Drish
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Post by Drish on Apr 5, 2020 5:20:40 GMT
I tried watching Manhattan. I am sorry but I can't...when Woody Allen's acting. He irritates so much. I did like Manhattan Murder Mystery though.
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Post by DeepArcher on Apr 5, 2020 5:59:30 GMT
Short Cuts (1993): Might come as a surprise that I'd actually never seen this movie before tonight, but 'tis true. So of course I thought this was brilliant ... so watchable, even though it's basically all about straight white people having marital problems (I guess that's the Raymond Carver influence, lol) ... but there is that underlying sense of disaffection and despondency lurking beneath modern life, especially as indicated by the overwhelming presence of death in this movie, which interestingly specifically affects the characters more on the periphery of the movie, i.e. the less petty ones less wrapped up in the bullshit of their mundane lives. I always love movies that examine assholes so of course I loved the characters here ... Gene manages to standout as one of the biggest assholes in film history in a film full of asshole men ... and there's an interesting gender angle here too, a sort of contrast between repressed & threatened masculinity and female liberation. (Also something I noticed, in the credits the cast is sectioned off by family/couple, and in each case the woman gets billed before the man ... as if suggesting it's "really" about the women, or something.)
This is a movie that definitely invites a lot of analysis and (clearly) has left me thinking about a lot of what's going in it ... and also got waaaay darker than I was expecting it to ... and by the end became apparent that it was even more of a Magnolia antecedent than I thought.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2020 6:43:22 GMT
[Rewatch]
Not much to say, only that I'm greedy and wish it had a perfect sweep. 10/10
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Post by pacinoyes on Apr 5, 2020 8:08:47 GMT
The Ninth Configuration (1980) - 7+/10 rewatch Director : William Peter BlattyFascinating and often brilliant idea that borrows from MASH (film and TV), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and yet is wholly original in how it conveys its religious themes. The problem is it is so technically disjointed - ending on a (bad) freeze frame after long, poorly handled or illogical expositions (including a prolonged Crucifixion metaphor near the end) and awkward flashbacks it hampers its own beautiful and contemplative point. Still I love its intent so much it transcends its (many) flaws, some of it is maddeningly funny too (particularly Jason Miller's Shakespeare digressions), Stacy Keach and Scott Miller are a very fine duo here and I often think of its points far more than technically "better" films I don't care about at all. It's a thought provoking mess, but some of it sticks to you and which is sort of what you'd say about Faith, God, Religion in a way and its a rare American film that dares to even seriously go to these places at all.
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Post by Viced on Apr 5, 2020 21:54:43 GMT
The Big Sleep (1946)I think this was the first noir I ever watched. No other movie has ever toed the line between "the plot doesn't matter" and "wtf is going on?" better than this one. Just pure batshit noir carried extremely well by Bogart. Bacall is good... but probably the least interesting (and least alluring) woman in the movie. God, that old studio bullshit could be so damn annoying. But yeah... I gotta re-watch this more often than once every 13 years. 8+/10
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Post by DeepArcher on Apr 6, 2020 3:18:19 GMT
Watched a couple films today that were nicely high-spirited...
The Illusionist (2010): I actually don't think I'd heard of this until it started popping up on ballots for the 2010s poll. Really glad it came to my attention and that I checked it out ... it's the exact sort of animation that I gravitate towards and that really appeals to me. I do think it was a mistake that I watched this before exploring Jacques Tati's films ... though I'm sure this is one that I'll be revisiting ... as I can't really speak to how this films acts as an homage/love letter/whatever to Tati, though it definitely felt like it was evoking the style that I understand Tati is known for, but at the same time I wouldn't want this film to be the exact same thing and be something original on its own (judging by some criticism this film apparently received for "failing to capture Tati," perhaps it is?). Anyway ... that's all sort of irrelevant. I really liked this. It's an incredibly charming feat that does so much with its visual storytelling, there's quite a few humorous gags and the entire tone is really relaxing and magical ... and then it gets surprisingly bleak at the ending. And that got to me. The tremendously beautiful score definitely helped with that. The animation was gorgeous, the style felt unique and perfect for the story this was telling.
