Yesterday, I had the displeasure of spending two endless hours with In a Year of 13 Moons. Pretty much everything about it was substandard, but the acting in particular was shockingly bad.
― Jeb, Sunday, 28 October 2007 19:17 (sixteen years ago) link
"5x2" is really not worth the bother -- my local library stocks this for some reason! By coincidence I caught a screening of Cassavetes' "Faces" today, which does the whole marriage is blah with about, I dunno, 10 billion times more style, etc.
Only seen 3 or 4 of his but you should see "Fear eats the Soul", jed.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 28 October 2007 20:40 (sixteen years ago) link
with fassbinder, the work is almost justification for the life. people are mannequins so it's okay to push them around.
none of the people in the fassbinder films i've seen (admittedly only about 5) seemed like mannequins. a lot of them are unpleasant, or do unpleasant things, but they're at least complicated unpleasant people. and of course not all of them are unpleasant, and also there's a huge amount of life and color in the movies that you seem to be denying. but anyway. to each his own and all that.
― tipsy mothra, Sunday, 28 October 2007 23:50 (sixteen years ago) link
The Index of ILX Film Snobs
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Sunday, 28 October 2007 23:56 (sixteen years ago) link
I shouldn't really talk That One Guy Who etc (I'm sure I knew who you were at some point but can't keep track of nu-handles), I was a Fassbinder fan when I was a teenager but haven't seen anything in years & years - I remember liking Herr R., Satan's Brew & 13 Moons precisely because they were dire empty difficult and in the case of the last one coked beyond reason = I liked them for personal reasons
I imagine what you're saying about the audience goes hand-in-hand with pretty much any arthouse director though no?
― J0hn D., Monday, 29 October 2007 00:12 (sixteen years ago) link
saw The Third Generation last night. I've been saving up the 10 or so I haven't seen yet for special occasions like the good wine, but then when I get to something as amazing as that one, it makes me want to make a run on the video store, take two days off from work and batten down
the scene where Eddie Constantine as the corrupt CEO chides the police chief for not having a sense of humor, and the police chief responds by saying 'I had a dream last night... that Capitalism invented Terrorism to force the State to protect it better... isn't that funny?' and they break out into hysterical laughter
and the opening credit sequence with the flashing credits & Peer Raben's kosmische score is one of the most psychedelic things I've seen in months, where the hell are the complete Peer Raben soundtracks? a CD with all the atmospheric pieces in these Fassbinder films would go head to head with all my favorite Cluster & Conrad Schnitzler albums, why can't it be real
― Milton Parker, Thursday, 27 December 2007 20:15 (sixteen years ago) link
http://images.kino.de/flbilder/max02/mbiz02/mbiz19/z0219513/m135.jpg
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 27 December 2007 20:24 (sixteen years ago) link
http://images.kino.de/newspics/655/6655_1/m80.jpg
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 27 December 2007 20:28 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah wish i could find a single jpg of udo's shock wig in this film
leaving work early to stop by home & record the music of the opening sequence into pro tools before returning the dvd
― Milton Parker, Thursday, 27 December 2007 22:04 (sixteen years ago) link
Berlin Alexanderplatz is in my house right now, it is due back in 4 or 5 days. Probably not gonna happen. There's always summer I guess.
― mehlt, Friday, 28 December 2007 00:25 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.artecapital.net/uploads/39_1.jpg
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 28 December 2007 00:29 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9jGFSY3wnw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TBuCNvVPI4
― Milton Parker, Friday, 28 December 2007 00:41 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.sendspace.com/file/cckwug
― Milton Parker, Saturday, 29 December 2007 00:32 (sixteen years ago) link
Third Generation was awesome agree. Wouldn't say no to a listen to every bit of soundtrack Raben composed from around '76-'79 (Fassbinder's or otherwise, Ottinger 'Ticket of No Return' had some great stuff in it).
The sound design (?) was marvelous -- e.g. all that muffled sound coming off the TV, and so on.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 10 May 2008 15:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Chinese Roulette was no good tho'.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 10 May 2008 15:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Elementary school children's Q&A w/ RWF:
http://orpheusfx.blogspot.com/2009/03/fassbinders-q.html
What do you think is needed for a perfect Sunday morning?
Caviar, champagne, the Eight Symphony of Mahler, 'radio activity' by Kraftwerk, the Sunday Bild paper, a book so exciting you don't want it to end, a friend, a good friend, and the possibility of unplugging the phone.
