Existing followers of threads do not go back and reread preexisting posts. Just like any conversation or dialog, new information is presented in linear form. My new post was 100 percent the proper way to present new information I had. You are wrong.

Isn't it ironic that all of your contributions to this thread are not relevant at all. At least I have provided some interesting links. But you've forced me to defend my actions also, further cluttering up the thread. I think you're just upset I haven't been posting in the Politics forum, and you feel starved for attention, and thus have resorted to stalking me here. I suggest you go watch a movie. Here's some suggestions: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=109868.0

So, the following films have received discussion so far, or at least brief mention:

- Hunger
- Pale Flower
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- 2046
- In the Mood for Love
- Chungking Express
- Oldboy
- Woman in the Dunes
- The Face of Another
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher)
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- Jane Eyre
- True Grit (Coen Brothers)
- Yuka on Mondays (Only on Mondays)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Inland Empire
- Tokyo Story
- Late Spring

I suspect some of the titles below might get discussed here soon enough. I've either seen them, or they're going to be watched very soon, or they're definitely on my list of films to watch. Some are very mainstream. Everyone should add their own film titles. So, in no particular order...

- Never Let Me Go
- No Country for Old Men
- Three Colors: Blue
- Three Colors: White
- Three Colors: Red
- Secret Sunshine
- Let Me In
- Branded to Kill
- Japanese Summer: Double Suicide
- Mystery Train
- Pigs and Battleships
- The Insect Woman
- Intentions of Murder
- The Makioka Sisters
- Sunshine
- Poetry
- Empire of Passion
- The Spirit of the Beehive
- Lost in Translation
- A Dangerous Method
- World on a Wire
- Paris, Texas
- The Innkeepers
- Layer Cake
- Lust, Caution
- Raise the Red Lantern
- Eros Plus Massacre
- The Darjeeling Limited
- Black Swan
- Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
- X-Men: First Class
- Inglourious Basterds
- Watchmen
- Stalker
- The Mirror
- Ivan's Childhood
- With Beauty and Sadness
- Manji
- A Night to Remember
- The Road
- Winter's Bone
- Pride & Prejudice
- The Prestige
- The Ninth Gate
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- Days of Being Wild
- Fallen Angels
- Ashes of Time Redux
- Hara Kiri
- Capricious Summer
- Kuroneko
- Yi Yi
- Still Walking
- Bottle Rocket
- Hugo
- Fargo
- The Jacket
- An Education
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Chinatown
- Yojimbo
- Farewell my Concubine
- Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
- Remorques
- Rashomon
- Insignificance
- Army of Shadows
- Osaka Elegy
- Sisters of the Gion
- Women of the Night
- Street of Shame
- When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
- Jigoku
- I am Waiting
- Rusty Knife
- Take Aim at the Police Van
- Cruel Gun Story
- A Colt is my Passport
- Tokyo Drifter
- Belle du Jour
- The Scent of Green Papaya
- Cyclo
- The Vertical Ray of the Sun
- High and Low
- Vengeance is Mine
- Revanche
- Vampyr
- Daybreakers
- The Only Son
- There Was a Father
- Good Morning
- An Autumn Afternoon
- Floating Weeds
- Early Summer
- Early Spring
- Tokyo Twilight
- Equinox Flower
- Late Autumn
- The End of Summer
- Dodes'ka-den
- Wise Blood
- The Leopard
- Senso
- For All Mankind
- Twenty-four Eyes
- Salo
- Ikiru
- The Thin Red Line
- Double Suicide
- Intimidation
- The Warped Ones
- I Hate But Love
- Black Sun
- Thirst for Love
- House
- Au Revoir les Enfants
- Ugetsu
- The Human Condition
- Gate of Flesh
- Onibaba
- Kwaidan
- Taxi Driver
- Goodfellas
- Battle Royale
- The Hunger Games
- Memento
- The Incredibles
- Horton Hears a Who
- Spirited Away
- The Man Without a Map

And others...  

Perfectly sane. Consider, in conversation: one might say, "remember that paper I mentioned? I read it. It was interesting." Clear and concise utilization of forum quoting mechanics. As for you, have you watched one of those films yet?