And Then We Danced (2019): Great little Georgian film from last year that I'm surprised hasn't been talked about more. Tells a pretty familiar story of sexual awakening and an ephemeral gay romance but set in the backdrop of Georgian dance which adds a wonderfully original twist to it and sort of envelopes you into the unique life of these characters while presenting the rather unique perspective & tradition of this culture that of course the characters have to struggle against. Great acting from the cast who seem to be almost entirely first-time actors, all very natural screen presences and the lead guy carries it like an absolute champ, really compelling performance sold by the physicality and expressions. The sexual tension in this one is insaaaaane ... unfortunately the film loses its footing a bit over halfway through before sticking the landing with its ending ... and yes those are very much intentional dancing puns that apply to this film even more than you might think.
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Apr 6, 2020 16:00:07 GMT
Galveston - Not a fan. Foster's good and the direction is fine, but I expected so much more from Pizzolato.
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Post by Viced on Apr 6, 2020 20:00:46 GMT
This was high on my watchlist for a while... pretty big letdown unfortunately. There are some brilliant moments (fireworks, bloody sheet) but I just found it plodding for the most part. For a movie that takes place in a 24-ish hour span, it would've been nice if more important things happened in that time. Probably 20 minutes of good stuff stretched out to 103. And way too much time was spent away from the lead character... 5.5/10
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Post by Christ_Ian_Bale on Apr 6, 2020 20:06:58 GMT
Rewatched Dazed and Confused yesterday. For some reason, I didn't really appreciate this when I was younger, but nowadays I can't get enough of it.
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 6, 2020 21:29:59 GMT
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) 7-7.5/10 rewatch Been a while since I saw it. It’s part of the first group of classics I ever owned on DVD as a kid and sort of prized - with Stalag 17, Hell in the Pacific, Cool Hand Luke, Baby Jane, some others. Much more violent and interesting than I remembered - the rancor towards the German character, who poses a threat to an assumed leadership, and the postwar subtext, the splaying of mental endurance. With one of the finest damn casts you could slap together - especially Ian Bannen with his signature slurring-cackle that I can’t get enough of (surprised they Oscar nodded him), a coy Dan Duryea, a regimented Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy somewhere in there, a possible MVP in Richard Attenborough or Hardy Krüger as the stubborn but brainy German, and Jimmy Stewart who sweats out the heat in pours of anger and condescension, like when he says to the German, “You think being some kinda boy wonder entitles you to other people’s water?” or "The little men with slide rules and computers are going to inherit the earth." These shots (DP Joseph Biroc - varied career from It’s a Wonderful Life, Forty Guns, Kitten With a Whip, Blazing Saddles) are all within a few seconds of each other:
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 6, 2020 21:47:08 GMT
Next Door (1994) 6.5/10. Showtime TVM starring James Woods and Randy Quaid as feuding suburban neighbors. From the writer of horror masterpiece Killer Party, this attempts satire and loses steam towards the end, but gotta say it's really pretty fun. Woods as a Shakespeare professor. Quaid as a butcher. What could go wrong? Their common politeness set rabidly off after playing a handsy game of one-on-one basketball, causing a feud that (without any double entendres whatsoever, umm) includes - arm wrestling, where to place your lawn sprinkler, BBQ cookouts where the biggest piece of meat is up for debate, and dogs themselves who cross territorial boundaries. Woods is hilarious here - slippery and quick with dialogue he actually reminded me of Jesse Eisenberg, protectively sarcastic, and condescending towards Quaid who he sees as beneath him, referring to him as a dragon and a neanderthal....
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Post by jakesully on Apr 7, 2020 1:19:43 GMT
Die Hard with a Vengeance - Holy fuck I forgot how high octane /balls to walls action packed this was! Willis & SLJ were awesome playing off each other. 8.5/10
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Post by Sharbs on Apr 7, 2020 2:28:28 GMT
Fatih Akin’s ‘04 film Head-On is a masterpiece of the highest order.
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Post by DeepArcher on Apr 7, 2020 6:03:37 GMT
Stoker (2013): Kind of reminded me of Killing of a Sacred Deer -- and not just because it's a weird domestic thriller with Nicole Kidman -- but mostly because it's an "American" film where nearly all of the important people involved are not American and because of that the film comes across as noticeably not "American," it lacks any sense of setting and there's something awkward and stilted about that. Not that that aspect of it necessarily ruins the entire thing, but it does matter, even if it's more just an observation than anything else ... The set-up to this is great, but to me it kinda goes off the rails once we just see Richard being a killer ... a "Hitchcockian" thriller that seems to forget that Hitchcock was the master of suspense precisely because he was so great at withholding. Probably dumb of me to expect a more subtle psychological thriller from Park (who I'm a fan of, btw) ... but that still seemed to be what the set-up was suggesting and it doesn't satisfy that set-up at all to me. Don't like the direction it goes in and it also seems indecisive about the movie it wants to be. There are great moments even after it lost me where I almost thought I was starting to "get" it ... the piano duet scene which is comically ridiculous while getting at an underlying suspense by withholding and also felt like something from The Handmaiden, Kidman's killer monologue towards the end, hell even the end credits needle drop is pretty badass. Still, fewer modern filmmakers have as much fun with every film as Park Chan-wook which makes it basically impossible for him to ever make a boring or in outright bad film. As always he's being very expressive with the cinematography and editing techniques here and presents so many watchable and absorbing sequences because of that. Just wish the tone and overall point of it all came together for me more.