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 9 March 2009 15:36 (fifteen years ago) link
thanks fo rthe link. classic stuff, although I find it hard to believe that elementary school kids designed this Q&A
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 10 March 2009 10:15 (fifteen years ago) link
World on a Wire restored and playing NYC MoMA week after next.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/movies/04wire.html
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 3 April 2010 12:10 (fourteen years ago) link
G. Kenny on WoaW:
http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2010/04/out-in-the-real-world-in-real-time-fassbinders-welt-am-draht-world-on-wire.html
The film is simultaneously constantly piss-taking and deadly earnest, a labyrinthian riot of scenes seen solely via reflective surfaces, set in an only vaguely futuristic world where characters do their expository walk-and-talks around a small indoor swimming pool whilst a Marlene Dietrich impersonator swoons about. the film, the riches of which include an extended scene that pays snarky homage to both 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, sometimes resembles a mind-meld of Kubrick and Alfred Jarry, Fassbinder and lensers Michael Ballhaus and Ulrich Prinz running the show on screen with wildly anarchic creativity while the characters in it are in near-constant torment over who's running their show. Characters in zombie makeup out of Carnival of Souls pop in and out of the film's two (at least at first) depicted "worlds," one ostensibly "upper" and the other "lower," and while one realm is not ever depicted as more materially desirable than the other, those who "know" that they are "simulations" become desperate to transfer to the upper world, because then they will have the assurance of being "real." That individuals in the upper world are discovering that they themselves might lack "realness," well, you can imagine the problems this can create.
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, 9 April 2010 00:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Got the two boxsets over Xmas/New Year (Praise be to FOPP/ Twenty quid a popp). Took me until now to see "Love Is Colder Than Death", which I'd always assumed must be a load of old tosh, but is great, it looks beautiful and Ulli Lommel is very handsome, the scene on the train between him and the girl is hilarious, "Are you thinking about sex?" "No, the revolution". Only in the 60s eh? Also I now love "Gods of the Plague", I'd seen it before but hadn't appreciated it much, general consensus is that "The American Soldier" is the best of his 'gangster' films but I think this is, this time round it's Harry Baer who is handsome, I love the ludicrous last lines RWF gives characters as they lay a-dying, love the soundtrack to this film too. One word of warning don't watch "Fear of Fear" if you're feeling ill, as I was on Saturday night, the wobbly screen bit will make you vomit, as I did on Saturday night...
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 13:58 (thirteen years ago) link
... and by the way, this might belong on the football thread but:
Rainer Werner Fassbinder's favourite footballers of all time:
1. Helmut Haller2. Paul Breitner3. Garrincha4. Gerd Müller5. Gento6. Didi7. Harald Konopka8. Peter Grosser9. Vava10. Ferenc Puszkas
... I admit I had no idea who Peter Grosser was and only vaguely knew the name, Harald Konopka. Overall seems to be a marked fondness for podgy, slightly unhealthy looking, individuals with various substance abuse problems ... wonder why? (Maradona was surely made for RWF!)
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 14:21 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah he would've stalked Maradona.
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 19 January 2011 21:36 (thirteen years ago) link
never really understood the appeal of this guy. he seems like an endurance test. which I can appreciate fro ma campy John Waters-esque POV but it's not like I actually want to sit through any of it
― ex-heroin addict tricycle (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 21:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Although both no doubt share a love for melodrama I doubt John Waters would enjoy any Fassbinder (they use that aspect very differently).
There is an appeal to Fassbinder but it isn't wide (much of it rooted in German history).
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 19 January 2011 21:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Some of his films have really knocked me out and others were just impenetrable.Really like Love Is Colder Than Death fwiw.
― Trip Maker, Wednesday, 19 January 2011 21:57 (thirteen years ago) link
um Waters LOVES Fassbinder
― ex-heroin addict tricycle (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 21:58 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.fassbinderfoundation.de/node.php/en/newyork
he's on the fucking Board of Directors!
― ex-heroin addict tricycle (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 19 January 2011 21:59 (thirteen years ago) link
haha! Ah well, doesn't scan.
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 19 January 2011 22:02 (thirteen years ago) link
Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven tomorrow. Thoughts?
― My mom is all about capital gains tax butthurtedness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 April 2011 02:04 (thirteen years ago) link
She could pull through.
