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Nakadai in Ran is one of those happy accidents because the role was intended for Mifune. But Kurosawa and Mifune still hadn't reconciled after their falling out so the role went to Nakadai instead. And he totally owns it, I have a hard time seeing Mifune in the role after seeing how great Nakadai is.
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Jun 3, 2021 19:04
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That's mine too like a year later and i still haven't watched the motherfucker
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Jun 4, 2021 12:40
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Cries and Whispers "Harold, they're lesbians!" I saw this when I was a teenager and didn't understand it, and all I remembered about it was the scene with the glass, and the Pieta moment (which is also not something I was familiar with until I looked at the wikipedia page). Revisiting it after having subsequently consumed most of the rest of his major works is kind of funny, because in some ways it stands pretty firmly on its own, but is also a perfect pass-through from his earlier, more regimented films to his later, looser ones. It also comes across as weirdly awkward in places. The structure is off-kilter, a pattern that struggles to coalesce, and there were a few moments that felt like something from a very earnest student film (a character sits...thinks...moves her hands...). However, it's also highly layered. There's the fundamental critique of class and gender expectations in how the sisters (and their husbands) treat Agnes's maid and de facto caregiver, essentially letting her do the hard work and then swooping in to take advantage of the moments where they might feel useful in a facile sense, and then coldly dismissing her. In the final scenes, the characters are wearing mourning and winter garb at the same time, big black fur hats perched on their veiled faces, almost no skin showing at all, literally shielded from one another by the fashion of their high culture. This after all the scenes of brilliant white dresses against blood-red wallpaper, and clammy skin in dark hallways, comes as a punchline. They are shut up forever. It also lingers on the difficulty of making basic connections, even among the sisters, let alone the wives and their husbands. Ullmann is particularly nervewracking here, her character locking herself in a childhood state, but fooling nobody. In one of the opening scenes, Ullmann's character is woken from her vigil over Agnes by her other sister. She sits upright, smiling innocently, and says "I fell asleep!". She tosses and turns in her childhood bed, gazing at a painting of her deceased mother (also played by Ullmann). She can be forgiven for anything, she seems to think, if it is to be assumed by others that she is incapable of managing responsibility. In a flashback, her lover, the doctor treating Agnes, makes her look at herself in a mirror. The camera zooms in on her face, on her watching herself as he tells her, in painful detail, all of the things about it that are terrible, that indicate the vicious nature underneath. Because Ullmann is a masterful actor, her silent reaction is like an aria, and what we witness is terrifying. I thought several times while watching this about my husband's grandmother's death a couple of years ago. She was a lively, outrageous old woman with vast reserves of boundless energy, whose body suddenly gave out on her. She spent her last weeks being dosed by her daughter (a nurse) with morphine as her organs shut down, cloistered in her hot, dark bedroom, the shades drawn. You have to wonder, sometimes, about the value of the past. If your last moments are wracked with agony, what does a sunny memory of an afternoon of love matter? Furthermore, how can a person, who is still living, give themselves over entirely to someone whose life is at an end, if it hasn't already been functionally snuffed by suffering? Agnes does. Her devotion is one of the most purely moving acts in any movie I've seen. Special mention to Ingrid Thulin, who plays the elder daughter. She's just really good in this. 10/10 shamezone 1) Beyond the Valley of the Dolls - doll movie 2) The Blue Angel - Dietrich movie 3) Daughters of the Dust - movie i want to see movie 4) The Deer Hunter - wedding movie 5) The Tree of Wooden Clogs - mike leigh's favorite movie 6) The Times of Harvey Milk - milk movie 7) Salesman - real movie 8) Don't Look Now - venetian movie 9) Alexander Nevsky - ice movie 10) A League Of Their Own - baseball movie [full list] Floating Weeds 9/10, Daisies 8/10, Stray Dog 8/10, Victim 6/10, Man Bites Dog 9/10, Night and Fog 10/10, Weekend 8/10, Jubilee 10/10, Sans Soleil 10/10, Candidate 8/10, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 10/10, The Freshman 5/10, Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers 10/10, Branded to Kill 8/10, In Heaven There Is No Beer? 10/10, Blood Simple 10/10, The Marriage of Maria Braun 7/10, A Day In The Country 7/10, A Brief History of Time 10/10, Gates of Heaven 10/10, The Thin Blue Line 10/10, The Fog of War 10/10, My Beautiful Laundrette 10/10, Blind Chance 8/10, My Winnipeg 10/10, The River 7/10, Odd Man Out 8/10, The Passion of