Here's a short two minute clip from Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love that Criterion put out in anticipation of the October 2nd Blu-ray release. So mesmerizing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ypY9OaKCfRU

Any time you're on a website that has a 'like' or 'share' Facebook icon, your web browser is directed by the web page to fetch that icon from the Facebook servers. The Facebook server notes your facebook cookies, which were set with no expiration date when you were on Facebook. When the icon is requested when you're on another site, the Facebook servers do have access to the cookies they set before.

They are watching everywhere you go.

Pay no attention to him. All the rest of us are quietly basking in introspection, pondering with delight the announcing of your new signature.

I mentioned my discovery of Only on Mondays, directed by Kô Nakahira (of Crazed Fruit fame) a few posts back, because I was looking for other films from the Japanese New Wave starring Mariko Kaga, who is in Pale Flower. So anyway, I found this, which is the opening credits to Only on Mondays. Such classic sexy sixties: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tqW0Ota95Y&feature=related

It starts silent, then the music kicks in.

Interesting paper.

Kubrick acknowledged that he would never explain the movie. And that's the way it should be. Films are far more powerful when they are open to interpretation.

Sight & Sound's every ten years poll (one for critics and one for directors) puts 2001: A Space Odyssey as the 6th greatest film ever made as reviewed by critics. Directors put it as the 2nd greatest film ever made. Directors put Tokyo Story as the greatest film ever made.

Regarding the floating pen scene in 2001, it's clever the way the effect was achieved, if you're interested.

As for the theme of alien contact within film, I don't think any film has ever done it as well as 2001.

Regarding my mention of Tokyo Story: I haven't seen it yet, but I very recently watched Ozu's Late Spring, which I dearly loved, as most people do who have seen the film. In fact, Late Spring appeared at number 15 on the poll. Interestingly, Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love appeared at number 24, and was only one of two films from the 21st century to make the list. Wong Kar-Wai's other films have been mentioned earlier in this thread and other threads, including 2046 and Chungking Express.

Sight & Sound's notes on Tokyo Story and its director, Ozu Yasujirô: http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/ozu-yasujiro-master-time

Extra tidbit of info: the article linked above mentions that Masahiro Shinoda worked as assistant to Ozu prior to directing his own films. Masahiro Shinoda went on to direct Pale Flower, among others.

I used to never really spend much time watching movies over and over. But now I do. I just love getting lost in the movie's world, and the characters. Their lives are lived over and over in a sort of limbo state. These days, there always seems to be a certain movie in my collection that is my "go to" movie to bring up when I can't choose what to watch.

These might as well have been my words. You are so spot on. You hit a lot of the points I was going to mention.

- Utterly timeless
- It's an alternate 2001 that could have been, for real.
- The attention to detail is stupendous. The Pan Am space plane is based on research for a space plane.
- No other science fiction film comes close, for many reasons.
- Tree of Life is often compared, for obvious reasons. And in fact, Douglas Trumbull worked on both films.
- There's a whole younger generation that has not experienced this movie.
- It is indeed the ultimate trip, and the opening title sequence seems to indicate that you are indeed going to go on the ultimate trip.

As far as an interpretation goes, I'm always game for it, but I don't want to provide spoilers. I love discussing those scenes, but how can you without spoiling it for others?

Here are three famous clips that I don't think are spoilers. Please turn the volume up! Imagine it's 1968, and you've just sat down in the theater, and you've never, in your life, seen anything like this.

The opening titles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QFj59PON4

The discovery of tools: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd3-1tcOthg&feature=fvwrel

The Blue Danube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpvOUnz4T7Q

Not to put a damper on Star Trek, but consider: You step into the transporter to be beamed down to the planet. Your body is scanned, and you are reconstructed, particle for particle down on the planet's surface. You're now down there, complete, with synaptic connections in your brain exactly as you were ship side, your identity and memories in tact. All is well.

Except the transporter failed to vaporize you ship side. The transporter technician sheepishly approaches you, guiding you off to the side, muttering some technical jargon about particle to energy converters failing, herding you into a rarely used compartment with the auspicious title on the panel next to the door: "Reserve particle to energy converter".

But in all honesty, the Alcubierre drive is far more interesting than a television show.

