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[MrDaravon]

The Silent House: Very nice horror

Which one? Netflix has La Casa Muda (even though the cover is shown in english and this movie was released last year) and the other one of this year?

 

[Danne-Danger]

Biutiful is depressing a fuck

But very pretty to look at!

 

[thehillissilent]

Hobo with a Shotgun: This movie is a huge throwback to 80's Troma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troma) movies. If you don't like Troma or grindhouse, steer clear of this one. This movie was so over the top, but still highly entertaining in a weird sort of way. I can see why it got an NC-17 rating.

 

[ChoklitReign]

Clerks - I think I'm overanalyzing this movie. I found analogies to the Buddhist concept of suffering, the five stages of grief, and Dante as a tragic hero. I also thought the SAT word transitions were oversophisticated; I knew like 3. I couldn't overall tell whether Kevin Smith was trying to be artistic or a byproduct of the low budget. At least all of the characters were great and memorable.

 

[AnkitT]

La Jetée is holy-fucking-shit amazing, but must be watched in French because I found the English narrator too annoying to bear when I last tried to watch it. Many millions of times better than 12 Monkeys.

wowwww. Haunting, beautiful movie.

I know what i'm watching tonight! Have had it for some time, but didn't watch it for some reason.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

D.O.A.
"I want to report a murder."
"When was this murder?"
"Last night."
"Who was murdered?"
"I was!"
And so finally I get to hear these infamous lines as the opening to what could almost be considered the quintessential noir plot line.

A poisoned man has a limited time to find his killer before he dies.

How could this possibly fail to be compelling? Well it can in only two words, Edmund O'Brien.
It's been some time since I've seen such an uncharismatic lead. Everything he does in this role just sucks enjoyment and enthusiasm out of the frame. In a film with crazy villainous foreigners, glow-in-the-dark poison(!) and women ready to commit adultery at the drop of a hat crash of a symbol (courtesy of a great live jazz performance) O'Brien is in the middle of it all, bringing us back down to normality and eventual mundanity. He's not entirely at fault, the plot relies on some glaring and down right unlikely coincidences to progress and the characterisation of his girlfriend is almost insultingly simplistic but had these faults not been present, everything around them is so predictably presented, with no great surprises, developments or fun.
It's noir in form only, the content is lacking everything that makes the genre great.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

La Jetée is holy-fucking-shit amazing, but must be watched in French because I found the English narrator too annoying to bear when I last tried to watch it. Many millions of times better than 12 Monkeys.

wowwww. Haunting, beautiful movie.

La Jetee IS awesome, though I wouldn't put it so far above Twelve Monkeys, which I think IS good, just not AS good.

 

[UrbanRats]

I didn't remember it being that weird. Then I re-watched it a few days ago.

Yeah, i was expecting

Spoiler

the classic gang-rape+revenge, but instead it's like she's conflicted at first (until the other dude joins in) and moreover, the thing never even comes out with the husband, while instead i thought that would've been the reason for Hoffman snapping.

Even the ending is strange,

Spoiler

with Hoffman leaving with the maniac, telling him something to the effect of "i don't know where home is, either", like she's leaving the wife behind.

Hanna - Surprisingly great. Completely nails the whole fairy tale aesthetic it's aiming for. Saoirse Ronan's acting is great. She's a blast of a cross between Jason Bourne and a Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Action is very well done too, the scenes on

Spoiler

the subway platform and in the container park

are both excellent. All of that was enough for me to largely overlook pieces like the annoying teen friend. 8/10

To each his own, but i don't really see how the action is great.
Either you don't see shit, or it's some really standard stuff.
At first at least you got some editing virtuosisms, when she escapes the compound, after that, basically nothing worth noticing (in the action department).
Also yeah, they are going for the fairytale parallel, but the story and the characters do not have the same power through semplicity that a classic fairytale has.

Which one? Netflix has La Casa Muda (even though the cover is shown in english and this movie was released last year) and the other one of this year?

