August 10th, 2009 / 11:30 am
Snippets

Anyone know of any good movies in which a labyrinth or series of tunnels figures heavily (such as The Shining or Satyricon, or even, in its own way, Solaris)? Having fucked maze dreams lately and want to extend it into waking life.

97 Comments

  1. Joseph Young

      the third man

  2. Joseph Young

      the third man

  3. Ryan Call

      have you seen the shining?

  4. Ryan Call

      have you seen the shining?

  5. Blake Butler

      third man is great, yes

  6. Blake Butler

      read again mane

  7. Blake Butler

      third man is great, yes

  8. Blake Butler

      read again mane

  9. Mike

      Labyrinth

  10. Mike

      Labyrinth

  11. Blake Butler

      u sunuva betch

  12. Blake Butler

      u sunuva betch

  13. John Madera

      Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is incredible.

  14. Drew

      That crappy Stalone flick Daylight. The Descent (you didn’t say they had to be good movies).

  15. Drew

      That crappy Stalone flick Daylight. The Descent (you didn’t say they had to be good movies).

  16. John Madera

      Oh I forgot to mention a Miyazaki film called The Cat Returns. My four year old loves it. And I dig anything the anime master has made.

  17. KevinS

      This may be a stretch and you may be scarred for life after this but have you seen Irreversible?
      Maybe Tron? Pan’s Labirynth? Indiana Jones?

  18. KevinS

      This may be a stretch and you may be scarred for life after this but have you seen Irreversible?
      Maybe Tron? Pan’s Labirynth? Indiana Jones?

  19. Blake Butler

      i did indeed say ‘good movies’ ya doodoo.

  20. Blake Butler

      i did indeed say ‘good movies’ ya doodoo.

  21. Blake Butler

      Miyazaki is great, and that’s the one of his I haven’t seen. thanks John.

  22. Blake Butler

      Miyazaki is great, and that’s the one of his I haven’t seen. thanks John.

  23. Blake Butler

      Irreversible is one of my favorites, and is totally the type of thing I’m looking for here. Anything like that, more please.

      I didn’t love Pan’s Labyrinth. Too much politics, not enough unfurling.

  24. john sakkis

      The Holy Mountain is all about systems…kind of stays with you (me)…

      on the crappy side (great side!) Cube is a pretty cool low budget Canadian horror movie chock full of mazes, math and murder…

      j

  25. Blake Butler

      Irreversible is one of my favorites, and is totally the type of thing I’m looking for here. Anything like that, more please.

      I didn’t love Pan’s Labyrinth. Too much politics, not enough unfurling.

  26. john sakkis

      The Holy Mountain is all about systems…kind of stays with you (me)…

      on the crappy side (great side!) Cube is a pretty cool low budget Canadian horror movie chock full of mazes, math and murder…

      j

  27. Blake Butler

      Holy Mountain is holy. I try to watch that at least 2x a year. El Topo also has the system feel to it. Where is that new Jodorowsky joint? Supposed to be any day now.

      Cube, man, crappy and great for sure. I loved the premise, wish they had done a little more with it. Such a great idea.

  28. Blake Butler

      Holy Mountain is holy. I try to watch that at least 2x a year. El Topo also has the system feel to it. Where is that new Jodorowsky joint? Supposed to be any day now.

      Cube, man, crappy and great for sure. I loved the premise, wish they had done a little more with it. Such a great idea.

  29. Matt Briggs

      Logan’s Run.

  30. Matt Briggs

      Logan’s Run.

  31. John Madera

      Oops, it’s from Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, directed by Hiroyuki Morita. It’s made for the little ones. So it’s probably not what you’re looking for.

  32. Blake Butler

      still looks fun, i like kid ones… :)

  33. Blake Butler

      still looks fun, i like kid ones… :)

  34. mark

      the black lodge.

      all the aliens movies, most submarine movies, sewer scene in the fugitive, fun house scene in lady from shanghai.

      most first person shooters, w RE4 and the metroid primes being particularly choice.

  35. mark

      the black lodge.

      all the aliens movies, most submarine movies, sewer scene in the fugitive, fun house scene in lady from shanghai.

      most first person shooters, w RE4 and the metroid primes being particularly choice.

  36. Blake Butler

      black lodge is ultimate maze, end to end.

      dang, lady from shanghai. haven’t seen that in forever. good call.

      i wish there was a good film that simulated what video games feel like in playing, without the tendency toward just being another action joint.

      anybody ever read the book ‘lucky wander boy’? its about an obscure video game with things lodged inside it. more books like that (such as God Jr., and Jonathan Messinger’s video game story from Hiding Out) should exist.

