2000 in film. (The Willenium) • Page 2

I'm really shocked at the complete shutout of Werckmeister Harmonies so far. We used to have some Tarr fans.

 

At least Yi Yi and In the Mood for Love are showing up stronger than I expected

 

The few Béla Tarr films I've seen haven't really done much for me.

 

I haven’t seen it in a long while, but I remember liking it quite a bit - it definitely does have that relentless and gruelling series of tribulations, but I thought the Brechtian like staging and set design helped mitigate that, by drawing attention to the artificiality of it all.

There are good moments that the staging allows too, such as a contrasting scene with Kidman’s character being attacked “hidden” while the rest of the village are at church or the town hall or whatever. Simple stuff showing what goes on behind closed doors, but it worked for me.

If I remember rightly Dogville turns the tables towards the end too - which makes it that bit more interesting / palatable than Dancer in the Dark.

Von Trier is extremely hit and miss for me, he’s made some films that I’ve enjoyed (Europa, The Five Obstructions, Melancholia, Dogville), and then some films that I thought were atrocious (Dancer in the Dark, The Idiots, Breaking the Waves).

 

I've never seen Werckmeister Harmonies or Yi Yi. I need to fix that.

 

Yes tommy gunning the baby is a classic cinema moment

 

I am always surprised Lars von Trier had this in him.

 

1. Werckmeister Harmonies
2. Battle Royale
3. In the Mood for Love.

Need to see Yi Yi. It was difficult to leave off Dancer in the Dark. Battle Royale is just one of those films where I am just so surprised but happy someone made it. The book is a great read too.

 

This is neither a particularly strong year nor promising start to the decade for me but there are still a decent amount to choose from -

1. Chicken Run
2. Gladiator
3. Erin Brockovich

Those in bold were other contenders for the top three with the following being notable efforts; Cast Away, Snatch, Unbreakable, X-Men, Brother, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Patriot, Pitch Black, and Final Destination.

 

Thank you for putting an end to this madness.

 

It's a little dated and isn't my favorite Soderbergh but I'm surprised to see Traffic hasn't been mentioned in here once yet

 

I don't remember Traffic that well, but didn't it come off a little bit like an after school special?

 

I’ve never seen it but I do remember the MAD Magazine parody that made fun of the color tints

 

the Michael Douglas parts definitely. but his plotline ends with him openly rebuking the war on drugs, which probably would not have been a part of my after school specials. The BDT and Cheadle storylines are the superior parts of the movie imo. A lot of people don't like the color tints but I do, it's all quality Soderbergh experimentation to me

 

Probably saw Grinch at least half a dozen times in the theaters.

 

1. In the Mood for Love (Wong)
2. Love Torn in Dreams (Ruiz)
3. Platform (Jia)
-
4. In Vanda’s Room (Costa)
5. As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Glimpses of Beauty (Mekas)
6. Eureka (Aoyama)
7. Mysterious Object at Moon (Weerasethakul)
8. Help!!! (To)
9. Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr)
10. Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors (Hong)

I feel like it gets hard to narrow these down with every year so to keep things from getting totally unruly, I’m going to keep my honourable mentions to films that I think are underrated or under seen (basically anything with less than 1000 logs on Letterboxd).

HM: Comedy of Innocence (Ruiz), By Player (Shindo), Needing You (To), Kaza-hana (Somai), I Am an S+M Writer (Hiroki), Tokyo Trash Baby (Hiroki)

 

1. Bring It On
2. Gladiator
3. Battle Royale

 

Werckmeister Harmonies is available for free on YouTube (although the soundtrack has been altered). It is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen; it shows the ways that crowds can be whipped up into destructive and immoral acts. It is not an easy film to watch, and it definitely should not be your first art film, but it is beautiful and will stick with you. The long takes become hypnotic, and it is clear that Tarr is in many ways the heir to Andrei Tarkovsky.

 

Between that and The Turin Horse Tarr has shown himself to be top tier. Two of my all time favorite films.

 

When I think of In the Mood for Love, I think of heat; the colors in the film makes everything feel warmer, even literally projecting itself onto the viewer. It is as passionate as any film has ever been, and it shows how our love can be expressed beyond the physical. Despite that tameness it feels much more adult than so many more gratuitous films, because of that challenge they face in reconciling their desires, social pressure, and commitment to others.

 

It was one of those movies I saw in the Netflix DVD-by-mail days. I was willing to try anything even though I hadn't really developed all of the critical skills to understand what I was watching. I thought it was boring at first until the introduction of the whale. That swelling music, the sincere awe of an animal that I had not really thought much of in so many other movies before, it made me pause and reflect. It is one of a handful of movies that changed the way I interpret art.

 

Just finished Werckmeister Harmonies. I still need more time to process the film It was very good. The creature that inspired wonder in the individual, used to ignite fear and anger in the crowd.

 

1. Joint Security Area

2. O'Brother Where Art Thou?
3. idk....The Perfect Storm? Pitch Black

I haven't seen a lot from this year and what I have seen has not been great. Joint Security Area is excellent. I haven't seen O'Brother in forever. Pitch Black wasn't too bad. The Perfect Storm....exists

 

1. George Washington
2. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
3. You Can Count on Me

Been meaning to watch In the Mood for Love for a while now, gonna try to get to it this week

 

1. Almost Famous
2. In the Mood for Love
3. Remember the Titans

Shoutout to Coyote Ugly and Bring It On, two movies that I've seen a million times.