Anna 9/10, Brute Force 10/10, The Rite 5/10, The Piano Teacher 10/10, Ashes and Diamonds 7/10, Meantime 9/10, Carnival of Souls 8/10, La Notte 10/10, Frances Ha 10/10, L'avventura, Again 10/10, A Room With a View 9/10, Laura 8/10, Marjorie Prime 10/10, Ex Machina 8/10, Tampopo 10/10, Pickpocket 4/10, Harlan County USA 10/10, The Spirit of the Beehive 10/10, Heaven's Gate 4/10, A Short Film About Killing 9/10, The Pillow Book 6/10, Desert Hearts 9/10, Alice in the Cities 10/10, Yi Yi 10/10, Rififi 9/10, Children of Paradise 10/10, A Poem is a Naked Person 8/10, Late Autumn 8/10, Chimes at Midnight 10/10 Watership Down 9/10, Ugetsu 9/10, Veronika Voss 9/10, The Hidden Fortress 7/10, Close-Up 10/10, Journey to Italy 10/10, L'Eclisse 7/10, Andrei Rublev 11/10, Vagabond 9/10, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari 9/10, Shoplifters 10/10, Escape From New York 10/10, Die Hard 10/10, The Last Picture Show 9/10, Mr Smith Goes To Washington 8/10, Saturday Night Fever 9/10, First Blood 7/10, Mad Max 7/10, Come and See 10/10, Friday the 13th 7/10, Predator 5/10, Sicario 10/10, Grizzly Man 9/10, Cache 10/10, The Evil Dead 9/10, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 10/10, One Sings, The Other Doesn't 8/10, The Last House on the Left 10/10, Cries and Whispers 10/10 (total: 185) Basebf555 gets Casablanca (my real movie shame is that I don't really like it) Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Jun 4, 2021 |
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Jun 4, 2021 21:23
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Magic Hate Ball posted:8) Don't Look Now - venetian movie That's not a bad description because it's one of the best uses of a location you'll ever see. Glad to finally have seen Casablanca after many years of hearing the iconic lines without the full context. It's a beautiful film, which I knew going in of course, but it's also just a really tight film that wastes no time never loses any momentum because of near perfect pacing. I didn't realize Claude Rains or Conrad Veidt were in this, and Rains especially was a very pleasant surprise. The more the career of Claude Rains is revealed to me the more impressive it is, he just seems to always pop up in great iconic films. An interesting note from the wikipedia page is that Conrad Veidt was actually the highest paid actor in the cast. It's pretty cool to think about how an actor like Veidt was able to bridge that gap between the silent era and the sound era, and how respected and highly paid he was even into the 1940s(he died only about a year after Casablanca). And I enjoy Bogart as much as the next guy but the real revelation for me here was Ingrid Bergman. She really felt like the core of the film and her performance had a lot more depth and nuance to it than I expected for this kind of melodramatic romance story. I do think the setting is what cements it as a timeless classic though. It's this little world unto itself that feels totally unique with it's own set of rules and a whole bunch of interesting characters to meet and get to know. It seems like the type of film where I could revisit it and notice little things about Rick or Sam, or Louis, or Ugarte(I forgot to mention that Peter Lorre's in this too!) and the roles they play within the ecosystem of Casablanca. And the visuals give the whole thing a feeling of romanticism that may be the most influential aspect of the entire film. Who knows how many countless bars in film have been modeled after Rick's, or how many emotional goodbye scenes have been in airports or airstrips just like this one. There's a pretty clear template here that I can now see in so many other things, across a wide range of media. My list: 1. Bicycle Thieves: This is a pretty big one. It often ranks very high on Greatest of All-Time lists and lots of great directors mention it as one of their influences. 2. Bonnie and Clyde: One of those movies where I've seen the iconic ending but never actually sat down to watch the whole thing. It won a bunch of awards though so I guess I should. 3. 4. A Christmas Story: I grew up in a Jewish household and it's not like I wasn't allowed to watch Christmas movies but I guess I just never had the desire to. 5. F for Fake: I've heard people praising this and I really just don't even know what it is exactly. Is it a documentary? The answer is never quite clear to me so I should just watch it myself and find out. 6. Labyrinth: Not sure why I never saw this but I definitely want to, it seems like something I'd like. 7. Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance: I'm just going to put the first film in this series on the list and then if I like it I'll continue on. But I've heard great things about it. 8. Missing in Action: This may seem like an odd choice but it's actually a pretty important film in the pantheon of schlocky Cannon action flicks, and it's one of Chuck Norris biggest hits. And I'm an action fan so I definitely need to see it. 9. The Omega Man: Saw the Vincent Price version, saw the Will Smith version, saw the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode, now I need to see this one. 10. Princess Mononoke: I've been wanting to delve into Miyazaki a little bit more and I've heard this is a good one.