  37. Blake Butler

      black lodge is ultimate maze, end to end.

      dang, lady from shanghai. haven’t seen that in forever. good call.

      i wish there was a good film that simulated what video games feel like in playing, without the tendency toward just being another action joint.

      anybody ever read the book ‘lucky wander boy’? its about an obscure video game with things lodged inside it. more books like that (such as God Jr., and Jonathan Messinger’s video game story from Hiding Out) should exist.

  38. Dan Wickett

      Good: The Dale Cooper chasing Dale Cooper scenes near the end of the Twin Peaks series.

      Not so Good: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

  39. Dan Wickett

      Good: The Dale Cooper chasing Dale Cooper scenes near the end of the Twin Peaks series.

      Not so Good: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

  40. Dan Wickett

      Book about an obscure video game – The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti by Stephen Graham Jones kicks some ass hard and definitely has a maze-like feel to it. Well worth your time, Blake.

  41. Dan Wickett

      Book about an obscure video game – The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti by Stephen Graham Jones kicks some ass hard and definitely has a maze-like feel to it. Well worth your time, Blake.

  42. Blake Butler

      episode 30 might be my favorite film segments of all time. Cooper v Cooper :)

  43. Blake Butler

      episode 30 might be my favorite film segments of all time. Cooper v Cooper :)

  44. Blake Butler

      the Jones book is really fun, I forgot about that one… those letters from his father were just brutal.

  45. Blake Butler

      the Jones book is really fun, I forgot about that one… those letters from his father were just brutal.

  46. Dennis Cooper

      Alain Resnais’ Providence. Incredible film. Very labyrinthine narrative/structure. Quite hard to find on DVD, but I can burn it for you.

  47. Dennis Cooper

      Alain Resnais’ Providence. Incredible film. Very labyrinthine narrative/structure. Quite hard to find on DVD, but I can burn it for you.

  48. Blake Butler

      That would be awesome Dennis. I just ordered the new Last Year at Marienbad, need more Resnais…

  49. Blake Butler

      That would be awesome Dennis. I just ordered the new Last Year at Marienbad, need more Resnais…

  50. Ryan Call

      sorry i was being stupid…

  51. Ryan Call

      sorry i was being stupid…

  52. Nathan Tyree

      Alien

  53. Nathan Tyree

      Alien

  54. Kevin O'Neill
  55. Kevin O'Neill

      ‘European’ why didn’t I just say Hungarian? God.

  56. Kevin O'Neill
  57. Kevin O'Neill

      ‘European’ why didn’t I just say Hungarian? God.

  58. mark

      haha, i described a film to someone the other day as a “foreign film” and i was like, my gawd, what have i become…

  59. mark

      haha, i described a film to someone the other day as a “foreign film” and i was like, my gawd, what have i become…

  60. Lincoln

      love satyricon

  61. Lincoln

      love satyricon

  62. davidpeak

      have you watched scorcese’s After Hours? It’s crazed. Works on deranged maze-logic.

  63. davidpeak

      have you watched scorcese’s After Hours? It’s crazed. Works on deranged maze-logic.

  64. Nate

      hellraiser II

  65. Nate

      hellraiser II

  66. Nathan Tyree

      Genius. Love after hours, especially that ending

  67. Nathan Tyree

      Genius. Love after hours, especially that ending

  68. Blake Butler

      that might be the only scorsese i’ve never seen. will watch it tonight, thank you david.

  69. Blake Butler

      that might be the only scorsese i’ve never seen. will watch it tonight, thank you david.

  70. Blake Butler

      haha

  71. Blake Butler

      haha

  72. john sakkis

      blake,

      video game movie…eXistenz is amazing for that video game feel…e.g. panned dialogue, non-nonsensical scene segues (like the industrial fishing cannery (cut to) a chinese restaurant in the middle of a lush forest…)…i love that movie for how disorienting it all feels…

  73. john sakkis

      blake,

      video game movie…eXistenz is amazing for that video game feel…e.g. panned dialogue, non-nonsensical scene segues (like the industrial fishing cannery (cut to) a chinese restaurant in the middle of a lush forest…)…i love that movie for how disorienting it all feels…

  74. Blake Butler

      ah man, i forgot all about eXistenz. haven’t seen that since it came out. queued up… thanks john!

  75. Blake Butler

      ah man, i forgot all about eXistenz. haven’t seen that since it came out. queued up… thanks john!