The original one, La Casa Muda.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Holy shit, Rope is awesome and much better than it's usually given credit for! I was expecting that typical Hitchcock Freudian psychobabble or melodramatic use of camera techniques, but the film is actually a masterful and quite subdued exercise in tension and ideology. The way that the film presents its two homosexual characters is actually extremely realistic, even if only implicit, which actually gives is quite a bite and modernity that many other Hitchcock films lack. Plus, I'd say this may actually be the best character that Jimmy Stewart played in a Hitchcock film, for his demeanor is more natural, his presence more palpable (relative to the situation of the film), and the character simply has more depth and affability than the ones he played in either Rear Window or Vertigo. The script is dynamite, with many of the colloquial cliches of the characters turning out to be quite funny, given the knowledge of the audience of the body's presence in the trunk, as well as its critique of Nietzschean and Nazi ideologies. If the film has a flaw, it's that outside of Stewart, the actors aren't really good enough to give the film the treatment that it deserves, since most of them have a very "stagey" style of acting, which makes intellectual sense given the nature of the cinematography but comes across as just a little bit hammy on the screen. Still, for as much good as this film does, I can't believe that Hitchcock considered it an overall failure; I'd even go so far as to say that it's one of his best, much better than many of his lauded classics.

 

[Liquidsnake]

I just finished The American.

This looked like the most dull, generic spy thriller ever based on the trailers, but thanks to some positive reviews, I decided to give it a chance.

If this isn't a "great" film, it's pretty close to one. The lean script explains very little to the audience. The characters are presented (the film focuses almost exclusively on Clooney's character), and the viewer is expected to observe behavior and to fill in the blanks with what the characters are thinking and feeling. I did not expect a subtle character study from this type of movie, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the majority of the film is quiet with very few (and always very short) action sequences. The violence is not the point, of course. Neither is the plot, which is simple, fairly standard spy-ish stuff but does its job by creating a space for the characters to inhabit and by establishing a series of situations which the characters adapt and react to. The people creating the violence are of interest here.

I can see why some audiences and critics didn't like it. I was warned away from the film by a friend who said the only "cool" part of the movie was the scene where Clooney's character assembles a rifle. I've known for a long time we have differing tastes in film.

Highly recommended. The American might not blow you away, but it isn't really trying to.

I really liked this movie a lot. I watched it twice. I can't find anyone who agree with me. My GF hated it, and she loves long dragged out movies.
I thought the final scene was so powerful, it almost brought me to tears.

 

[BotoxAgent]

Loved the American. Loved the setting and the pacing. Almost perfect movie imo.

 

[big ander]

To each his own, but i don't really see how the action is great.
Either you don't see shit, or it's some really standard stuff.
At first at least you got some editing virtuosisms, when she escapes the compound, after that, basically nothing worth noticing (in the action department).
Also yeah, they are going for the fairytale parallel, but the story and the characters do not have the same power through semplicity that a classic fairytale has.

I thought it was great because of how little editing there was/appeared to be. The one shot of the dad in the subway underground was very fluid and intense.
The more I've thought on it, I feel that getting into specifics so much about Hanna's past was a bad idea. If they had been unclear about what makes her special the story would have maintained the fairy tale image.

 

[EliCash]

I watched Paris Je T'aime last night and thought that the majority of the short films were pretty poor, a few actually unwatchable. Few really tried to capture the essence of Paris at all which I found quite disappointing.

I thought that the Coen Brothers short was good, and Oliver Schmitz's short was fantastic and the best of the bunch (the one about the Nigerian man and the paramedic for those who have seen it). Aside from those, the rest were mediocre at best I thought - with a few being outright bad.

Out of the Past - My first viewing, the protagonist is a slick talking, clever acting sort of anti-hero whose intentions seem a little misguided yet in the end prove to be of the utmost noble. His character reminded me a bit of the protagonist from Miller's Crossing, yet Jeff Bailey (from Out of the Past) is much more likable and much more charismatic. Pretty much the epitome of cool, or the old idealistic view of the man's man. He always seems to be in control. He effortlessly tosses out witty one-liners. He pauses to smoke a cigarette at the most inopportune times. He has a romantic disposition, but he never loses sight of the difference between reality and artifice. This is noir at it's finest, a romantic, titillating, piece of blissful gloom. 10/10

Easily one of the best Noirs, fantastic film.

