Anybody catch Zodiac over the weekend? Looks like a winner.

I hadn't heard of this film and just stumbled upon it at the local video shop. The story seems to be a bit like Pan's Labyrinth - young girl faced with terrible situation uses her imagination to escape reality. Tideland isn't as visually imaginative as PL but it is a Gilliam film which are always striking in their own way.

The actors were great and the story was weird, of course. Not a lot of characters but each were eccentric. As if the outcome of the girl's father wasn't disturbing enough, there was a sexual element to the story that I won't say anything about because it will spoil the emotional impact it creates. I will say this - it will make you squirm, worry, and feel nauseous. Gilliam describes the film as Alice in Wonderland meets Psycho, the Psycho reference being a bit of a joke. An interesting story and a good film but not one of his best, IMO. It's still one to catch for all the Gilliam fans.

Today after I saw Ghost Rider, I also saw "Perfume [SIZE="1"]the story of a murderer[/SIZE]".

In recent movies, "Perfume" was the most dazzling movie. Normally, we can't see "scent", but I could see "scent" in this movie by dazzling camera work. Cinematographer Frank Griebe did awesome work. You'll get keen senses. It must be un-experience movie to you. Especially, the last sequences were unbelievable shocking! :eek:

Jean-Baptiste, if he got good family, good education, he could be good perfume maker. If it was not about a story of murderer, the blurb will be "a young perfume maker bring fascinating scent to you". But, alas, he's murderer.


*****Minor spoiler*****








He kills young women for ultimate perfume. But all victims were redheads women.....Ah, director is Tom Tykwer "Run Lora Run". He like redheads, isn't he?

Speaking of Mexican movie makers.... The Abandoned is a little gem, heavy on atmospherics and creepy sound effects, a sprinkle of gore, and a Twilight Zone ending that was very satisfying.

Basically, the story deals with a brother and sister, fraternal twins, who return to their Russian homestead where they were abandoned 40 years ago. Of course, the homestead is haunted--by their dopplegangers. And this is developed in the first third of the movie. By the last third, the pieces of the puzzle explaining the dopplegangers are flying by. All the parts are there but you have to catch them quick to finish the puzzle before the horrific ending.

This is a movie you'll either love or hate. My brother and I agreed that the last third of the movie was great, but the storyline seemed circular. Remember that episode of the Twilight Zone where the old woman rides her horse to the beach to warn her young self not to marry the wrong guy, only to set in motion the events leading to her marrying the wrong guy, thus creating that circular ride that she must forever take to try to warn herself? Well, The Abandoned is kinda like that.

See it soon, however, as it doesn't look like it will have a long theater run.

AC

P.S. I think it'll play better on dvd anyway. And the haunted house is the scariest character of the movie. What a perfect location find!

Hey, Kenji, old man.

It's kinda stuck in my mind that you don't care for Korean flicks. Is it Korean horror flicks or Korean flicks in general?

Have you seen THE HOST? Damn good monster movie, and funny too.

Have you seen A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. I rank it up there with RINGU 0, the prequel to RINGU, which I feel is the best of the four RINGU flicks.

The dubbed version of THE HOST is coming to the states. I plan to watch it just to see it on the big screen, as I have only watched it on the Korean dvd I purchased a few months ago.

Anyway, wassup?

AC

P.S. There was a time that I didn't like Mexican movies; they were an embarassment in the 1970-1980s. "Aztec Mummy vs. Mil Mascaras" was a terrible flick, but was the norm for Mexican movie horror. Today, however, Mexican moviemaking is considered the new rennaissance across the globe, and it all started with a little horror flick called, CRONOS. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Then check out THE HOST.

29 year old Dr. Atsuko Chiba is an attractive but modest Japanese research psychotherapist whose work is on the cutting edge of her field. Her alter-ego is a stunning and fearless 18 year old “dream detective,” code named PAPRIKA, who can enter into people’s dreams and synchronize with their unconscious to help uncover the source of their anxiety or neurosis.

This is NOT Miyazaki's animation, but this is fabulous and you'll get unlimited imagination by this animation. Check this trailer.


Paprika trailer

I read the last 3 books of the adversary cycle a long time ago ( thankfully, I don't remember them much so if I can ever track them down I'll be able to enjoy them even more now). Somehow, I never read the first 3 ( but I did manage to get a copy of The Keep last week).

I'd never even heard of Repairman Jack until a few months ago when he popped up on my Amazon recomendation list. I hate reading Jack's adventures out of order, but they were pretty tough to come by so I didn't have much of a choice. I finally managed to get ahold of the last four that I was missing from Conspiracies through The Haunted Air.

I guess the best thing about discovering a previously overlooked treasure like RJ is that you've got some good reading to do before you catch up and have to wait for the new ones to come out. At least I have one more great author providing me something else to look forward to.

I want to be Repairman Jack when I grow up.

[SIZE="3"]I had to start it.

Thanks to you all for making this forum such a success.[/SIZE]

My first encounter with The D was their HBO specials back in the day. I didn't miss an episode and had them all on tape which was lost some years later. When they made their "comeback" a few years ago I couldn't wait to see what they would come up with next. I wasn't disappointed. So when I heard about the movie, I was totally amped.

Well... I hate to say this but I was a bit disappointed. The D has an odd sense of humor at times, almost like inside jokes that a lot of people won't get until they learn the story behind the punchline. The movie had moments of hilarity and plenty of chuckles but I found it less humorous than I'd expected. The music was great, of course, and the acting and story line was good. I suspect it's a movie that grows on you the more you watch it rather than jumping straight to the tops of your "Favorite Comedies" list. I liked it, but I thought I'd love it. Still, it's worth checking out.

Despite the fact that I'm closing in on 40 faster than I would like to admit, I'm still a big kid at heart, and thus I tend to get together with friends of mine for a weekly Role playing game session. Currently, we've been playing Shadowrun for over a year.

After reading the first Repairman Jack novel, I was struck at the similarities between Jack and a shadowrunner. He's off the grid, he's an accomplished fixer, deals with supernatural occurrences, and has his own list of 'contacts' that make his life all that much easier.

I don't know if there are any other gamers here, or anyone for that matter who happens to know what Shadowrun is, but wow, Mr. Wilson wrote a runner YEARS before the game even came out. I love that fact!

Ok, kind of an odd post, but I guess I should stop lurking and start contributing to the board and get to know the folks here.

Chris