theology.

[Furiously]

I thought what made it funny was to look at other people the first time they hear it...

[AcidCat]

I see a lot of good picks already listed. A few of my more recent favorites:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Garden State

Solaris

Man on the Train

Lost in Translation

Spartan

Whale Rider

Northfork

The Man Who Wasn't There

[stray]

Just like great bits of Sandman, Preacher and Hellblazer I have a fondness for stories that plays with religion and especially christian mythology

Same here.

Although his films are a little more down to earth, and don't always fall into the category of "mythological" or "fantastic", I consider Abel Ferrara a master at these type of stories. I'd probably get lynched if I said this in a church, but the Bad Lieutenant is one of the best "religious" movies ever made.

For something more mythological, Angelheart. Fuck The Devil's Advocate.

[Murgos]

You're fucking kidding me.  Unless there's some kind of deep meaning in 'the aristocrats', it's not a joke.  Christ, at least give me a pun or something.  The punchline may as well be 'Snickers Bar' or 'Wrist Cancer'.  It's just mouth noise.

What do you think of Andy Kaufman?

The joke is telling it to other people and experiencing thier reaction or even your own reaction.  The south park version is an excellent example of it because it works purely by comedic timing theres no sight gags or cheap laughs.  The joke builds tension as it goes, getting more and more obscene until finally there is no possible punchline that could live up to the joke.  People are expecting a punchline, they really want a punch line.  You can literally watch people tense up as they hear the joke play out.

This (that there is no punch line) tends to upset many people which, really, just makes the joke that much funnier.

[Evil Elvis]

I love the symmetry in South Park doing the joke.  If you don't get it - or find it offensive - it's just foul and obscene; exactly what people have labeled the show as being.

Anyway, when Cartman starts screaming during the 911 part, I can't keep from laughing.

[Murgos]

[

(Oh and Seven Samurai is one of the best films of all time too.)

So is, Yojimbo (points at avatar), although it's not quite as socially powerful.  Still has its profound moments.

Ran uber alles.  The cinematography still nails me everytime I watch it.

Yojimbo just has that classic story, though.  Seriously, it's been remade, what? 9, 10 times in different genres and styles?

[schild]

Yojimbo just has that classic story, though.  Seriously, it's been remade, what? 9, 10 times in different genres and styles?

Every single Kurosawa samurai movie has. From Hidden Fortress to Sanjuro to Yojimbo.

[AcidCat]

Yojimbo just has that classic story, though.  Seriously, it's been remade, what? 9, 10 times in different genres and styles?

Though it's debated wether Kurosawa was inspired by it or not, the basic story came earlier in Dashiell Hammett's novel Red Harvest.

[Murgos]

I've read some of Dashell Hammett's stuff.  The man had a very real genious.  I haven't read Red Harvest but I'll go hunt it down now.

[AcidCat]

I haven't read Red Harvest but I'll go hunt it down now.

You won't regret it if you like his style.

[Furiously]

Ok - watched Poolhall Junkies. Christopher Walken was great. The ending was a bit too Holllywood.

[Llava]

Couldn't resist  :-D

[Furiously]

Rise - Rise - Rise - I command you!