Holy shit, Rope is awesome and much better than it's usually given credit for! I was expecting that typical Hitchcock Freudian psychobabble or melodramatic use of camera techniques, but the film is actually a masterful and quite subdued exercise in tension and ideology. The way that the film presents its two homosexual characters is actually extremely realistic, even if only implicit, which actually gives is quite a bite and modernity that many other Hitchcock films lack. Plus, I'd say this may actually be the best character that Jimmy Stewart played in a Hitchcock film, for his demeanor is more natural, his presence more palpable (relative to the situation of the film), and the character simply has more depth and affability than the ones he played in either Rear Window or Vertigo. The script is dynamite, with many of the colloquial cliches of the characters turning out to be quite funny, given the knowledge of the audience of the body's presence in the trunk, as well as its critique of Nietzschean and Nazi ideologies. If the film has a flaw, it's that outside of Stewart, the actors aren't really good enough to give the film the treatment that it deserves, since most of them have a very "stagey" style of acting, which makes intellectual sense given the nature of the cinematography but comes across as just a little bit hammy on the screen. Still, for as much good as this film does, I can't believe that Hitchcock considered it an overall failure; I'd even go so far as to say that it's one of his best, much better than many of his lauded classics.

Rope is great - I watched it recently too - but I don't think it's better than the likes of Vertigo, Psycho, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt etc. Great premise executed masterfully though, you mentioned Jimmy Stewart but I also thought John Dall was great as Brandon.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Of the Hitchcocks that I've seen, I'd put Psycho, Strangers on a Train, and Rope at the top. Rear Window I found alright but rather unmemorable, and Vertigo has way too many plotholes and too shoddy of a psychological base to be even a quarter as good as its proponents claim. There's a few - Lifeboat, The Lodger, The Birds, and some of the later ones - that I still need to see, though.

Edit: And yeah, the actor playing Brandon was very good as well, and the guy playing Philip was alright as well. It was really the non-Stewart ancillary characters that I thought weren't acted all that well, too stagey.

 

[MikeMyers]

Of the Hitchcocks that I've seen, I'd put Psycho, Strangers on a Train, and Rope at the top. Rear Window I found alright but rather unmemorable, and Vertigo has way too many plotholes and too shoddy of a psychological base to be even a quarter as good as its proponents claim. There's a few - Lifeboat, The Lodger, The Birds, and some of the later ones - that I still need to see, though..

I didn't see Strangers on a Train or Rope, but Psycho is my favourite Hithcock as well.

I too thought Rear Window was just alright, I'll give it a re-visit if it comes on tv.

I've also seen I CONFESS, NORTH BY NORTHWESST, and THE BIRDS.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Hey, something we can agree on!

Strangers on a Train is my favourite Hitchcock, but I often find myself in the minority.

 

[EliCash]

Edit: And yeah, the actor playing Brandon was very good as well, and the guy playing Philip was alright as well. It was really the non-Stewart ancillary characters that I thought weren't acted all that well, too stagey.

I can't disagree there. I think it's safe to say that you can immediately tell that Rope was based on a play, the film essentially is a play with all the action taking place within two rooms. And the actor playing Phillip was none other than Farley Granger, who played Guy in Strangers on a Train, in case you never noticed - I didn't at first.

I've also yet to see Lifeboat and The Lodger. Neither are in the collections I own, I've wanted to see Lifeboat for a while though. The Birds is great, not seen it in years mind you.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

However, I could tell in my mind - just isolating the dialogue - that there was nothing wrong with the lines of the ancillary characters. I think the film does a pretty good job of being non-stagey overall, though, as the constant glare of the camera does enough to guide the audience's attention that it ends up working quite well.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

I am not sure how I would rank the Hitchcock films but Rope, The Lady Vanishes, Rebecca, Notorious, & Spellbound are my favorites, 39 Steps, Vertigo, North by Northwest are pretty great, like Psycho enough, meh on Rear Window and To Catch a Thief, and dislike The Birds. There are quite a lot that I just don't remember all that well since I haven't seen them since like 8th grade or early high school. Damn, I didn't even realize I have seen so many Hitchcock films truthfully.

 

[Solo]

Vertigo remains my favorite followed closely by Rear Window and Notorious.