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Jun 7, 2021 17:15
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Basebf555 posted:9. The Omega Man: Saw the Vincent Price version, saw the Will Smith version, saw the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode, now I need to see this one. "You see, none of it was real. It was illusion. Your art, your science, it was all a nightmare. And now it's done. Finished." The Turin Horse - This focuses on a few characters enveloped by frustrations i.e. a grumpy old man and his daughter subsisting on potatoes. At other times he's chopping wood but not much else is going on. It shows the desolation, dreariness and tedium exemplified by living through this kind of rustic life. Life long before the Internet and modern day amenities and conveniences. There's also very little dialogue. Imagine if Andrei Tarkovsky directed Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). The only thing breaking up the monotony is the obstinate horse, some gypsies and a trader who stops by and drops some ideological bombs before leaving. The pacing allows for deeper absorption than most others. During many scenes it feels like one is looking at a canvas painting rather than a moving picture. Free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MztXKjuzHvg Also watched: Toni Erdmann - There are a lot of films that deal with family troubles, emotionally distant relatives, business crises and workaholics. But Toni Erdmann (Peter Simonischek) is so off-the-wall and ignites so many awkward moments that this feels very fresh. He desperately wants to see his daughter (Sandra Hüller) so he invents a bunch of scenarios to keep interrupting her life. He simply won't go away. I won't go into detail but it's hard to overstate how many awkward and bizarre things unfold. This guy is a jokester who ignites a tour de force of brinkmanship. Imagine if a character from The Idiots (1998) escaped into the world of Working Girl (1988). It's kind of beautiful the lengths he goes to to reconnect with his aloof daughter and share some moments of life. With its long and realistic takes it operates on a different wavelength than most. The vast majority of films don't let characters sit around for minutes of silence or have completely natural dialogue. Much more could be said... James Bond versus Godzilla (42/64 completed): Hesitation (60 completed): #54 I Confess - This is a Hitchcock film with critical praise but I never hear it mentioned much these days. 3/9/21 #57 Millennium Mambo - Sounds enticing. 3/21/21 #60 Autumn Sonata - Two Bergman's for the price of one. 4/6/21 #64 2010: The Year We Make Contact - Maybe it's time to watch this sequel. 4/30/21 #65 Sunshine - I've heard this one was good. 4/30/21 #66 Easy Money - A Rodney Dangerfield comedy I meant to watch at one point. 5/3/21 #67 Secrets & Lies - Recently released by Criterion. 5/8/21 BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (97/100 completed): new #63 Spring in a Small Town - The greatest Chinese film ever made? 6/9/21 #95 Floating Clouds - Not to be confused with Floating Weeds. 3/21/21 Richard Roeper's Top Films 2000-2020 (16/21 completed): new 2020 Nomadland - Economic problems in the US of A. 6/9/21
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Jun 9, 2021 06:10
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Zogo posted:Imagine if Andrei Tarkovsky directed Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). That's an absolutely perfect description of The Turin Horse.
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Jun 9, 2021 14:59
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After watching it I felt just like I did after watching Stalker (1979) nearly a decade ago.