And sure enough, the latest blog entry from centauri-dreams.org discusses the warp drive work: http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=24665

And the NASA paper on the laboratory experiment: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110023492_2011024705.pdf

EDIT: And I'd like to point out that centauri-dreams.org is the furthest thing in the world from a tinfoil hat site. It's responsible journalism on the subject of space travel. Great blog.

I'd like to know if you haven't seen 2001: A Space Odyssey. Please respond.

Also, I'd like to know if you haven't seen 2001: A Space Odyssey properly. Properly means in the original 2.35:1 aspect ration in high resolution, either HD or in a theater with 70mm projection.

Properly also means from the first minute until the credits roll, uncut, including the creepy 2 minute intro that comes before the MGM Lion. This is the title scene after the lion (turn the volume up!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QFj59PON4

It's Pale Flower (not Pale Flowers). Anyway, I just love that movie. The Criterion Blu-ray is outstanding. The blacks are so black, and it is completely devoid of grain or artifacts. It's very clean. Of course, that doesn't even address the story, or the actors. It's just an awesome film. As an aside, there's one scene in the opening credits that is just on fire, but you'd never notice except for repeated viewings. Mariko Kaga's face appears in the shot, taking up a very small part of the screen real estate, but once you notice it, it's just intense.

And the Pale Flower trailer, for those who missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOOr4nuWFqU

Speaking of Mariko Kaga, I was so entranced with her in Pale Flower that I went searching for other films that she's been in. I have at least one, even before I bought Pale Flower, that being Pleasures of the Flesh: http://www.criterion.com/films/23954-pleasures-of-the-flesh

But Only on Mondays directed by Ko Nakahira is the one that has captured my attention. Mariko Kaga is just so cute. I know very little about the film. It's another film from the Japanese New Wave. It hasn't yet received the Criterion treatment like Ko Nakahira's Crazed Fruit, but it looks interesting. Although the first part of the trailer makes the film look as though it might be some Japanese version of an Annette Funicello beach party film, if you stick with the trailer, it becomes clear it has a darker side. Also, as is typical of Japanese trailers from the era, it shows some nudity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvW3BaStfh4&feature=related

There is a saying: "Every frame a masterpiece". Or sometimes, "Every frame a Rembrandt". Roger Deakins did the cinematography for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. He also did the cinematography for another western that I love dearly: True Grit (The Coen Brothers).

Speaking of every frame being a Rembrandt, has anyone seen Jane Eyre with Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska? Great film. And I was mesmerized by the atmospheric lighting, which looked just like a Rembrandt painting.

Look at these Rembrandt paintings: http://www.russianpaintings.net/doc.vphp?id=753

And then look at these scenes from Jane Eyre (especially from the 0:50 mark to the 1:00 mark). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8PLpXvhtlc

The youtube video does not do it justice. The actual film, during those scenes, are indeed very Rembrandt like.

Read centauri-dreams.org regularly to really understand what's going on. Dig deep into the back articles.

It happens to be the current meander that the thread is currently in. It might meander in the opposite direction soon. Also, have you seen these films? I think you might want to. Very much so. However, I can assure you that I will offer up some Russian films, as well as French and German films. Maybe others. And even contemporary well known American films. Anyone else is welcome to recommend a film.

As for the current suggestions, do you have any take, one way or another on some of the Asian films presented, such as Pale Flower, Woman in the Dunes, 2046, or others? Feel free to comment on the trailers themselves, or the films, if you've seen them. No spoilers please!

You are, in fact, still invited, even urged, to do more than gloss over the posts, and give the linked trailers or clips a spin, and then provide deep insightful commentary.

Interesting statement. Not your assessment of Hunger, but your statement in general about the possible qualities of arthouse films. It calls to question what makes an arthouse film an arthouse film. I might be inclined to say that there are possibly four levels of arthouse films:

1. Those that display arthouse pretension. Are they really arthouse films then, instead of just being wannabees?

2. Those that are very arty in their subject matter, techniques of cinematography, etc., and one might be inclined to accuse them of arthouse pretension, but one shouldn't, because they're just so interesting, or meditative, or beautiful, or something.

3. Those films which mostly seem like a mainstream film, but get the arthouse label due to them being an indie, their beautiful cinematography, and thought provoking subject matter.

4. Those films which have been critically acclaimed and are very good, but never got the proper exposure due to distribution, and perhaps they did not contain enough explosions.