 

[brianjones]

don't look now: boring.. last scene was creepy i guess. polanski does this kind of thing better. the sex scene was hot.. i'm not surprised they had to dissuade rumors that they weren't actually having sex. donald sutherland must have had the biggest boner

super: juvenile and stupid

deep red: soundtrack was bizarre lol.. it would break out into a kind of krautrock as violence was about to ramp up but a lot of fun and great effects.

what other argento is worth checking out? ive seen this and suspiria

also rewatched godfather 1 & 2 .. still brilliant as ever

 

[VeryGooster]

Rango was a pretty good throwback to spaghetti westerns. The plot itself is by the numbers but it had some great characters. Great-looking movie too and this was undoubtedly one of Depp's best roles in a long time. I really enjoyed the soundtrack, too.

Spoiler

The scene with The Great Spirit of the West (i.e. The Man with No Name) was worth the price of admission alone.

 

[UrbanRats]

Confessions:
Very good revenge flick.. actually, probably my favorite revenge movie (that i can remember).
If you can bare some over the top stuff (actually not uncommon in Japanese cinema) it's great how it all unfolds.
I would like to say that after a while, the costant slowmotion + narration became hard to bear, but that wasn't the case with me, infact, i never felt bored or annoyed by it, not even for a second.. but i can understand who did.


REDLINE:

 

[Net_Wrecker]

REDLINE:
http://i.minus.com/iyMN8IyM9af89.png

Redline is insane. INSANE. Freaking insanity on the level of Akira with animation to match. Crazy, high octane INSANITY.

 

[WrikaWrek]

Going in knowing not to expect a true Spiderman 2 sequel, I finally opened my eyes.

Sam Raimi is a genius ladies and gentlemen. This movie is nothing if not entertaining, funny and even at times touching. It's a really bizarre movie, but the movie is always delivering, scene by scene.

It really reminds me of Tim Burton's Batmans, it's insane.

 

[blame space]

I'm sitting in the theater about to see Contagion

 

[elrechazado]

I'm sitting in the theater about to see Contagion

i'm sitting behind you, turn off that damn phone

 

[UrbanRats]

The explosion at the end was probably the only point where the slow-motion became excessively OTT and took me out of it. I loved the narration though, it's one of those cases where it's crucial for delivery of narrative (and it certainly lived up to the title.)

When it started i thought i had it wrong, like i had skipped to the ending or something, because it has that "ending" feeling throughout.
But it make total sense, since the film it's called "Confessions", and that's what it shows.
I agree the Explosion was a bit too much, but i appreciated the aestethic beauty of it, with

Spoiler

some Postrock-ish soundtrack and the ticking of the clock.

Redline is insane. INSANE. Freaking insanity on the level of Akira with animation to match. Crazy, high octane INSANITY.

Yeah, i had to lower the volume, when the music kicked in.. and i was so into it that i almost forgot to.

 

[Ridley327]

Tenebrae and Opera for sure. Probably Inferno, I don't really get the appeal but people seem to like it. Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Cat o Nine Tails, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, and Phenomena are all pretty good too. After that you are diving into the abyss.

What he's trying to say is that as long as it's an Argento film from before the 90s, you are pretty safe.

And who couldn't love a film like Inferno? It has a murder preceded by someone off screen throwing cats at Daria Nicolodi and the best horror theme song ever.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki-Duk, 2003)

You gotta be kidding me, dude. When I sit down to watch an extremely well-reviewed movie that's in the IMDb Top 250, I never know what I'm going to get, but I CERTAINLY wasn't expecting a boring Buddhist tract to be something I encountered off of that damn list. With paper-thin characters, obnoxiously "spiritual" music, forced attempts at poetry and Eastern philosophy, and PRISTINE visuals, this is probably one of the stranger choices to be on the IMDb 250 (and one that it just kinda pained me to watch, though it's mercifully much shorter than many bad, pretentious movies).

 

[Giard]

Just watched Shutter Island.
I think I would've appreciated the movie 10 times more if I hadn't seen the trailer. :/
Still enjoyed it though.

What are GAF's impressions on the ending?

Spoiler

Crazy from the start, or made crazy?

 

[ThisWreckage]

Boogie Nights. This film is masterful. It might be my favorite PTA film.

 

[blame space]

i'm sitting behind you, turn off that damn phone

nobody wanna see that damn straw dogs trailer

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

I highly advise that any LA gaffers check out a store in Pasadena called Interact. They sell used DVD's at phenomenal prices. I've seen OOP criterions there for $15 regularly. Yesterday I picked up Stalker, Inland Empire, Stardust Memories, and Love and Death all at lower prices than any retailer on amazon offered. Sorry if this sounds like an advertisement, but I can't recommend it enough.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna start with Stardust Memories. Will update in 2 hours!

