>>220
I haven't seen it, but may rent it out later. I hear it's really an excellent film. One review site that I frequent really gave it high marks except for the Twilight guy. The general feeling was that he was completely outclassed by superior costars, and couldn't really pull the magic out of the script.

For myself, I just recently saw a showing of "The Man Who Fell To Earth", the Director's Cut. It's tough to crack the code on that one. Everyone keeps talking about how it's a meditation on our society, but I really saw it as an individual moving into an environment he wasn't prepared to handle. It was long, but not necessarily boring. There were quite a few places where it could have stopped, though, and I would have been fine with it.

I just saw "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"

It's really a fascinating trace of how people went from generally environmentally conscious (or in one case completely ignorant) to fully radicalized.

I don't know if I agree with the an idea put forward by many of the people in the film, though. The FBI had nabbed a bunch of them and were branding them as terrorists, which they objected to. They objected on the basis that their acts were carried out in a way that made sure no people were injured.

The problem is that terrorism is not about killing people so much as using fear to make people do what you want (and this sometimes involves killing people, but not always). So in that sense, they were terrorists. They were attacking locations to make business and government feel pressured into acquiescing to their wishes. And in fact, the ELF (according to the film) basically fell apart because some wanted to up the stakes and take people out while others thought the idea horrific.

Very interesting documentary. Lots of stuff to think about.

Just saw a late night movie of "Sleepaway Camp". Wow. The ending. Those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about. I'm not going to ruin the surprise, but wow.

I just got back from an indie film called "The Myth of the American Sleepover" It follows the lives of several high school students on the last day of summer vacation.

I can't believe this film got made in the US. It's gentle, takes its time, quiet, uses unknown actors who act convincingly awkward, determined, confused, and all the other things their age brings. Here's a NYTimes review I largely agree with:

http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/movies/the-myth-of-the-american-sleepover-review.html

Imagine if this were a big hollywood production. It would have been the stupidest thing imagineable. It would have it all the tropes and cliches of the teenage angst/searching-for-life films, and it would be forgettable. This film, instead, is really about growing up, trying to understand life, and find experience. In that sense, it's wonderful.

I don't know a single person in my life who would like this film. There isn't anything approaching the sex and loudness of a stereotypical hollywood production of this type.

It really sucks to have eclectic tastes not be able to talk about it with others, especially one's friends. It really sucks to be able to appreciate a quiet slow film about life and yet know that no one else you know would think it anything other than boring because there's no fucking involved.

It really hurts to want to see a good film, and know everyone you know likes the mediocre shit.

Well, whatever. Sorry for the rant.

>>248
I was at a showing where three of the actors came out to talk about the movie. One of them was saying how they got some college kid to do it while wearing a mask of the killer's face. He was crying because he didn't want to do it, but they kept feeding him whiskey so that he would.