Film discussion

Here are some articles about Brown Bunny's bad reception at the Cannes
Film Festival. The reviews have been so bad that Gallo is saying that he'll never direct again. C'mon...I betcha it's great.

http//reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2805965

http//www.indiewire.com/movies/movies_030522brown.html

http//abcnews.go.com/sections/relationships/Entertainment/brownbunny030522.html

It'll probably never get released here in the states, so if anyone has a copy that I can look at... please let me know.

Chuck

From what the reviewers say, it sounds like "The Last Big Thing" on wheels.

Chuck, why do you want to see this movie? From the reviews you linked to, it sounds tedious. If you are jonesing for that sort of thing you can always try that recent Gus Van Sant movie, "Gerry," starring Matt Damon. Or Harmony Korine and Larry Clark's latest, "Ken Park."

The best thing to do is to videotape a plastic bag blowing in the wind and get dewy eyed. Personally I want to see a sequel to "American Beauty" that is just two hours of the plastic bag. I want to know what makes that bag tick. Does it have a girlfriend? Also I think it would make a good buddy movie, with the buddy being a candy wrapper, and possibly also a squashed aluminum can as a wacky sidekick.

Here are the things I liked about Vincent Gallo's last movie, "Buffalo '66"
-- Songs by Yes and King Crimson (especially "Moon Child")
-- Christina Ricci acting Christina Ricciastically, albeit moon-childish
-- Lots of groovy colors, for those who like colors
-- Was there a bowling scene? Movies should have more bowling. It's very cinematic.

Tonight I was treated to the springtime sounds of cats getting it on outside my window. I considered recording them and uploading the audio to a newsgroup where people swap the sounds of cats having sex. I don't know if such a newsgroup exists but it probably does.

What is a "Luxuria" film, anyway? I can think of two possible answers. One would be a film that contains Luxuria-style music. The other would be a film that fits the Luxuria aesthetic somehow -- sexy, funny, stylish, quirky, teasing, mysterious, colorful, whimsically goofy, possibly foreign, probably not new, maybe hallucinatory, probably not mainstream, and otherwise hipstery. Any movie that takes itself seriously is disqualified. Here are my picks, based on the little I know

"Bedazzled." Faustian comedy featuring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. Eleanor Bron is the love interest, and Raquel Welch is Lust personified. Terrific dry, clever wit and excellent loungy/mod music by Moore.

"The Party." One of the many Blake Edwards movies starring Peter Sellers and featuring Henry Mancini's music. The fact that it's a '60s swanky party and Sellers is playing a "funny" slapstick Indian man also evokes Luxyness.

"Robocop." Though Nancy Allen's day-glo outfit and Ronny Cox's lacquered Bubble Car are impressive, the part that sealed the deal for me was the cherry red go-go boots worn by Peter Weller's half-human, half-machine fashion photographer. Good stuff.

Okay....I can't think of much.... I guess honorable mentions should go to "Gumnaam" (which I haven't seen), "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" (which I don't like as much as I feel I am supposed to), and "Barbarella" (which I barely remember except for Jane Fonda's see-through plastic breast coverings and a particularly cool whip-cracking sound). Oh yeah, I never made it through "Blow Up" either. I suck. I'm sure there must be dozens of French, Italian and British films which make the list, and maybe some early James Bond flicks apply (though most of them are lame), and let's see....."The Prisoner" is a TV show....hmmmm..... Where does "Baby Geniuses" fit in?

It just occurred to me that in the remake of "Bedazzled", the essential merging of the character of Lust with the Devil him/herself is indicative of the rather sad direction in which Western "culture" seems to be going.

Twitchy, a film that qualifies under both of your criteria is "Vampyros Lesbos." It's a trippy fantasy from 1970 about, duh, lesbian vampires. It was written and directed by Jess Franco. And it's got a faboo soundtrack, "conducted and written by Manfred Hubler and Siegfried Schwab." Available on Motel Records. Cuts include such goodies as "The Lions and the Cucumber" and "The Six Wisdoms of Aspasia." I *think* I've seen the film, but can't quite remember.

'Down with Love' was a lot of fun - most of the time - for nice escapist comedy. Kinda like the first 'Austin Powers' movie. Good dumb fun - and fab interior design.

1) The original "Bedazzled" is PRECISELY how to live at ALL TIMES.

2) The remake of "Bedazzled" is... not.

For fans of 'AutoFocus' (and 'Hogans Heroes) - currently up for bid on Ebay is the 'Infamous Bob Crane Condo Scottsdale Arizona.' There's already a bid on it. God help us all.

10th Victim anyone?