 

[JackEtc]

Not bad, I enjoyed it overall. Some very funny moments in it. Give it a watch.

 

[Ridley327]

Just watched Shutter Island.
I think I would've appreciated the movie 10 times more if I hadn't seen the trailer. :/
Still enjoyed it though.

What are GAF's impressions on the ending?

Spoiler

Crazy from the start, or made crazy?

It's made very clear in the film that

Spoiler

he's been crazy for a long time since his wife killed their children and Ben Kingsley's character making the observation of him relapsing to his imagined reality before.

 

[MikeMyers]

also rewatched godfather 1 & 2 .. still brilliant as ever

I recommend One from the Heart, I prefer it over The Godfather/The Conversation/Apocalypse Now.

Okay, I realize that critics roasted it alive when it first came out, and you may fall in that camp (which you are entitled, since its your opinion). But maybe you'll be like me and be blown away by the innovative camera work and the beautiful soundtrack.

 

[Giard]

It's made very clear in the film that

Spoiler

he's been crazy for a long time since his wife killed their children and Ben Kingsley's character making the observation of him relapsing to his imagined reality before.

Why, then, does

Spoiler

Mark Ruffalo's character call him "Teddy" before he's being carried out at the end? And Leo seems to realize he's going to be lobotomized, something he shouldn't remember if he relapsed to his imaginary reality.

 

[big ander]

It's made very clear in the film that

Spoiler

he's been crazy for a long time since his wife killed their children and Ben Kingsley's character making the observation of him relapsing to his imagined reality before.

Nope, the ending was intentionally ambiguous and there isn't supposed to be a definite conclusion. I feel like there was even an interview on it.

 

[GhostRidah]

La Haine

I am a sucker for french films, especially BW films so I had to see this. Though it was very good but very predictable, I hated the scene when Hubert and Sayid got caught and were in the police station, wtf were those cops doing?

Other than that great film

7/10

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

Stardust Memories- I really love Woody Allen, and this definitely reinforced my affection. The influence from 8 1/2 is very strong, but they're still two very different films. I actually felt that the constant sense of bombardment from journalists and fans and industry people was better displayed here than in 8 1/2. Woody Allen has said that this movie isn't meant to be autobiographical, but I find that hard to believe. Woody Allen is a film director who's first films are "early, funny ones" and he has an obsessive impulse to focus on mortality, just like the character. He's asked if he has a hard time directing himself, indicating that this fictional director also acts in his own films, and it's made known that this fictional director has won an academy award before. The differences between the two pale in comparison to the similarities. Either way, highly creative and one of the most meaningful movies he's made (that I've seen). I liked it very much.

 

[Count Dookkake]

What he's trying to say is that as long as it's an Argento film from before the 90s, you are pretty safe.

And who couldn't love a film like Inferno? It has a murder preceded by someone off screen throwing cats at Daria Nicolodi and the best horror theme song ever.

I saw Simonetti, of all people, play that live. It was awesome.

 

[Lafiel]

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki-Duk, 2003)

Yeah.. it's really not that great when i re-visited it recently, and the rest of Kim Ki-Duk filmography isn't that good either, apart from 3-iron. (which i genuinely enjoyed quite a bit). That said my opinion of all his films kind of lowered, when i found out he was a geninue asshole, i usually try to seperate that from the art, but it's kind of hard to take him seriously as a artist, when the good majority of his films try to sell a spiritual moral message.

 

[UrbanRats]

Yeah.. it's really not that great when i re-visited it recently, and the rest of Kim Ki-Duk filmography isn't that good either, apart from 3-iron. (which i genuinely enjoyed quite a bit). That said my opinion of all his films kind of lowered, when i found out he was a geninue asshole, i usually try to seperate that from the art, but it's kind of hard to take him seriously as a artist, when the good majority of his films try to sell a spiritual moral message.

Something specific or you're talking in general by interviews and such?
Anyway, i still haven't seen a few of his (one being that one), but i can't say i don't like Seom, 3 iron and Bad Guy quite a lot, as fucked up as they are.