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Javi
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Post by Javi on Apr 7, 2020 14:38:20 GMT
2 flawed (but fun) 70s flicks from 2 masters: Hi, Mom! - Funny, funky, manic De Palma on the filmmaking folly and the cultural fads of the time--where art and terrorism are interchangeable. The artists and the audience mingle for a single reason: they're both frauds. (Provocation is their only tool and they fail there, too). With a very entertaining De Niro performance and a third act you won't forget. The Kremlin Letter - It's a 70s international thriller so you know it's hopeless and it will get you nowhere. But it's worth it just for watching Orson Welles, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson and Lila Kedrova act in one room together. None of them disappoint. Andersson is especially lively and compelling in English in a way fellow Bergman star Liv Ullmann never was. Back to the (sometimes frightening) shenanigans of Hi, Mom!
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Post by theycallmemrfish on Apr 7, 2020 14:43:51 GMT
Good Boys - Yet another instance of the same joke over and over for 90 minutes. Some of them landed, but after the first 30 minutes it went straight cringe.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Apr 7, 2020 22:14:24 GMT
Pride & Prejudice (the 2005 version, rewatch) Love how sensual this take is. Revisited this some time ago so this is technically my third viewing. My first time was rocky. It was years and years ago and all I knew was the A&E version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. I was way too young to appreciate the distinctions, only that this one was shorter (and tbh girlier). I'll never fault someone for preferring the 90s miniseries (it's actual perfection) but to me now they're different enough to appreciate both. This version is close enough to the material to bask in Austen's beautiful language and eye for the comedy in human interaction but modernized enough to justify its existence as separate and unique. Knightley's Lizzie is intelligent but also immature. She's witty but also playful and sardonic, and somewhere in that earthy messiness Knightley makes the role entirely her own. She's effortlessly charming and recalls the glorious exuberance/cheekiness of Winona Ryder's Jo March (another semi-modern take on a classic work). I LOVE everything about this Lizzie. I also love the shameless carnality of Wright's interpretation. The sexual tension is thicker than morning fog. The movie is so close to nature and features many long shots of Lizzie framed against the untamed splendor of the countryside, connecting the human beings on Austen's page to their primitive roots. When Lizzie and Darcy first kiss in this version, they do so in a mist-covered field at dawn (and it's magical). Rarely is Austen's work adapted with such unapologetic eroticism. In every sigh, gasp, heaving bosom and averted gaze, we're invited to thrill in Lizzie's blissful anticipation. This Pride & Prejudice fucks.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Apr 7, 2020 22:51:22 GMT
The Ninth Configuration (1980) - 7+/10 rewatch Director : William Peter BlattyFascinating and often brilliant idea that borrows from MASH (film and TV), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and yet is wholly original in how it conveys its religious themes. The problem is it is so technically disjointed - ending on a (bad) freeze frame after long, poorly handled or illogical expositions (including a prolonged Crucifixion metaphor near the end) and awkward flashbacks it hampers its own beautiful and contemplative point. I remember this being so damn strange. Couldn't get into it at all but the cast was pretty impressive and Scott Miller was particularly moving. I loved his monologues toward the end. Don't remember what the hell he was talking about lol, all I know is that I remember being totally enchanted
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Lubezki
Based
the social distancing
Posts: 4,332
Likes: 6,554
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Post by Lubezki on Apr 8, 2020 5:25:11 GMT
Pride & Prejudice (the 2005 version, rewatch) Love how sensual this take is. Revisited this some time ago so this is technically my third viewing. My first time was rocky. It was years and years ago and all I knew was the A&E version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. I was way too young to appreciate the distinctions, only that this one was shorter (and tbh girlier). I'll never fault someone for preferring the 90s miniseries (it's actual perfection) but to me now they're different enough to appreciate both. This version is close enough to the material to bask in Austen's beautiful language and eye for the comedy in human interaction but modernized enough to justify its existence as separate and unique. Knightley's Lizzie is intelligent but also immature. She's witty but also playful and sardonic, and somewhere in that earthy messiness Knightley makes the role entirely her own. She's effortlessly charming and recalls the glorious exuberance/cheekiness of Winona Ryder's Jo March (another semi-modern take on a classic work). I LOVE everything about this Lizzie. I also love the shameless carnality of Wright's interpretation. The sexual tension is thicker than morning fog. The movie is so close to nature and features many long shots of Lizzie framed against the untamed splendor of the countryside, connecting the human beings on Austen's page to their primitive roots. When Lizzie and Darcy first kiss in this version, they do so in a mist-covered field at dawn (and it's magical). Rarely is Austen's work adapted with such unapologetic eroticism. In every sigh, gasp, heaving bosom and averted gaze, we're invited to thrill in Lizzie's blissful anticipation. This Pride & Prejudice fucks. Yeah.....this is a gorgeous film. And Keira’s performance is sublime. I want this Joe Wright back.
