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Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:44 pm**

John M. Molinari wrote:Strangely enough the victim has forgiven him but a message must be sent that hideous acts like the one Polanski bestowed upon his victim must never be forgiven.

While I don't take issue with someone refusing to watch an artist's films based on some personal objection to the artist, I do take issue with this above statement. The reviewer seems to think he is in a better position to condemn Polanski than the actual victim and her forgiveness was itself some sort of amoral act because Polanski "must never be forgiven," which just makes me queasy. But really this whole Polanski controversy is something I'm not willing to weigh in on given what's happened before on this forum.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:56 pm**

I don't know that any of us can sincerely act as if his reaction to Polanski isn't completely fair. I've moved past it to an extent, but everyone has their threshold and sensitivities.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2012 7:55 pm**

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and certainly the Polanski case is a sensitive one that cannot be brushed off lightly. I think Polanski is a brilliant artist and I love his films. He also committed a crime, and it's a crime regardless of who he is or what profession he is in. That does not deter my enjoyment or appreciation of his films, but I can see why it would for some. That being said, a review like that has no place on Amazon.com, and it seems that the reviewer is really looking for attention more than expressing true concern. I actually reported a somewhat similar review for Repulsion to the Amazon mods a couple of years ago, but it was even worse, as it blamed Polanski's crime on his being Jewish. That review was quickly taken down.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:00 pm**

There's a weird self righteous pleasure in that review that doesn't seem to be an honest and genuine moral horror at what Polanski did. Besides, wasn't Rosemary's Baby filmed before that actually happened?

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2012 8:56 pm**

My favourite review of Man with a Movie Camera

A man films urban life in Odessa. No script. No actors. No sets. The only film in the most recent Sight & Sound top ten that I hadn't seen. I can understand its inclusion. It made great use of double tracking, slow motion, fast motion, fade-in, fade-out, and editing, but it brings me back to my whole argument that just because something is influential doesn't make it one of the best things ever. Hitler was influential. Does it make him one of the best people ever? Absolutely not. S&S certainly could have been more predictable and stuck Chaplin in the top ten again and everything would be fine.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:21 pm**

puxzkkx wrote:My favourite review of Man with a Movie Camera

A man films urban life in Odessa. No script. No actors. No sets. The only film in the most recent Sight & Sound top ten that I hadn't seen. I can understand its inclusion. It made great use of double tracking, slow motion, fast motion, fade-in, fade-out, and editing, but it brings me back to my whole argument that just because something is influential doesn't make it one of the best things ever. Hitler was influential. Does it make him one of the best people ever? Absolutely not. S&S certainly could have been more predictable and stuck Chaplin in the top ten again and everything would be fine.

That wasn't bad until he mentioned Hitler.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:48 pm**

RossyG wrote:
puxzkkx wrote:My favourite review of Man with a Movie Camera
A man films urban life in Odessa. No script. No actors. No sets. The only film in the most recent Sight & Sound top ten that I hadn't seen. I can understand its inclusion. It made great use of double tracking, slow motion, fast motion, fade-in, fade-out, and editing, but it brings me back to my whole argument that just because something is influential doesn't make it one of the best things ever. Hitler was influential. Does it make him one of the best people ever? Absolutely not. S&S certainly could have been more predictable and stuck Chaplin in the top ten again and everything would be fine.
That wasn't bad until he mentioned Hitler.

I disagree. Where did the reviewer get the idea that so many critics and directors voted for Man with a Movie Camera only because it was an influential work? Straw-man argument.

On the Polanski thing, people are entitled to have their opinions on him and everything else, but when someone reviews Rosemary's Baby at Amazon, it's supposed to be a product review. It's meant to be about the content of the movie/DVD. It's supposed to be helpful to people who want to read something about the item. Instead, hordes of reviewers treat the reviews almost like comments at New York Post, HuffPo, or Facebook. They think everyone wants to read their sloppy, uncritical, cookie-cutter views that show no knowledge whatsoever of the topic. Just one of many things that adds to the great "browsing" experience at Amazon.

Posted: **Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:28 pm**

Last night I watched this great documentary on the great filmmaker Richard Lester the director of the classic Beatles movies A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help (1965) and more well known for directing the two Superman movies II & III. Also to mention he other films like The Knack (1965), Juggernaut (1974) and Robin and Marian (1976).

I always admired Lester's films especially The Beatles films by it's quickly paced editing, it surrealistic style and 60's hipness. I even like the Superman films which I know most people moan that he wrecked the Superman franchies after Richard Donner refuse to finished off Superman II due to creative conflicts with the producers. Ok it had comicals elements, so did Superman: The Movie.

What I like about this documentary, is how the filmmakers have stayed faithful and reference the style of Lester's film like at the start when Lester is meeting the crew and it looks like a big crew until as Lester's is shaking hands to the crew to reveal the crew at the back crept behind and pretend they another crew. I remember this joke from a scene from Help (1965).

I would highly recommend to watch this documentary.

Check it out now!

