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So, I wrote a little thing, that somewhat relates to this discussion: http://centrifugue.blogspot.com/2011/09/sufjan-dream-shins-wrens-how-to-scream.html . Though the discussion I talk about is one I had on a Danish site. And my point has probably been made before, and I probably use the word...

You're right, good point. Yeah, just saying that 'comparisons' are problematic is too simplistic, often times reviewers do point out why this record is different from this other, mostly similar record, i.e. it being 'on acid'. But still, I would say that most comparisons used in reviews are used...

I'll be the radical one, then, and say, that it's not just the phrase 'if you like x...' which is problematic, but the whole point of basing a review on comparisons. A review should point out what is unique and original about a piece of art, not what is familiar and old. Yeah, it's an easy way...

I saw 12:08 East of Bucharest yesterday. I really like the new Romanian films, but this might be my favorite one. Just hilarious, inventive, slightly sad. Really, really great.

I should really read this book. Does he mention Lyotard in it? I've been thinking recently, that the loss of 'narratives' have a huge thing to do with this. Once, we knew what we wanted the future to be - liberalist or social utopia. Now, thinking about utopian futures is severely discredited -...

Well, Stalker and Sacrifice are his most straightforward ones, with plots and whatnot, but even though they might be easier to get through, I think they are quite boring, and as such would hardly stimulate further viewing. The Mirror, on the other hand, is, as you say, fragmented and abstract...

Just wanted to join the praise of Flann O'Brien. One of my favorite writers. His The Poor Mouth is also brilliant. I kinda think of that one as an interesting precursor to all the post-colonial writings of the latter half of the twentieth century. Minus all the exoticism. And if you love At...

I saw Onibaba a few days ago. I think someone on here recommended it. It was really strange and really great. Beautiful and atmospheric, hardly horrifying, though.

Actually, for me, Antichrist was von Trier reverting to his older style. His first trilogy (Element of Crime, Epidemic and Europa) was made in a much more aesthetic style, more like Antichrist, and very much unlike the Dogme-aesthetic. Also, the horrorelements recall both Epidemic as well as his...

I say Bela Tarr's Turin Horse yesteday. Would definitely recommend that everyone checks it out, if given the chance, it is really extreme. It's incredibly dark, though, wasn't quite prepared for that. But yeah, check it out.

@ padraig: Yeah, it's perhaps a strange little thing to criticize his use of Wagner, but it was also a strange little thing to do, when you think about it. It's more like, what's the artist trying to say? What's he making a statement on? The 1600s or today? And using Wagner, it just seems as if...

If it's Tarkovsky as a director you don't 'get', then try and watch The Mirror. That one is my favorite, and it goes by pretty briskly, at least by his standards. I like Solaris, but I really don't get Stalker. I like a few moments, but most of it is just three people walking around at an...

I've been catching up a bit on Malick due to Tree of Life. I really liked Thin Red Line. It was ridiculous, but war is ridiculous anyway. All the voiceover was just pseudophilosophical platitudes, but again, I thought it fit the theme with average American boys getting in way over their heads...

Yeah, I'm from Denmark, which is probably also why I just assume that everyone has seen every film by von Trier... I also think that that opening is pure The Mirror. A silent woman, and then something violent suddenly happening. Like the roof falling, or the bird flying by, in The Mirror. And...

@ idlerich: Yeah, there are a lot of Japanese films called something-Monogatari. I think it means 'story'. That famous Ozu film is also originally titled Tokyo Monogatari. And it's a bit weird with Mizoghuchi. There are a lot of things that annoy me, the melodrama, the focus on sacrifice...

The thing is, most of these films are by directors, where I've kinda already picked out the films of theirs, that I most wanted to see. I really like The Mirror, Ivan's Childhood, Solaris, I really like Ugetsu Monogatari and Sansho the Bailiff, I'm on the fence about Kurosawa, quite frankly, but...

@ grizzleb: la quatro volte sounds interesting, will have to check that out. I saw another film that reminded me of paradjanov, but that was more because it in some ways was the direct opposite: Raoul Ruiz' Time Regained, based on Proust. It's just almost as removed from the iconography of...

Dunno about Odyssey, but I'd definitely recomend reading Portrait of the Artist before Ulysses. And Dubliners, but you've covered that. That way, you know quite a bit about some of the most important characters, that really helps a lot. I was reading Barth's Giles Goat Boy and Belys Petersburg...

Huh, it turns out I've seen The Mascot before. It was on a DVD with Dreyer's Vampyr for some strange reason. Yeah, it is really great. Did not get it's realations to Vampyr, though. I think the thing I didn't get about L'Eclisse was, that they were supposed to meet. To me the ending was just...

Would love to hear some insides on L'Eclisse. I kinda liked it, but I didn't understand it at all. And Ladislas Starevich also sounds really interesting. Shadows... is fantastic, but Color of Pomegranates is even better. I really need to find his later films also. But this weekend, I'll have...