Oddly enough came out the same year as Teshigahara's Face of Another, which is another arty sci-fi about trying to change your identity with a new (handsome) face.
David Lynch has cited this as one of the most influential films on his work, and this movie is indeed more Lynch-like than any movie you will see until Lynch starts making Lynch movies 30 years later.
I can't believe the IMDb rating is that low. Federico Fellini and Orson Welles were both signed on to do segments for this movie. But Fellini got too sick and Welles died.
Is that a naked, 21 year old Elizabeth Hurley? Yes it is.
Here's a synopsis version hidden under a spoiler tag:
A lonely British art student discovers that he can literally stop time for other people, like in the classic stopwatch episode of Twilight Zone. The outcome is fairly similar to Twilight Zone as well: Basically he freezes time, and then doesn't unfreeze it until he is 85 years old. The end scene is him watching the news and cackling maniacally as they announce that 100,000 women in London have mysteriously become pregnant.
I hate it how this movie disingenuously pretends that Canadian law isn't clear and well known: It is perfectly legal to murder Americans. In fact women impregnated by American men are required to sign in for mandatory abortions. (The Bagbys understandably persist in the delusion that all the bail hearings, etc., are about their son instead of the birthcrime, but the director should really know better.)
My theory is that Shirley loved her child but was flooded with guilt about evading this law, and her murder-suicide was motivated by patriotism.
If this had been filmed in color (like Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind) it would be considered a timeless classic and it might be as popular as Snow White. And if Snow White had been filmed in black and white it would be about as popular right now as this film.
Boo to Wes Anderson for not trying harder to resurrect the popularity of Starewicz after blatantly ripping this off for Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Cliff notes:
Anna is a Soviet scientist who studies the earth's core (which you may recall from science class is a giant beating heart). Two cool guys are in love with her but she is hypnotized into falling for an evil tycoon, which sucks so hard that it gives the earth a (slightly premature) heart attack. Earthquakes and zombie Armageddon commence. However when the tycoon kisses Anna, she awakens from his magic spell and strangles him to death. Then she slides down a chute into the center of the earth and saves mankind by offering herself as the new Heart of the World.
This is a short homage to cinema as an art form for a film festival. The implication of the fanciful ending is that cinema (Kino!) can always save the day by writing its own rules, which gives it much awesome potential.
Don't take it too seriously. Maddin doesn't. His films are both comedy and poetry; they are fun and interesting.
Comments 501 - 525 of 600
Movie comment on Seconds
greenhorg
Oddly enough came out the same year as Teshigahara's Face of Another, which is another arty sci-fi about trying to change your identity with a new (handsome) face.Movie comment on Jodaeiye Nader az Simin
greenhorg
If I wanted to watch Persian people bicker I would move to Los Angeles.Movie comment on Valhalla Rising
greenhorg
This is the sort of movie you would make if your two favorite films were Stalker and 300.Movie comment on Dreams That Money Can Buy
greenhorg
David Lynch has cited this as one of the most influential films on his work, and this movie is indeed more Lynch-like than any movie you will see until Lynch starts making Lynch movies 30 years later.Movie comment on Super
greenhorg
My IMDB rating went from 5 to 6 when Ellen Page's face got blown off.Oh yeah,
Movie comment on Aria
greenhorg
I can't believe the IMDb rating is that low. Federico Fellini and Orson Welles were both signed on to do segments for this movie. But Fellini got too sick and Welles died.Is that a naked, 21 year old Elizabeth Hurley? Yes it is.
Movie comment on Performance
greenhorg
Oh, I get it. No, I don't.Movie comment on Tron
greenhorg
Parts of this are almost the definition of cheesy looking, parts are brilliantly creative. Most of the time it's the same shot.Movie comment on Meet the Feebles
greenhorg
The rise of Peter Jackson from B movie gross-out king to Lord of the Rings super-director is one of the great unsolved mysteries of our time.Movie comment on Dune
greenhorg
Jodorowsky and H.R. Giger are still alive. It's not like they still can't make another version.Looks like there's a documentary about their original attempt coming out this year:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935156/
Movie comment on The Tracey Fragments
greenhorg
My theory is that they came up with all the gimmicky editing after they completed the film and realized how bad it was.Movie comment on Where the Wild Things Are
greenhorg
Does this movie signal a trend in soulful, meditative interpretations of children's stories:Terrence Malick's Green Eggs and Ham.
Movie comment on Tenshi no tamago
greenhorg
This is one of those movies where I feel like Homer watching Twin Peaks:"Brilliant!
... I have absolutely no idea what's going on."
http://filmes.network.hu/video/animacio/simpsons__homer_watches_twin_peaks
Movie comment on Gwen, le livre de sable
greenhorg
Really, only six checks besides me??French animation is so cool and different
Movie comment on The Blind Side
greenhorg
Seems like the same character from Erin Brockovich.Movie comment on What Dreams May Come
greenhorg
Yeah, that was pretty bad.LOL @ the Warner Herzog cameo tho.
Movie comment on Cashback
greenhorg
Here's a synopsis version hidden under a spoiler tag:Movie comment on Sucker Punch
greenhorg
Inception: Dreams within dreams increasingly look like video game levels.Sucker Punch: Fantasies within fantasies increasingly look like video game levels.
Ok, I solved the riddle; the pattern can end now.
Movie comment on Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
greenhorg
I hate it how this movie disingenuously pretends that Canadian law isn't clear and well known: It is perfectly legal to murder Americans. In fact women impregnated by American men are required to sign in for mandatory abortions. (The Bagbys understandably persist in the delusion that all the bail hearings, etc., are about their son instead of the birthcrime, but the director should really know better.)My theory is that Shirley loved her child but was flooded with guilt about evading this law, and her murder-suicide was motivated by patriotism.
Movie comment on Fétiche
greenhorg
We're often told not to laugh at the crude stop-motion in King Kong: "Don't you know how advanced it was at the time!"Starewicz debunks that assertion. Stop motion has never looked better.
Movie comment on Häxan
greenhorg
More films need an over-sexed frat boy version of the Prince of Darkness.Animal House Satan rules!
Movie comment on Bimbo's Initiation
greenhorg
Yeah, slap dat fat butt, Bimbo.Movie comment on Le roman de Renard
greenhorg
If this had been filmed in color (like Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind) it would be considered a timeless classic and it might be as popular as Snow White. And if Snow White had been filmed in black and white it would be about as popular right now as this film.Boo to Wes Anderson for not trying harder to resurrect the popularity of Starewicz after blatantly ripping this off for Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Movie comment on Time Piece
greenhorg
Jim Henson = geniushttp://vodpod.com/watch/5436158-time-piece-jim-henson
Movie comment on The Heart of the World
greenhorg
This is a better linkhttp://youtu.be/1swHMvMlg_g
Cliff notes:
Anna is a Soviet scientist who studies the earth's core (which you may recall from science class is a giant beating heart). Two cool guys are in love with her but she is hypnotized into falling for an evil tycoon, which sucks so hard that it gives the earth a (slightly premature) heart attack. Earthquakes and zombie Armageddon commence. However when the tycoon kisses Anna, she awakens from his magic spell and strangles him to death. Then she slides down a chute into the center of the earth and saves mankind by offering herself as the new Heart of the World.
This is a short homage to cinema as an art form for a film festival. The implication of the fanciful ending is that cinema (Kino!) can always save the day by writing its own rules, which gives it much awesome potential.
Don't take it too seriously. Maddin doesn't. His films are both comedy and poetry; they are fun and interesting.
Showing items 501 – 525 of 600