"The City of Lost Children"
Correspondent:: HellPope Huey
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 05:49:01 GMT
--------
I had the good fortune to run across this one at the local video store
and found it quite gratifying. It is a subtitled French film which
closely resembles a splicing of the great "Dark City," "Oliver Twist"
and "Alice In Wonderland." A touch of Tod Browning's "Freaks" could be
said to have a presence. It inhabits a surrealistic, wet and nasty world
of insane sailors, moldly little dives and the nightmares of a thousand
gifted art directors.
Although it is in truth a real ensemble piece, it stars Ron Perlman,
playing a befuddled sailor-turned-circus-strongman who holds a special
affection for the haunted children of the story. He gets far less credit
for his acting than he deserves and is quite sympathetic here. His
"little brother," with whom his blood relationship (if any) remains
unclear, is kidnapped by a group of disturbing cultists who look like
they came straight from Moebius. We're talkin' disturbing bionic
laudnum-&-crank abusers here.
The story rotates on his quest to rescue him and the
increasingly-perverse framework in which the children live. A variety of
freaks, clones and absolutely lost individuals parade around in a
staggering manner that is finally woven into about as happy an ending as
they could hope for, which does not involve sunshine or cake, BTW.
The sets are remarkable without being in your face and distracting from
the characters. The special effects are well-applied and refreshingly
non-derivative in the usual sense, i.e., no blatant "Matrix" moves so
overused, they've already been immortalized on "The Simpsons."
It was a rather hard film to watch in some respects; the only sane
individuals of the wrenching, interlocked tales, in the end, were (in
theory) a couple of the children and a brain in a tank. Yep, brain in a
tank, you heard me. Any evidence of humanity or affection operates under
great duress. However, it also represents a better example of the
richness of which a film is capable if not geared towards selling action
figures both before and after the $#@! fact.
I am glad I ran across it after knowing of it for some time, but there
is a difference between being glad and being happy. You will most likely
not be left happy in the usual sense, but after the mass of pap I've
seen lately, 'glad' will do just fine. A grimly elegant, classy work and
highly recommended.
http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/c/city_lost.html
--
HellPope Huey
Man oh man, am *I* ever goin' to Hell in a Yugo...
... and I've put a brick on the accelerator pedal
so I can moon people while I steer with one hand.
"We're turning into a society
that is accepting the force-feed.
I don't quite understand why
we're going for the things we're going for.
There's no process of elimination anymore in music.
They have these grooming schools
and they're turning out these clones
and the music is sounding so refined
that its not even interesting."
-Merle Haggard
"Did you know embargo backwards is 'O grab me?'"
- "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
Correspondent:: asscoassc@aol.comBLOWME (AssCo Assc)
Date: 18 Jan 2005 05:56:26 GMT
--------
That may be, but I say Delicatessen was better.
ooOOoo
Daily Affirmation:
No matter what new depths to which my life may fall,
I may always take solace in the fact
that I will never be found refining a puppet act.
Correspondent:: "Revi Shankar"
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:02:47 -0500
--------
"HellPope Huey" wrote
> I had the good fortune to run across this one at the local video store
> and found it quite gratifying. It is a subtitled French film which
> closely resembles a splicing of the great "Dark City," "Oliver Twist"
> and "Alice In Wonderland." A touch of Tod Browning's "Freaks" could be
> said to have a presence. It inhabits a surrealistic, wet and nasty world
> of insane sailors, moldly little dives and the nightmares of a thousand
> gifted art directors.
>
> Although it is in truth a real ensemble piece, it stars Ron Perlman,
> playing a befuddled sailor-turned-circus-strongman who holds a special
> affection for the haunted children of the story. He gets far less credit
> for his acting than he deserves and is quite sympathetic here. His
> "little brother," with whom his blood relationship (if any) remains
> unclear, is kidnapped by a group of disturbing cultists who look like
> they came straight from Moebius. We're talkin' disturbing bionic
> laudnum-&-crank abusers here.
>
> The story rotates on his quest to rescue him and the
> increasingly-perverse framework in which the children live. A variety of
> freaks, clones and absolutely lost individuals parade around in a
> staggering manner that is finally woven into about as happy an ending as
> they could hope for, which does not involve sunshine or cake, BTW.
>
> The sets are remarkable without being in your face and distracting from
> the characters. The special effects are well-applied and refreshingly
> non-derivative in the usual sense, i.e., no blatant "Matrix" moves so
> overused, they've already been immortalized on "The Simpsons."