Posted: **Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:40 pm**

Amazon Review of Army Of Shadows:

"This is a French movie, and so you can expect to be bored out of your skull for extended periods. But you have to admit French flicks from back then were better that English ones. The Limeys had young guys burned up at everything and bouncing around being arrogant, pompous and have some emotional crisis or other, whereas the French worked out their issues by showing boobs on-screen. (Please note: even though this movie is French it doesn't show any) Let's see....an emotional crisis or knobs? OK, I'll take the knobs."

Interestingly the reviewer gave the film 4 of 5 stars...

Posted: **Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:41 pm**

Wait, who calls boobs 'knobs'?

Posted: **Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:26 pm**

Apologies for puerility but over here (UK) knob is used to mean penis. Judging by the review he would probably view them as arrogant, pompous penises. Not like those fun loving French penises.

Posted: **Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:47 pm**

That doesn't make sense, though, as the arrogant, pompous, etc and the emotional crises were all in describing the English movies, and he's using an either/or construction- the only reading that works is him calling breasts knobs. Which is weird.

Posted: **Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:59 pm**

Sorry, wasn't clear. I agree that the use of knobs to mean breasts was unusual and was just guessing that if he had meant the British use of the word he would have been disapproving of the superior attitudes of said appendages.
Apologies once again for the lowering of tone.

Posted: **Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:31 am**

My Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang says "knob" can be used to talk about either a penis or a breast/nipple.

Theodore Isaac Rubin, Sweet Daddy (1963) p139: "One dame getting her tits sucked in a corner, not one guy but one on each knob."
Edith A. Folb, Runnin' Down Some Lines: The Language and Culture of Black Teenagers (1967–80) p.244: "Knobs, breasts"
National Lampoon (December 1987) p.91: "Mom's knobs awoke in me an altruistic sense."

The "penis" usage is surely more common.

Posted: **Thu Aug 23, 2012 2:39 am**

I could eat a knob at night.

Posted: **Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:57 pm**

Can't follow the movie like a real one!

This might have been an excellent flick. However, as many other people think so do I. It is poorly done due to the languages transfer. If the entire movie must be read then it kind of takes away from the movie and becomes something else. It does have an excellent rating as far as I am concerned and I couldn't wait to rent it. But, once I did it was a real let down. Out here in Boardman, Ohio I could not find an English version to anything similar. This movie was also compared to Dark Hours and this we will not get to watch in Boardman, Ohio. It is not available. So I guess we will never know how good the movie actually was.

(The movie was The Sea Inside, but it scarcely matters.)

Posted: **Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:43 pm**

MichaelB wrote:
Can't follow the movie like a real one!

This might have been an excellent flick. However, as many other people think so do I. It is poorly done due to the languages transfer. If the entire movie must be read then it kind of takes away from the movie and becomes something else. It does have an excellent rating as far as I am concerned and I couldn't wait to rent it. But, once I did it was a real let down. Out here in Boardman, Ohio I could not find an English version to anything similar. This movie was also compared to Dark Hours and this we will not get to watch in Boardman, Ohio. It is not available. So I guess we will never know how good the movie actually was.
(The movie was The Sea Inside, but it scarcely matters.)

Obviously you've never been out here in Boardman, Ohio. So I guess we'll never know this is standard vernacular in Boardman, Ohio.

Posted: **Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:16 pm**

"languages transfer"

Posted: **Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:48 am**

However, as many other people think so do I.

That's quite poetic and open to many interpretations.

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:58 pm**

This Amazon reviewer sure does seem to read a lot of books for someone who hates nearly every book he reads.

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2012 9:28 pm**

Possible motive: "Chris Roberts is a short story writer who was nominated for The Pushcart Prize." But he gets as good as he gives. Check out the reviews on his "latest story."

"This really is execrable rubbish. I strongly recommend that you avoid this piss-poor excuse for writing. At least no trees died."

"Unbelievably pretentious and downright awful. Reminded me of the terrible writing attempts you could find on some emo teenager's MySpace page back in 2007. Save your $0 and skip this one."

"Painful to read. I don't think it is manic. I think it is a seizure. Really. By the third page, I didn't care."

"It's either the act of a man in love with every word he composes, or the arbitrary result of a large cat who fell asleep on a keyboard."

Posted: **Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:48 pm**

With much back-straining, Depardieu has been moved here.

Posted: **Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:54 am**

Mr Sausage wrote:With much back-straining, Depardieu has been moved here.

Go on, 'fess up - you just waved a couple of roast turkeys under his nose and led him to the new thread, didn't you?

Posted: **Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:27 am**

zedz wrote:
Mr Sausage wrote:With much back-straining, Depardieu has been moved here.
Go on, 'fess up - you just waved a couple of roast turkeys under his nose and led him to the new thread, didn't you?

Tied a pot roast to one end of a string, took hold of the other end, and drove off. Seemed like a good idea, up until it started to resemble the dock scene from Jaws...

Posted: **Thu Oct 25, 2012 9:17 pm**

Feedback for an Amazon seller that deals largely in imports:

I think if you're selling a dvd to someone in the U.S, you should automatically change it to region 1. Because of you, I cannot watch the movie I was very excited about. Now, it is just collecting dust.

Rating: 1/5

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