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Seasons 1 through 4 every Monday night on FX, in preparation for the debuting of the final 5th season sometime in the New Year. Outstanding television.

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Not much time lately, but today I managed to see a handful of '30s short films by George Marshall, all in a series of broad slapstick comedies starring Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd.

 

I also watched several mid-period shorts by Jan Svankmajer. The best of the bunch was probably Food, a very funny bit of surrealism that features two men in a restaurant being ignored by their waiter. Eventually they start nibbling at the table flowers, and soon they are devouring everything in sight, gulping down shoes, chairs, utensils, and even flesh. I read it as a metaphor for mankind's capacity for ravenous consumption, particularly how the powerful prey upon the weak, impoverished, and oppressed. Still, as always with surrealism, it's open to all sorts of personal interpretations.

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Watched this one last night. it's been quite a few years since I've seen it, but it's still damn good. I really loved Peter Sellers and Sterling Hayden in this one, George C. Scott too for that matter. There's some real funny satire in this one, and it still holds up... political ineptitude, paranoia, excessive reliance on technology, yep, still relevant after all these years.

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If you've wondered why you've never heard anything good about Werner Herzog's interpretation of Nosferatu, wonder no more: it's because it sucks.

Sorry to hear that. I remember seeing a bit of it on TV many years ago, but didn't get to see the whole thing. Murnau's original is pretty hard to beat, not sure why Herzog even bothered. Mind you, his version has received many good reviews, I guess it's one of those films that polarizes viewers.

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If you've wondered why you've never heard anything good about Werner Herzog's interpretation of Nosferatu, wonder no more: it's because it sucks.

Huh. I tracked it down many years ago because all I ever heard were good things. I thought it was okay.

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Huh. I tracked it down many years ago because all I ever heard were good things. I thought it was okay.

I'd never heard my immediate European horror buff contacts (freaks) discuss it. That had me skeptical going in. I admit this, too - I FFWD through maybe 40% of it. One hour 45 minutes in one hour. Wasn't a good night to watch a film anyway - coming off a sickness, stressed from work like a mofo, both of us tired - but the disk would be due back the next day. The gypsy stuff did Lady Stewart in. Goodnight. I had to try, at least to the introduction of Kinski, of course. Save for a few ghoulish moments (his noise, the tossing of the chair), I knew I wasn't up for the task and grabbed the remote. And hell, it worked out pretty well actually --FFWD-- Jonathan (Ganz) riding his horse for ten minutes --PLAY-- dialogue. By the end scene, it lost me to the point that I rewound the ending, called LS back into the room, and reviewed the men bumbling through the arrest of Dr. Van Helsing. That was hilarious, intentionally. (Right?)

I can see how the silence of the original would be more effective - never seen it. Unless the video for "Under Pressure" counts. Oh, and the number of rats was impressive/insane.

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Sort of like Linklater-lite, which means that it lacks the wisdom of Before Sunset but has a similar feel for dialogue, social interaction, and the pleasures of minor human moments.

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Recent viewings over the past week:

 

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Dexter (Season 1)

Planet Terror

All About Eve

The Incredible Shrinking Man

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Anyone else seen this? I was thinking about it recently. One of my favorite big-budget blockbuster/monster movies.

I thought it was terrific--it has many virtues, but what I loved most were the deadpan shifts in tone.

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Second half of Entourage Season 3. That show is great!!

The girlfriend and I watched them all one in one night. Though this season didn't quite reach the highs of seasons past, it's still better than just about any other show going.

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Four short films by George Sidney:

 

Billy Rose's Casa Manana Revue / 1938

Love On Tap / 1939

Hollywood Hobbies / 1939

Willie and the Mouse / 1941

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Not too sure what to make of this one. The ads promised a straightforward comedy, but it's actually pitched somewhere between understated humor and impressionistic melancholy. The vision is certainly unique, and Molly Shannon's performance creates an interesting portrait of grief and alienation. Still, there's something a little too arch about the design--the relentless use of straight-on shots during conversations become unnerving--and something a little too vague about the characterization of Peggy, an office worker who loses her dog and becomes a PETA activist. Even though it's intriguing all the way through, it's a head-scratcher.

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^^ The girlfriend tried to convince me to rent that one the other day, but I balked 'cause of Molly Shannon.

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