>
> It was a rather hard film to watch in some respects; the only sane
> individuals of the wrenching, interlocked tales, in the end, were (in
> theory) a couple of the children and a brain in a tank. Yep, brain in a
> tank, you heard me. Any evidence of humanity or affection operates under
> great duress. However, it also represents a better example of the
> richness of which a film is capable if not geared towards selling action
> figures both before and after the $#@! fact.
>
> I am glad I ran across it after knowing of it for some time, but there
> is a difference between being glad and being happy. You will most likely
> not be left happy in the usual sense, but after the mass of pap I've
> seen lately, 'glad' will do just fine. A grimly elegant, classy work and
> highly recommended.
>
> http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/c/city_lost.html
>
> --
This has been on cable a lot. IFC, or Sundance maybe. I've seen it at least
3 times. And I can support everything he says. It is a most rare and
non-western movie (much to the disparagement of western movies.
Correspondent:: HellPope Huey
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 17:22:33 GMT
--------
In article ,
"Revi Shankar" wrote:
> This has been on cable a lot. IFC, or Sundance maybe. I've seen it at least
> 3 times. And I can support everything he says. It is a most rare and
> non-western movie (much to the disparagement of western movies.
The brain in the fish tank is played by Nenslo.
--
HellPope Huey
Man oh man, am *I* ever goin' to Hell in a Yugo...
... and I've put a brick on the accelerator pedal
so I can moon people while I steer with one hand.
"We're turning into a society
that is accepting the force-feed.
I don't quite understand why
we're going for the things we're going for.
There's no process of elimination anymore in music.
They have these grooming schools
and they're turning out these clones
and the music is sounding so refined
that its not even interesting."
-Merle Haggard
"Did you know embargo backwards is 'O grab me?'"
- "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
Correspondent:: nenslo
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 23:35:33 -0800
--------
HellPope Huey wrote:
>
> In article ,
> "Revi Shankar" wrote:
>
> > This has been on cable a lot. IFC, or Sundance maybe. I've seen it at least
> > 3 times. And I can support everything he says. It is a most rare and
> > non-western movie (much to the disparagement of western movies.
>
> The brain in the fish tank is played by Nenslo.
>
I thought the "heads up" positioning of the brain in the tank was very
impressive. ANY brain in a tank is a good brain in a tank but that was
really something special. Had a little face of its own that way.
Correspondent:: mshotz@aol.commonkeypo (Rev. Richard Skull)
Date: 18 Jan 2005 21:43:13 GMT
--------
> I had the good fortune to run across this one at the local video store
>and found it quite gratifying. It is a subtitled French film which
>closely resembles a splicing of the great "Dark City," "Oliver Twist"
>and "Alice In Wonderland." A touch of Tod Browning's "Freaks" could be
>said to have a presence. It inhabits a surrealistic, wet and nasty world
>of insane sailors, moldly little dives and the nightmares of a thousand
>gifted art directors.
>
I saw that years ago. Was really wierd. A great film for Dr. Dark.
> Although it is in truth a real ensemble piece, it stars Ron Perlman,
>playing a befuddled sailor-turned-circus-strongman who holds a special
>affection for the haunted children of the story. He gets far less credit
>for his acting than he deserves and is quite sympathetic here. His
>"little brother," with whom his blood relationship (if any) remains
>unclear, is kidnapped by a group of disturbing cultists who look like
>they came straight from Moebius. We're talkin' disturbing bionic
>laudnum-&-crank abusers here.
Oh! That is just the regular Skull & Bones Party.
Yes, Pealman is a great actor locked in a body that is big, ugly and can kick
Swartzeneegers Steroidic bloated ass anyday.
MSHOTZ: The Post Post Modern Man
And he wore a hat
And he had a job
And he brought home the bacon
So that no one kneeeeeeew
He was a mongoloid!
Correspondent:: nenslo
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:46:58 -0800
--------
HellPope Huey wrote:
>
> I had the good fortune to run across this one at the local video store
> and found it quite gratifying.
> A grimly elegant, classy work and
> highly recommended.
The one and only problem I personally had with this film was that it
wrapped itself up into such a tight little circle of precisely
orchestrated events and emotions that, at the end, I felt exactly as if
I had not watched a movie at all, and it completely erased itself from
my mind, except for a handful of images. Weird, huh? Instead of
feeling like "Hey that was great!" I felt like "Well, that's over now."
