Mafiascum Film Group: thestatusquo

[Korts]

/in

I agree with Fritzler's suggestion. And rotational system is the obvious way to go.

[Korts]

I think a week should be enough.

[Korts]

I watched it right before the site went down.

I think it was, all in all, a very good movie. I won't be watching it for days on end, but it was worth the time I spent on it. Caine was especially good in the first two acts, but a little too inconsistent with his character (showing his weak side, expanding further down) in the third. Law was meh in the first, but I really liked his performance as the cop, and the insane, cruel bastard role was well executed too.

I really liked the concept of two actors playing out the whole story; it went well with the whole theatric theme. Especially the silences in the first act, when Law/Milo arrives, and the uncomfortable small talk starts, are effective. I also like the contrast between the verbal, the physical, and the emotional abuse throughout.

My problem with Caine's character is in the third act, when he starts to attach himself to Law/Milo and offers him the guest room and his companionship. I felt that that was too honest, too soulbaring a move right after they agreed to play the last set after Law/Milo's comeback. I didn't feel the probably intended doubt of whether it was honest coming from Wyke or not, because I didn't see how Law's character was to be fucked by accepting. Possibly a long-term plan, but I saw it as unlikely.

I also didn't particularly like the ending to the second act, where Wyke was suddenly surprised that Milo/Law gave the jewels back. It was pretty apparent, to me at least, right from when Milo ordered Wyke to "start reading a book" that he was just setting up the jewel-story again, with switched sides.

Could have been. I might have just not caught it. I don't ask for realism, just internal consistency. I kept waiting for something to come out of the moment when Caine turned off the security cameras to pull the trigger. But it never did. It just left me with the feeling that the other shoe never dropped. Thinking back, I guess it was to heighten the belief that Law was murdered.

Yes. I have a couple problems with internal consistency as well. The cop storyline, while I found it amusing and it was a surprising turn for me that the cop was Law/Milo, was a bit flawed. Flawed in this sense: if Wyke had sent Milo away "with a pat on the bum", how did he not notice when Milo snuck back in to apply the blood to the carpet and leave the incriminating clothes?

Also, the remote. It really bugged me as engineer that they kept pressing the same button and different things kept happening. It's not exactly technically possible, mind reading remotes.

All in all, though, a good movie. Thanks, Oman!

[Korts]

I'll be watching it soon.

[Korts]

Watched it. It was meh. The concept wasn't really intriguing in itself, and though the actors did a decent job of making the movie a good one, the script itself didn't have anything to make it particularly interesting. The only thing that had potential was the Chas-Royal grudge, but I didn't feel even that was fully exploited.

The characters: none of them were really likeable, which was probably part of the concept; but even when creating particularly antagonistic characters, I'd expect some more depth then every one of them staring into space a lot and smoking in unlikely places.

The ending: it was what I expected. Appeal to a sense of completeness and base emotions; the eventual forgiveness of Chas was inevitable of course, and it was fulfilling in a shallow way to see the family reunite. But what I don't see is how this movie got such a large fanbase.

[Korts]

I watched it yesterday. It was quite good; but when you've watched Hustle, you expect cons and bank heists to be a little more clever than this if they want to make a 2 hour movie about it.

Also, I agree about the nazi stuff being overkill. Owen said it right at the beginning: bank heists are about two things, financial profit and proving that you can. NOT moral justice.

[Korts]

Just watched it. Very good, professional work. I just knew from the moment Derek got out that it had to end with someone violently dying, but that was the appropriate finish for it. Even though I didn't see particular incentive for the black kid to shoot Danny; all we saw Danny doing was not shitting his pants when the kid and his thugs tried scaring him.

[Korts]

I'll see what I can find.

[Korts]

I watched it but I wasn't particularly impressed.

[Korts]

Kublai Khan tells me my time has come, so here's my movie:

Kontroll (2003)

It's a Hungarian movie about ticket inspectors.

Unfortunately I don't know whether you can rent it locally.

You can find subtitled torrents on Mininova, I know that

[Korts]

bump

[Korts]

The intro was completely unnecessary to the story, IMO, but I guess the BKV (Budapest Transport Company) really wanted to make it clear that they are nothing like the people here. They're hated enough without being depicted in movies as aggressive, slow, cynical and decrepit.

Note that these are mostly random thoughts, with a movie this eclectic it's hard to be coherent

Yeah, the Pusher is quite probably the evil inside of Bulcsú, although remember the second push--at the beginning of the movie, before the crew gets on the train, the balding man? Bulcsú was with his crew and it's not implied in any way that he wasn't with them when the Pusher pushed the man off. But otherwise the connection is clear--same type of coat, same boots, same hoodie (although Bulcsú has a red one inside the black), same build.

Bulcsú, to me, is the personification of the metro itself--smelly, decrepit, but honest and functioning in its own way. I also liked the mythical role of the railing with Gonzo; like Bulcsú is the Chosen One of this dysfunctional world, and he alone can compete with the last train. And the way he defeats the greatest evil among petty criminals and mean passengers: by running the rails is very symbolic. Also, the way he refuses--is afraid--to go home or even to the surface is because he belongs to, or more metaphorically,

is

the metro. And even when he's fired he doesn't leave, he wants to exact his own justice.

I guess this post-fired stage of the movie could be taken as the final battle in the schizophrenic mind of the two halves--morally gray Bulcsú and evil-for-its-own-sake Pusher, if you're interpreting it the way that Pusher exists seperately only in Bulcsú's mind.

And the gang Bulcsú works with, with the narcoleptic Muki, the newbie, the cynical Professor and the pervert also works very well. The scenes where they are inspecting tickets are the only comic relief in this movie other than Muki's recurring narcolepsy and they serve this function very well.

The world depicted is a kind of limbo, you're right--it reminds me of the game Grim Fandango for some reason now. I also get the feeling that this isn't any kind of hell or purgatory, though; this is not punishment or cleansing for anything, it's just a world of no happiness simply for its own sake.

I also read somewhere an interpretation that this whole movie, with the metro, the crew, Gonzo and everything, isn't real--it's an analogy of what is happening in Bulcsú's mind. Bulcsú is the conscious ego, and everyone and everything else is just a cognitive function, with the Pusher being the devil sitting on his left shoulder and Szofi being the angel on his right.

BTW did you notice the angelic glow around Béla bá's head when he mentions his life Above? I really love this movie because of the thorough layers of symbolism.

So yes, I reccomend this movie to anyone who doesn't want very deep thoughts, but wants a strong story with multiple layers of symbolism as well as very good music.

[Korts]

maybe a new thread would be nice but ultimately I don't see that it would make a big difference. I think you should just pm klebian/Incog.