Teri Garr is awesome and you’re right about Kinski…she had a certain something something even if she hadn’t quite developed as an actor.

Masterpiece or no. Flawed or no. It sounds like it’s worth revisiting it.

I saw it in high school I think and wasn’t at all prepared for it and didn’t make much of it.

I’ve actually seen ONE FROM THE HEART in a theatre during my experimental phase. It was playing at a single screen that was having a FFC mini fest. After directing THE GODFATHER TRILOGY and producing THE BLACK STALLION, I would have followed Francis anywhere at that point.

(Not so much now. But then I’ve geared down and am much more choosy about of my filmgoing excursions.)

It was a real EXPERIENCE (with a capital E – much like MBN is, but far more flawed – I don’t think you could call OFTH any kind of a masterpiece if your life depended on it). NASTASSIA KINSKI has the kind of glittering it girl charisma that comes along once in a generation, though I don’t know if she had any actual acting expertise at that point. Same sort of presence as MARILYN MONROE.

I always think that TERI GARR should’ve had more of a shot at leads. Her famous meltdown in TOOTSIE lead to a deserved Oscar nod. I always liked her. She may have been slightly quirky but I always thought it would’ve been cool if she could’ve have broken out of the character actor ghetto.

Like MBN, OFTH is poetically whimsical and depends much more on mood and tone than your average motion picture.

I saw MBN again last night. Had to. It was closing. So, unless it shows up at one of our discount theatres, that is most definitely that. But it haunts me still with its melancholy gorgeousness.

Great call, my beloved crab boy. I wouldn’t have thought to make that very apt comparison. MBN and OFTH would make a fabulous double bill. I think they’ll both be tremendously appreciated by high toned cineasts one of these days…

My frazzled attention span is such that I need something to hang on to after awhile.

Why is that always immediately considered a bad thing? Especially if the style is fresh and the substance isn’t?

I haven’t seen it since the 80s, but I wonder if it’s worthy of a critical reappraisal.

First of all, what you said on the reviewing the reviewers thread about criticism is absolutely right. There’s just no telling what’s going to work for someone and what isn’t. Nothing every works for everyone or is hated by everyone.

For me, there are usually a handful of movies I completely hate, another handful that I fall in love with and then the vast majority that straddle a kind of middle where I can give them the benefit of a doubt and recommend them or be cranky about it and pan them.

With a movie like MBN, I just loved it. I liked the way it made me feel for days afterward. And it was very much a mood. Notions of acting or plot didn’t apply any more than they would in a dream I had. Unlike so many films it’s not a facsimile of reality so much as an exploration of a state of mind. In such a case, the same rules don’t apply for me.

I’d never say that everyone should love this movie, or even like it, but I really am mystified by the scorn heaped upon Jones. I’ll grant you that I’m perhaps blinded by a pretty face, but a performance can only truly fail for me if it’s asked to carry a great weight, be it emotional, dramatic or comic, and it falls short.

In the case of Nora, the film didn’t depend on her. Though the arc was hers, she was mainly just an observer. Her line readings were a little stilted, but in the context of the film’s heightened, artificial reality, it didn’t matter. It actually added a sweet naivety to her performance that made it all the more attractive to me.

Worthy of an academy award? No. Plumbing the depths of the human soul? No. Engaging? Absolutely.

The mood obviously captured you much more than it did me, Craig. I gave this film break after break, but (like I said in one of the watercooler threads) when Weisz had her drunken breakdown, I lost what little respect I had for the film. And the issue isn’t with films that primarily function as ‘mood’ (I love Herzog’s work, and all of his films are ‘mood’ pieces rather than actual narrative works), but the melodrama that infuses the mood Kar-Wai is crafting. I just couldn’t take it.

I imagine my complaints on the film have generally lined up with everyone else’s. I doubt I’ve said much that’s ‘new’ about the film. And really, I have no clue how Jones’ acting didn’t feel like a nails down the chalkboard to you. The first 10 minutes were brutally painful to me, and I was working extra hard to give everything and everyone (including Jones) the benefit of the doubt. Later on she’s tolerable, but at the beginning she’s just awful. It makes me wonder if we saw the same movie, considering how different our reactions have been.

Perhaps I’ll give this another whirl in a year or two, but I strongly suspect this is not my type of picture. I’ll have to sample some of Kar-Wai’s other work first, though, so I have a bit more context to place MBN within.

Cynics are notable closet romantics, right? Two sides of the same coin.

The lavender roses I got the same night didn’t hurt. But, as I told you previously, that’s pretty much done.

(I’m sure that’s why I got them. Not only is my favourite colour – after black and white – purple but I am heading out. Funny how they’ll pull out all the stops for you as soon as you reach the door. It’s inevitable.)

