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This week's Staff Pick is: Cemetery of Splendor (2015) [or Splendour if you're feeling saucy]  Directed and Written by: Apichatpong Weerasthekul Cinematography by: Diego Garcia Edited by: Lee Chatametikool IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2818654/ Summary: "A group of soldiers in a small town on the Mekong River in northern Thailand are struck with a bizarre sleeping illness." Weerasthekul's films are contemplative and beautifully shot, utilizing their sparse settings to explore interpersonal relationships and societal ills. The pace is glacial, as a warning; from the films I've seen, they owe a heavy debt to Tsai Ming-Liang's style of reserved filmmaking which highly accentuates the passage of time you experience by simply watching them. I haven't seen Splendor yet because it was sold out almost immediately when it came to a festival near me about a year ago, but I have seen a few of his other films. I've heard nothing but fantastic things about his latest and have been meaning to watch for a while, so what better time than Wrestlemania weekend? Cemetery of Splendor is available for rental on Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu etc. --- From the Staff Picks Archives January 31st, 2017: Cure February 7th, 2017: Westfront 1918 February 14th, 2017: John Wick February 21st, 2017: Red Sorghum February 28th, 2017: God of Gamblers March 7th, 2017: The Autopsy of Jane Doe March 14th, 2017: Perfect Blue March 21st, 2017: Spring Breakers
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Mar 29, 2017 15:34
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 14:35 |
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I haven't watched this yet...tomorrow for sure hopefully.
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Apr 4, 2017 00:57
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I wish I had more movie watching time lately 
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Apr 4, 2017 03:51
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When it comes to new Thai cinema the latest Thai film I watched was Suwichakornpong's Mundane History and it was amazing. It was the one of two movie experiences where I went through actual katharsis in the theatre. A huge recommendation but you'd have to watch it on a bigger screeen with good sound because without surrounding music it won't work. What I'm saying is that I'm curious what's going on in Thai cinematography nowadays so thanks for the heads up OP.
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Apr 4, 2017 09:45
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After a brief hiatus staff picks returns: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3817796
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Apr 20, 2017 16:14
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Palpek posted:When it comes to new Thai cinema the latest Thai film I watched was Suwichakornpong's Mundane History and it was amazing. It was the one of two movie experiences where I went through actual katharsis in the theatre. A huge recommendation but you'd have to watch it on a bigger screeen with good sound because without surrounding music it won't work. This woman has a second feature that I missed at a recent festival but it's screening this weekend so I'm going to check it out. It sounds very interesting: "In the beguiling, mysterious second feature by Thai director Anocha Suwichakornpong, the story of a young film director researching a project about the 1976 massacre of Thai student activists at Thamassat University is just the beginning of a shape-shifting work of fictions within fictions, featuring characters with multiple identities. " The only other thai director I know any films of is Weerasethakul. I love Syndromes and a Century the most of what I've seen, good films in the loooong take, contemplative realm where you become incredibly aware of time passing slowly before your eyes
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Apr 20, 2017 16:19
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So did you manage to see it? I'm curious about her second movie as the first one was something special.
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Apr 26, 2017 21:41
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I did! There was very beautiful images, and the structure mirrored something like Syndromes and a Century, with cyclical revisions/returns to previous encounters with varying degrees of tweaks and presentational differences. The central character is writing the film you're watching so it's got a lot of shifting definitions of reality and what not. It's also a story told in a few different time periods so it all can be a bit overwhelming. I liked it but I also felt like it wasn't particularly cohesive, like the net was cast a bit too wide in swapping between a structuralist narrative approach, and conflicting chronologies, and dreamstate interruptions. There lacked a central heft or purpose but there's some good long take windy hand cam shots. It was also kind of a unique theatre experience for me because it was the second time that I can ever remember where I was the only person in the movie theatre. The other being the last weekend run of Red Eye like 12 years ago
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Apr 27, 2017 12:51
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 14:35 |
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Sounds interesting. Her previous movie also had a cut up structure that hopped all over the story's timeline so it's probably her thing now. In Mundane History it made sense though because it was all set up to make the audience feel tormented so that the incredible ending could set them free. A movie I watched in an empty theater was Princess Mononoke - at least right after the family with little kids that was sitting in front of me left when some dude's hands have been cut off clean with an arrow.
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Apr 27, 2017 14:29
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