― scissorlocks and the three bears (Eric H.), Wednesday, 20 April 2011 02:40 (thirteen years ago) link
the other place has better seats
― My mom is all about capital gains tax butthurtedness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 April 2011 02:42 (thirteen years ago) link
Saw a trailer for World on a Wire the other night--it opens here shortly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URq7m3-SOtA&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active
Morbius had a couple of posts on it last year. There are some famous sci-fi films that I don't get as much out of as most people--2001, Solaris--but it looks like it could be excellent.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 17:43 (thirteen years ago) link
I think you will like this one, Phil.
― Onimosapien (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 17:55 (thirteen years ago) link
It's kind of sci-fi, crime thriller, mad-as-a-TV-miniseries European art film rolled into one.
― Onimosapien (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:02 (thirteen years ago) link
There are a handful of Fassbinders I love, and a handful I find boring, so I'm hoping for the best. The one thing that struck me immediately was that it had a great look.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:11 (thirteen years ago) link
World on a Wire is great, definitely one of my favourite fassbinder films actually.
― historyyy (prettylikealaindelon), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:14 (thirteen years ago) link
He has so many films that of course he's got a few rubber donuts. I can't finish Berlin Alexanderplatz.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:17 (thirteen years ago) link
There's a restored R1 dvd of Despair out today!
― muus lääv? :D muus dut :( (Telephone thing), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:29 (thirteen years ago) link
ooh i want to see world on a wire. i took a fassbinder class in college that was pretty much total immersion -- a great/scary body of work to be immersed in!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:32 (thirteen years ago) link
It's like being up his ass.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:36 (thirteen years ago) link
Lord Sotosyn, when you finally get to the last episode / coda of Berline Alexanderplatz, you'll be happy
World On A Wire is one of the made-for-television films; it has almost zero budget, most of which they spent on tinfoil to wrap around the walls of the simulacron's control room. But very stylized and looks great. It's a little long, was originally a two episode series, and it's all talk no effects so sci-fi fans who are not Fassbinder fans might be advised to gauge expectations, but the basic concept is razor sharp and yes it definitely does anticipate all of the better ideas in the The Matrix by about three decades. I loved it. Wouldn't make my top 5 Fassbinder, maybe my top 15.
Saw Satan's Brew for the first time last week! Good lord. I thought Third Generation was slapstick, but that was highbrow compared to the pacing / density of this one where every line of dialogue seems to be trying to be playing it up for yuks. It was a little exhausting how hard it tries, actually, but it was still funny and Margit Christensen doing straight up comedy -- amazing!
― Milton Parker, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:38 (thirteen years ago) link
xp yucko!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:38 (thirteen years ago) link
hmm haven't seen satan's brew, though i like funny fassbinder. one of my faves is beware of a holy whore. the ray charles sequence is amazing.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Board should add a Suggest Banish to TMI button over on the side.
― Onimosapien (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:40 (thirteen years ago) link
So WOAW is getting a theatrical release in the US? Or is a region 1 dvd coming out? I can't wait, looks like total bait for me.
― unmetalled world (wk), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:41 (thirteen years ago) link
There's an Elvis hit that pops up on the soundtrack of WoaW, and I remember thinking that today it would cost more than the entire 1973 budget.
It's good, but very much him, more than much other s.f. with similar themes. His mother has a particularly thankless role, even for her.
― the gay bloggers are onto the faggot tweets (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:42 (thirteen years ago) link
Kamikaze 89 is one of my favorites. Fassbinder stars but didn't direct
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_6m7808n5Y
― unmetalled world (wk), Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:42 (thirteen years ago) link
His mother has a particularly thankless role, even for her.that one short film with fassbinder and his mom playing themselves (autumn in germany) is wild. weird relationship to say the least.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:45 (thirteen years ago) link
or rather germany in autumn
xp
Beware is one the very best ones. But it's funny for different reasons. Satan's Brew is like a sitcom, it almost feels like it should have a laugh track, very uncharacteristic.
I remember watching Beware at the Castro towards the end of a RWF festival. About 50 people, all spread out through the theatre, many people alone, including me (as my friend Anne who was working the booth told me as she sold me the ticket: 'Ha ha, one for Fassbinder, how many times have I heard that this week'). Everyone was mostly silent for about the first 40 minutes, and then some lines in the film started causing individual audience members to crack up and lose it, one at a time -- until, gradually, every line was causing different people to laugh, so the laughter was travelling in pockets across the theatre. It was bizarre. It was less like the lines were funny, and more like people were reaching their individual limits of how much they could take and being forced to vent.
― Milton Parker, Tuesday, 7 June 2011 18:51 (thirteen years ago) link