Stalker being Sci Fi is incidental. Every character & action is a metaphor. Good stuff, but people going into it need to know it is not your typical Sci-Fi movie.
And, yeah, I was suprised that the American remake of Solaris w/ George Clooney was as good as it was.

Polanski's been nicked

This is so not good. Considering all the circumstance behind the alleged 'rape' I'm not sure what's going to happen. Considering the good old US legal system he's probably going to go to jail forever. Sigh. The only good that can come of this is if it all goes away and he can finally return to America when he wants.

Another director I've got quite some catching up to do on... I saw The Mirror probably ten years ago, without any prior knowledge about the film or Tarkovsky himself and it just felt completely over my head. Then, after learning a bit about Tarkovsky, I saw Solaris (albeit unfortunately only on a TV screen) and liked it very much - still have to finally watch Stalker, I've been meaning to do that for years now...

Did I already mention that I love how completely, insanely all over the place this thread is and how just everyone writing in here goes with the flow? Great fun!

probably something political with Polanski right?? First they take out his wife with Charlie Manson, and then run him out of the country under the cover of character assassination. Now they chase him after 30 years like he is a friggin former German Nazi Auschwitz engineer...WTF?

I'm sure you say that knowing that his mother died in Auschwitz....

I don;t think it's political, it's more likely that it is just stubbornness and pride.
Hell, the US asked the Pope to ask Castro to send Assata back to NJ for her trial. They just don't like to lose face like that.

Political? The guy has had a warrant on him for 20 years but he's been living in countries that won't extradite you to the US.

Polanski may have made great films but he admittedly raped a 13 year old girl when he was 44 and gave her alcohol and drugs and then fled the country.

The girl has grown up and doesn't want to prosecute him and I think forgave him after 20+ years but I know if someone did that to one of my kids. I would want him in jail. period.

The thing is at this point who does this help? Is he a serial pederast that society needs to fear? I mean, Gary Glitter is one thing: That guy clearly has real problems and has learned nothing and deserves every ounce of shit he gets. Roman Polanski and the victim have ironed things out and he's not a threat to society and has not ever done anything like that in the 30 years since it happened. More details here:
"I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society. I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no one has ever come out ever - besides me - and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory ... (but) I can live with it."

This is all a dog and pony show. There are clearly far worse things and worse things to deal with in the world than deal with an issue that might not have been resolved in a clear way that ended this all, but it's really a waste of time for all involved. Including the victim. Heck, she's spent 30+ years of being hounded by the press about this. Did that help her?

backtrack, had no idea about his mum.

I think you then have to ask yourself what the prison system is in place for.
Is it for punishment? or is it for reform?
If it is for reform, then it is completely pointless to put him away, he is not a threat and he is not a repeat offender, therefore we have to assume he has been reformed.
If it is for revenge, then maybe you need to re-evaluate the prison system and bring back the stocks. Though considering the state of most prisons, I imagine that they are there for punishment and revenge despite what the people in charge would like you to believe.
Not to mention the fact that Polanski is worth way more culturally if the whole thing is just dropped and culture is what gave us the edge 30k years ago, it's what helped human beings expand and take over the world (for better or for worse).
Is the world a safer place with Polanski behind bars? or is the world a richer place with him out and about, free to continue his art wherever he pleases?

rockert - I meant to say I'm sure you don't know, sorry.

I just saw this nifty poster for Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist" screenprinted by Alamo Drafthouse and designed by David D'andrea.

Yeah, that thing is gorgeous!
Do you know if they are available at all?

yep! and only 30 bucks too.
http://www.mondotees.com/pl/Antichrist/299

Going to watch Antichrist tonight!

Don't look! Cover your eyes!



Seriously, let us know what you think...

Enjoy it, I'm sure it will just open the thread floodgates every time someone gets the chance to see it.

So I watched Antichrist last night and !

A brutal film that is filled with so many powerful images. I agree that this film is't for everyone, but I enjoyed it and some of the images are going to be stuck in my head for a long time!

Yeah, that's the reason why I think it's only fair to let people know the nature of those images if you're going to recommend the movie. They might seriously disturb someone and "get stuck in the head," and obviously risk offending many people. Frankly there are very, very few people I know to whom I'd recommend it at all. I felt I'd had fair warning before viewing it but of course still cringed a couple of times.

For me the movie just felt so emotionally draining ... the intensity of "her" mourning and what it was doing to her mental health, her realization that "his" attempts to help her through irresponsible psycho-babble were arrogant male control tactics even if he didn't know it, and so on. The shock images were intense and disgusting but it was the interpersonal drama that really hit me in the gut. After some more time to digest it all I'll watch it again, and expect to have a clearer understanding next time around. It's a bit overwhelming on first viewing.

So you would not recommend it for a first date?

Yes, I agree on all points.

It was a very draining film.

It was pretty late when I finished it, but couldn't go to sleep as I kept going thu it over and over again in my head.

Not unless you want to get rid of your date before the movie is even over.

I actually know a guy who took a girl he liked to see "Salo" on their first date. She walked out, he stayed. It was their last date.

Yeah, the prologue may be too much for some folks!

Just got back from the fest and am regretting not picking that up. It did sell out in a couple days.

So what films did you see? Let's get some reviews.

Hausu! The best film of the fest turned out to be a shelved Japanese horror from 1977. The print was amazing. This movie had some crazy deaths you would expect from the Japanese (death by lampshade). Im sure you can find it online, it is definitely worth watching if you like horror or off the wall Japanese films. I also really enjoyed Dr. Parnassus but I am totally biased towards anything Gilliam does so take it for what it is. Robo Geisha probably falls in my top three, but having seen 29 films most of which were amazing its hard to select just a few that stood out.