Correspondent:: "iDRMRSR"
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:57:11 -0500
--------
Added to Netflix queue! Thanks.
BTW, The Dark Backward is also an excellent flick. Blump's liquid bacon
notwithstanding.
[*]
-----
Correspondent:: HellPope Huey
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 01:54:42 GMT
--------
In article <41ED83D2.B3A0C213@yahoox.com>, nenslo
wrote:
> HellPope Huey wrote:
> >
> > I had the good fortune to run across this one at the local video store
> > and found it quite gratifying.
> > > A grimly elegant, classy work and
> > highly recommended.
>
> The one and only problem I personally had with this film was that it
> wrapped itself up into such a tight little circle of precisely
> orchestrated events and emotions that, at the end, I felt exactly as if
> I had not watched a movie at all, and it completely erased itself from
> my mind, except for a handful of images.
That's all too close to my feeling about my involvement with the Church
of the Subgenius. EEEUUNNGHHHHHHHHH
--
HellPope Huey
Man oh man, am *I* ever goin' to Hell in a Yugo...
... and I've put a brick on the accelerator pedal
so I can moon people while I steer with one hand.
"We're turning into a society
that is accepting the force-feed.
I don't quite understand why
we're going for the things we're going for.
There's no process of elimination anymore in music.
They have these grooming schools
and they're turning out these clones
and the music is sounding so refined
that its not even interesting."
-Merle Haggard
"Did you know embargo backwards is 'O grab me?'"
- "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
Correspondent:: "Revi Shankar"
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:56:06 -0500
--------
"nenslo" wrote in message
news:41ED83D2.B3A0C213@yahoox.com...
> HellPope Huey wrote:
> >
> > I had the good fortune to run across this one at the local video store
> > and found it quite gratifying.
>
> > A grimly elegant, classy work and
> > highly recommended.
>
> The one and only problem I personally had with this film was that it
> wrapped itself up into such a tight little circle of precisely
> orchestrated events and emotions that, at the end, I felt exactly as if
> I had not watched a movie at all, and it completely erased itself from
> my mind, except for a handful of images. Weird, huh? Instead of
> feeling like "Hey that was great!" I felt like "Well, that's over now."
Not at all weird. As a huge consumer of images, that was fine by me. That
was my main enjoyment. The places, the mood, lighting and architecture...
HPH's review made me realize that while I was absorbing (and
self-indulgently fetishizing over) the images, I was missing other aspects
of the movie - perhaps missing the movie itself!
I suspect the disappointment you experienced is that the characters, while
exaggerated to the point of caricature, still ended up being quite
one-dimensional.
Sometimes I channel surf and make a decision to watch something based on the
architecture or something equally tangential. I take what I like from TV.
Correspondent:: "Talysman the Ur-Beatle"
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 04:41:01 GMT
--------
HellPope Huey wrote in news:YuckleFuckle-
1E63DB.23481617012005@news1.west.earthlink.net:
> I had the good fortune to run across this one at the local video store
> and found it quite gratifying.
same director also did "Amelie", which is also surreal but a little less
so, though also a little on the sweet side. still, the title character
decides to mess around in other people's lives and manages to cause two
total basket case characters to have HAWT SEX with each other.
make no mistake, this movie is about a heck of a lot of weirdos, all of
whom have an ostensibly NORMAL side, thus illustrating in a very deliberate
manner that secret Church doctrine: THERE ARE NO NORMALS ANYWHERE.
the guy who plays the clones and the amnesiac scientist in "city of lost
children" is in "amelie". I think I enjoy his performances in both movies
more than Perlman's performance, although he did a great job.
--
Talysman the Ur-Beatle, STRAWGRASPER
Correspondent:: "Rev. Ivan Stang"
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 08:48:57 -0500
--------
In article , Talysman
the Ur-Beatle wrote:
>
> same director also did "Amelie", which is also surreal but a little less
> so, though also a little on the sweet side. still, the title character
> decides to mess around in other people's lives and manages to cause two
> total basket case characters to have HAWT SEX with each other.
>
> make no mistake, this movie is about a heck of a lot of weirdos, all of
> whom have an ostensibly NORMAL side, thus illustrating in a very deliberate
> manner that secret Church doctrine: THERE ARE NO NORMALS ANYWHERE.
CLANK HONK TWEET
Secret Decoding Prize this week goes to Tallywhacker-Man the Urban Eater
--
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Resurrected, Rev. Ivan Stang, prop.)
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