But I have much bigger fish to fry.

Oh yeah…

The polar opposite reactions to Speed Racer must have been a rollercoaster ride for you.

For some reason, I take some movies personally and it feels like a little victory every time someone is on my side. This is one of those movies.

It’s officially the four of us: Nicky, Danny, you and myself. Just finished reviewing MBN several hours ago and I’ve been making the rounds commenting at FATACULTURE and GETAFILM as well.

I gave MBN four stars and it may even make it to five sooner rather than later. I think some moviegoers and critics really wanted a stronger plot line and were perhaps underwhelmed by Norah for whatever reason. But it’s pretty bloody easy to be embarrassingly bad in a movie and I’ve seen it happen more than a few times. She only had a few scenes that belied her inexperience and she effectively carries the film on her very first try. Ms. Jones possesses GREAT charisma and presence. So why all the hate?

I was really knocked out by WONG KAR WAI’S filmmaking, which I’ve heard much about but never had the chance to savour for myself. Incidentally, I don’t buy the old style vs. substance deal over all. But especially not where this particular film is concerned.

I personally think that MBN has plenty of BOTH. But I could NEVER commit myself to one or the other without knowing what was going on. There are a lot of very stylish films that are indefensibly ridiculous and many substantial movies that are really boring.

But MBN is not only a film but an EXPERIENCE that sweeps over you with its lush romanticism. Either you’re up for that or you’re not. So if someone is exceptionally tight, rigid or left brained they likely won’t enjoy it.

It was actually the perfect time for this to show up at my doorstep. We had our first real summer weekend here with temperatures well into the 80s. Just a gorgeous portion of the year and certainly the ideal period to run across something this extraordinary.

This is my favourite film – my #1 – of the entire year at this juncture. Only bad news is that it is apparently being released on DVD in North America on July 1. So, rather than going to see it month by month (as I usually do for repeat viewings of films I become obsessed with) I think I’ll make it a week to week schedule. I want to get quite a few screenings under my belt before the disc hits the streets. Don’t care what anyone says. Watching well loved movies in your own home whenever you feel like it is both a joy and a privilege. But it will NEVER be on the same level as that seat up in the balcony. Nothing can ever come close to that.

Quite the sumptuous, beautiful, elegant, poetic bloody miracle. Yet another thing that we agree on, Craig.

Fabulous review. You rock, my darling.

SO MUCH…

I know I can’t compare it to any of his other films, Bobbi, but I agree with Craig about the criticism of Norah Jones. I thought the part was perfectly written for her. I think Nick Plowman hit it best in his review – that a more accomplished actress would have been too overpowering.

How many Wong films have you seen, Craig? I think starting with In the Mood for Love is a perfectly reasonable choice. I just typically like to go in order, though I realize there are countless reasons why people cannot do so, as I myself have frequently gone through directors’ filmographies in no order whatsoever.

(I forgot to mention I agree with you on Norah. Ok, not the greatest acting job, but I was captivated by her)

Don’t be surprised if you fall in love with at least a few of the films during your Wong odyssey, Daniel. The irrepressible charm of The Chungking Express, for instance, is, I think, flatly undeniable. Of course, the fact that you taken in by Wong’s visuals as well as Norah Jones is a very good sign. Again, don’t be surprised when you find your heart racing as Wong’s camera makes love to the women in his films. From Faye Wong to Maggie Cheung to Ziyi Zhang to Gong Li and really all of them… He’s the world’s great romantic filmmaker.

That sounds kind of fruity, but it makes sense in my head.

Anyway, I’m really happy it worked for you and I hope it inspires you to catch some more Wong. I’d start with In the Mood for Love, but other people might have other opinions.

I seriously could not take my eyes of off Norah Jones. Standing around, sleeping on the counter, whatever – I was in. Don’t remember the last time I experienced that. You can have Angelina, whomever, and yes, I’m serious.

As I awesomely predicted in the first comment of this thread, I was indeed annoyed – by both Portman and Weisz, only the first of whom I eventually came to accept. I’m speculating because I can’t otherwise explain it, but I think it was Weisz’ accent. That’s me, the accent freak.

Anyway, a beautiful film that symbolizes “romance” in numerous ways.

i just which music had less music in general.it usually doesn’t add anything for me…..

if anything it make me more aware i’m watching a movie (not a big problem since i can pop back into movie mode quickly) since music in real life music just doesn’t happen from nowhere..(at a certain volume every time )and if it did it wouldn’t be a bit of music that telling you how to feel/create a mood. )

so music in films. pretty much no…

i also think music in films kills the repeatablity viweing factor abit….

movies would be fine for me without music. i’d miss it little. :)

[cue music: "Circle of Life"]