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avnermoriarti
Badass
Friends say I’ve changed. They’re right.
Posts: 2,389
Likes: 1,274
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Post by avnermoriarti on Apr 8, 2020 6:05:53 GMT
The Truth ( Koreeda ) Might had to do something with the language, but felt too light for Koreeda standards, yet warm as always. Liked how it touches on how we cast each other in roles within a family and how we modify our past with some memories. But Catherie Deneuve is really good here, maybe a little hermetic but loved how her performance always seems to be showing through the cracks some of the feelings she tries to hide, Bichone is good as always, closes her incredilbe decade on a very good note, but wished her character played a bigger role and the relationship with her mother was explored with more depth, with more detail, almost feels like hers is a supporting role Terrible sappy score.
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Post by Miles Morales on Apr 8, 2020 18:55:42 GMT
The Last Black Man in San Francisco - 10/10. Absolutely stunning.
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Post by stephen on Apr 8, 2020 21:17:27 GMT
Gretel & Hansel: Moody as hell, great cinematography, and Alice Krige was a suitably creepy witch. Sophia Lillis anchors it well enough but her lack of accent amongst the rest of the cast is distracting, and I appreciate the path that Oz Perkins took with it, but I also feel he could've gone a bit further and made it well and truly fucked up. Still, definitely worth the watch.
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Post by Mattsby on Apr 9, 2020 1:17:33 GMT
Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980) - 7/10, but a special one bc it's the debut from the greatly talented John Sayles and it's a seminal indie breakout.... made millions off a $40k shooting budget that Sayles self-financed from scripting, among other things, Piranha and Alligator (love both of those btw). He crafts a movie that feels a little minor now but in its homemade way is damn good and carries a real weight to it too... How this group of friends, former political activists, have dulled into their 30s - they have basically become deactivated, middlebrow, and self-aware, with a shared, dwindling idealism, and typically unpleasant adult problems, often humorously: the movie opens with their mugshots to the first frame, a toilet being plunged. The actors are fine, they're at least a plausible bunch bc of Sayles' dialogue and direction. Occasionally here he cuts on a quip, which reminded me of Woody Allen - and I thought of WA again with the last line: “What are we gonna do with all those eggs?”
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Post by DeepArcher on Apr 9, 2020 4:21:41 GMT
Ordet (1955): My viewing in honor of Criterion Channel's first anniversary ... finally getting around to this one after hearing so much praise heaped on it. And yeah, I really don't have much to say that probably hasn't already been said. Captivating pastoral drama that's clearly a stage adaptation and is maybe a bit theatrical for my taste, but that hardly matters when Dreyer showcases an uncanny mastery of blocking and packs so much into every single frame rich with meaningful imagery and symbolism. It's all built around the ending of course which to me is really just one of a kind. I'm sure there are all types of readings of this film and that ending ... the way I see it, the film is a critique, or at least an examination, of the ways that people express their faith, and it's finally at the end when the characters learn to cast aside their pettiness and selfishness, their faith actually means something. It's not an affirmation of religious faith, but of faith in life ... at least, that's the way I read it.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Apr 9, 2020 4:21:43 GMT
The Way Back (2020). Gavin O'Connor directed it so yeah, it's pure tasteless microwaved formula that you've seen 100 times before. Affleck is the only good thing about it, but for what it's worth he's really good.
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