What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[BillyG]

Have not watched them yet but my LOTR:EE BD shipped and will arrive tomorrow and man I wanna get hiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIiiiIiiiIiIiIiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIgh and watch LOTR in HD.

[B_Metal]

I wanna get hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIII gh and NOT watch LOTR EE's. Lulz

[Captain Russ]

Started watching Alphaville, and just as the Godard-certified air of pretention began to dissipate, the buffering began to grow erratic and playback ceased.

I think I'll eat my router. That'll show it who's the man of this fuckshack.

[Captain Russ]

Apparently the threat worked, and Alphaville resumed.

It was very very good. Looking beyond some of the more experimental choices Godard made in the film regarding the pantomimed close-ups substituting for the typical love scene (with ponderous, philosophical dialogue playing over the montage, it has been parodied to death and sadly took me out of the film for a second or two), the use of the superfluous long take, or the extreme musical cues, Alphaville is a highly intelligent tech noir film that thematically borrows from the best sci-fi writing of the time.

And not to be completely at odds with Godard's choices, using a man who had lost his voice box as the voice of the supercomputer, Alpha 60, was interesting. It certainly made everything he said agonizing and drawn out, but it was also a simple and effective way to establish the AI and its coldly logical personality. My throat hurt just listening to him speak, but certainly captured my attention.

As far as protagonists go, Eddie Constantine put on an amazing performance as Lemmy Caution.

Eddie Constantine has the face of Edward James Olmos before there was an Edward James Olmos, and the swagger of a dystopia-bound James Bond (he even has the secret agent handle of "003"). No doubt that Blade Runner's Deckard was somewhat modeled on Lemmy Caution either (whether we're talking the Dick novel or the Scott film incarnations). He's an old school ass kicker that somehow made it into the future, and he has one hell of a fantastic exchange toward the end:

Alpha 60: "You do not fear death?"
Lemmy: "Yes, I am afraid of death. But for a humble everyday secret agent, it's an everyday thing. Like whiskey. And I've been drinking all my life."

What a great line.

[Jan]

The American

I know a lot of people thought this movie was absyminal and boring as fuck because alledgedly nothing really happenend. While that might be right on a superficial level and I can see where people are coming from, I have to strongly disagree. I actually kind of adored this movie. I loved the fact, that it is deliberately vague on everything from backstory to characters. It is a pure mood movie where most things happen unsaid. The way we never get to know the background of Clooneys character or his boss and employee just added to the fascination of this movie for me. And Clooney knocks it out of the park. I´d label this one of his greatest performances and his career is not short on those ones. One of the final scenes, him jabbing desperately at the steering wheel is a genuine great moment of cinema for me. Awesome final act.

And a word has to be said about the music. It is a shame that most of you likely never heard about Herbert Grönemeyer. Some of you might remember him as the reporter in the great Das Boot. My jaw dropped actually when I read his name in the credits. This guy is one of Germany´s greatest and most famous musicians. And apparently this is his first soundtrack work in ages. Whose style fits perfectly to this moody picture. Not to forget that Corbin can shoot the shit out of the scenery and Italian ladies. But that´s hardly news.

[Matt]

I won't lie...everyone that I know that has seen 'The American' has absolutely hated it. My sister and her date almost walked out of it.

[B_Metal]

Great to hear Jan as that's coming up soon on my netflix.

[Jan]

Yeah, it is weird. I was fully expecting to get bored to sleep on my couch given general consensus. And I am not even a contrarian.

[BillyG]

The American has been next on my queue for a month. I need to watch Never Let Me Go tonight so I can finally see it.

[Jan]

Veeeery curious what you guys think!

[Ben Thomas]

I agree with everything you said, Jan. I was shocked at how lukewarm people's reactions to it have been. I only saw it a few weeks ago and I totally loved it from frame one. Showed it to my next door neighbour and friend, he was bored. I don't know what people expect from films sometimes. This did it all for me.

[Abraham Smashington]

I won't lie...everyone that I know that has seen 'The American' has absolutely hated it. My sister and her date almost walked out of it.

Haha, we had that for MONTHS sitting on out table. We sent it back so I could get The Clone Wars.

PRIORITIES. I FUCKING HAVE THEM.

[Captain Russ]

If the reviews are to be believed, and The American is kin to Le Samourai, then I am ashamed to admit I have yet to see the film.

[Matt]

really? I love 'Le Samourai', so yeah...maybe I'd dig it.

[Anderson]

If the reviews are to be believed, and The American is kin to Le Samourai, then I am ashamed to admit I have yet to see the film.

That's a pretty big stretch.