  76. Nathan Tyree

      well worth the time. It is manic and funny in ways that you don’t connect with Scorses. Surreal and compelling. I just discovered it last year and have watched it three times

  77. Nathan Tyree

      Cronenberg is always worth the time

  78. Nathan Tyree

      well worth the time. It is manic and funny in ways that you don’t connect with Scorses. Surreal and compelling. I just discovered it last year and have watched it three times

  79. Nathan Tyree

      Cronenberg is always worth the time

  80. Tim Horvath

      “He Walked by Night” is LA noir that winds up in the sewer system under LA.

      David Bordwell in his book Poetics of Cinema has a whole chapter on “forking-paths narratives,” based on the Borges story from Labyrinths.

  81. Tim Horvath

      “He Walked by Night” is LA noir that winds up in the sewer system under LA.

      David Bordwell in his book Poetics of Cinema has a whole chapter on “forking-paths narratives,” based on the Borges story from Labyrinths.

  82. Adam Humphreys
  83. Adam Humphreys
  84. BAC

      Gerry by Gus Van Sant is good. Though it’s sort of an anti-labyrinth. Two guys lost in the desert trying to figure out the way back to their car.

      There aren’t any tunnels, but if you watch it through the cardboard center of a paper towel roll I think you’ll get everything you want out of a viewing experince.

  85. BAC

      Gerry by Gus Van Sant is good. Though it’s sort of an anti-labyrinth. Two guys lost in the desert trying to figure out the way back to their car.

      There aren’t any tunnels, but if you watch it through the cardboard center of a paper towel roll I think you’ll get everything you want out of a viewing experince.

  86. Blake Butler

      yes yes, Gerry! love that movie, dont even really know why. so hypnotizing. great one

  87. Blake Butler

      yes yes, Gerry! love that movie, dont even really know why. so hypnotizing. great one

  88. Tobias

      Tarkovsky’s “Stalker”…

  89. Tobias

      Tarkovsky’s “Stalker”…

  90. Caleb J Ross

      Someone mentioned a book, and while “movies” was your request, I feel permissed to mention “House of Leaves.” Then again, I’ll work “House of Leaves” into any conversation possible. You could have asked for Pan-Asian food dishes that look green in low light conditions and I would have found a way to fit “House of Leaves” in there.

  91. Caleb J Ross

      Someone mentioned a book, and while “movies” was your request, I feel permissed to mention “House of Leaves.” Then again, I’ll work “House of Leaves” into any conversation possible. You could have asked for Pan-Asian food dishes that look green in low light conditions and I would have found a way to fit “House of Leaves” in there.

  92. David

      Hi Blake. Three good ones come to mind that haven’t been mentioned yet: Orson Welles’ ‘The Trial’, Shane Carruth’s ‘Primer’ and Eric Villette’s Malefique. All very mind-bending, maze-like films in their structure, imagery and content: Malefique actually never leaves the one cell but I think it very much counts.

  93. David

      Hi Blake. Three good ones come to mind that haven’t been mentioned yet: Orson Welles’ ‘The Trial’, Shane Carruth’s ‘Primer’ and Eric Villette’s Malefique. All very mind-bending, maze-like films in their structure, imagery and content: Malefique actually never leaves the one cell but I think it very much counts.

  94. keith n b

      shit, i just watched after hours. as i watched it i kept getting giddier and giddier, and also sadder and sadder because i knew it had to end. that was butter for my soul. i started to think towards the end that it was going to loop back on itself like ‘the tenant’ did; actually it could easily have done so if the paper mache sculpture he was being mummified in turned out to be the one in the first apartment. i’m glad it didn’t though. i’m glad it stayed within the conventional bounds of reality while yet allowing for seemingly synchronous and distemporal references. thank you david. watching this movie made me feel better.

  95. keith n b

      shit, i just watched after hours. as i watched it i kept getting giddier and giddier, and also sadder and sadder because i knew it had to end. that was butter for my soul. i started to think towards the end that it was going to loop back on itself like ‘the tenant’ did; actually it could easily have done so if the paper mache sculpture he was being mummified in turned out to be the one in the first apartment. i’m glad it didn’t though. i’m glad it stayed within the conventional bounds of reality while yet allowing for seemingly synchronous and distemporal references. thank you david. watching this movie made me feel better.

  96. Blake Butler

      man, watched After Hours just now. amazing. best i’ve seen in a while. like Scorsese does Lynch. loved. thank you.

  97. Blake Butler

      man, watched After Hours just now. amazing. best i’ve seen in a while. like Scorsese does Lynch. loved. thank you.