 

[Night_Trekker]

I just finished My Son, My Son, What have Ye Done?

I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's incredibly strange and funny. The acting is good, the cinematography is excellent, and the soundtrack is especially wonderful. It's filled with great little scenes and lines I'm sure I won't forget. I also enjoyed the short film (Plastic Bag) included in the extras.

I guess I would recommend it to anyone who likes bizarre, beautiful films. I need to see more by Herzog.

 

[ChoklitReign]

Buried - Very entertaining thriller. The fact that a movie taking place entirely in a coffin could keep me interested to the degree it did is a grand accomplishment. I went in completely blind to the plot and was hooked. The last 5 minutes were very rushed but I was swept with emotion. Unique and memorable.

 

[rainking187]

I just watched The Descent and uh, anyone want to explain that opening to me?

Spoiler

It seemed like the most pointless thing ever, her husband and daughter died (the husband quite graphically) and it was briefly alluded to like three other times in the movie. You could have completely removed that part and it really wouldn't have changed anything. Seemed like a really bizarre choice.

I also watched Forget Me Not, and I thought it was quite interesting to do a slasher flick without a single likeable character in it. Wasn't rooting for anyone. At least I hope that was their intent. If not...

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

Love and Death- More greatness from Woody Allen. They call this the last of his "early, funny ones" but it really feels like a transition to me. You can definitely see signs of the direction he was starting to head in here. To think that he made this, annie hall, and manhattan in a span of 4 years is kind of astonishing. I loved the running gag of conversations evolving (or maybe devolving) into long-winded statements of 19th century philosophical view points. It takes a lot of balls to try and make Kierkagaard funny.

 

[JackEtc]

It's Kind of a Funny Story

I really, really, really enjoyed this movie. I had no idea what it was, and just randomly picked it to watch, and I loved it. It was excellent, and the multiple story lines that were all happening at once was great. Highly recommended.

Also Emma Roberts is so pretty, holy shit.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Yeah, I also watched this a few days back and it was an odd experience. It's clearly going for profundity (and the locale, though not so much the plain photography, is quite beautiful) but the story is so cheesy and predictable and the characters are thinly written but overacted so it never actually gets there, nevermind the philosophy espoused itself. I didn't dislike it, mostly because of the scenery, but I was expecting something special and this wasn't really.

It's not so much that it pissed me off as it forced me to audibly comment on it, despite being by myself. The opening of the film seems alright enough, if a bit heavy-handed, but when that kid starts crying because the snake is dead it all and his acting is so poor, it all starts to go downhill. It strikes me as the fantasy of a creeper Buddhist, really. There's simply NO reason at all why that teen girl would like the teen monk, considering that in the early part of their relationship he tries to feel her up TWICE and spends the rest of his time sending creepy, Anakin Skywalker sex looks; that she does end up getting with him despite a lack of motivation on the part of the character seems to attempt to be a narrative elision but ends up just being a poor characterization and a lack of understanding of female psychology. Then, when he comes back at 30, he's played by the director himself, who seems fuckin' EAGER to chew the scenery, not to mention how eye-rolling it is that the Master's direct proclamation that lust leads eventually to murder comes true in this guy's case in pretty much exactly the way that he says it will. And plus, considering that the guy is clearly mentally disturbed at that point, is it really believable that the Master would be so calmly accepting of him, even with their past? And is it really common police procedure to hold off on arresting somebody for a day just because a wise old monk asked you to? And is it not just incredibly on-the-nose for him to grow up to look just like his master and for the baby to grow into looking just like him? I get that it's trying to express a generally Buddhist outlook on the world, but it's not done particularly well at ALL. How this of all films ended up on the Top 250 is beyond me; it strikes me as some sort of pseudo-profound bit of Eastern popular cultural that got picked up on by certain Westerners wanting to seem multicultural and spiritual but who don't even seem to realize that the movie doesn't do what it does WELL. Pretty scenery is not enough to save such a thin script.

Edit: And how is it that a trite "seasons of life" motif that would probably be called out as hackery in the laziest MFA creative writing workshop becomes profound when rendered on film? That's not to say that the seasons can't effectively be used metaphorically - certainly Ozu used them extremely well, for example - but when you do absolutely nothing to reinvigorate the cliche and make it NOT a cliche, why is that artistic?