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Jun 9, 2021 22:08
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Zogo posted:#64 2010: The Year We Make Contact - Maybe it's time to watch this sequel. 4/30/21 I don't remember this being good, but I remember it being interesting.  Ran (1985) Directed by Akira Kurosawa Watched on Amazon Prime I kept thinking I would get to this faster. It's actually my first color Kurosawa! I’ve sort of resigned myself to the fact that I’ll never be able to watch Ran on a large enough screen. it’s easily one of the grandest and most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. The battles are fantastic and It’s hard to believe that Korusawa accomplished all of this with about 1400 extras. Despite its scale, I think that where Ran really works well is on the personal level. Lord Hidetora is destroyed as a person because his sons’ betrayal makes him realize all of the evil things he himself has done. Lady Kaede’s quest for revenge and Tango’s loyalty to Lord Hidetora are the primary drivers of the entire story. My favorite moment in the entire movie is the look on Jiro’s face the moment he realizes how much trouble he’s actually in. My list of shame: 1. The Searchers (1956) I will either love this or hate this but I have been assured it is a very important Western. 03-30-2021 2. Minari (2020) One of the Oscar nominees I didn’t get to see and really wanted to. 05-28-2021 3. Metropolis (1927) This is another great one I've only seen bits and pieces of. 04-01-2021 4. The Human Condition (1959) I suppose I like Japanese films that break my heart. 04-26-2021 5. The Deer Hunter (1978) A 70s classic I should have seen by now, but never have. 04-20-2021 6. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) The saddest anime. 03-29-2021 7. Reality Bites (1984) The most Gen-X of all movies. 06-09-2021 8. Barry Lyndon (1975) This is probably the best Kubrick movie that I haven't seen. 03-30-2021 9. The Innocents (1961) The highest movie on the TSZDT list that I haven’t seen. 05-28-2021 10. Twenty Years Later (1984) If I can track this down I would really like to see it. 04-30-2021 Watched: The Godfather 5, The Godfather: Part II 4.5, Alien 4.5, The Hills Have Eyes 3, The Rules of the Game 4, Battleship Potemkin 4, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4.5, Schindler’s List 5, Halloween 4, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, A Woman Under the Influence 4.5, Harakiri 4.5, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 4.5, 8 1/2 4.5, Get Out 4.5, M 4.5, The Evil Dead 3.5, Safety Last! 4, City of God 5, Portrait of a Lady on Fire 4.5, Wild Strawberries 4, Some Like It Hot 4.5, Amadeus 5, Tokyo Story 5, Platoon 4, Friday the 13th 3.5, The Passion of Joan of Arc 5, Stop Making Sense 4.5, The Bride of Frankenstein 4, A Fistful of Dollars 4, Ran 5 twernt fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jun 9, 2021 |
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Jun 9, 2021 23:36
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twernt posted:1. The Searchers (1956) I will either love this or hate this but I have been assured it is a very important Western. 03-30-2021 I feel like some of the "importance" of The Searchers has been somewhat overrated over time, at least the way most people judge these things. But it's undeniably one of the most visually stunning and epic Westerns ever made so for me it's important just on that basis, and it's one of my favorite movies of all time.  The Omega Man This was actually a lot more thoughtful and introspective than I expected it to be. It's been a long time since I saw I Am Legend, but I feel like that film really did the story a disservice by reducing the mutants to almost mindless zombies. The Omega Man really digs into the conflict between Neville and The Family, and shows you the perspective of each side and the decisions they make. I've never been a huge Charlton Heston fan, but this is probably my favorite performance of his that I've seen, and I actually think he's a better fit for this role than even Vincent Price was. Heston does a great job of portraying a guy who his in the midst of losing his grip on reality, but he's still trying his best to maintain it. He has a manic energy about him that is a joy to watch, and it's needed in a film like this where the first half is mostly carried on his shoulders. Thematically there's more to chew on that any of the other adaptations. The idea that the mutants are actually a community that is trying to survive is not really treated as a twist, but more of the core of the film and the entire second half is dedicated to exploring the idea. Very early on you start to think about whether or not Neville has become too crazed, too bloodthirsty. And at some point the worm turns almost completely and he's become the bad guy, or at least damaged beyond repair to the point that he is only making the situation worse. That element of the story is the most effective in this version in my opinion, and it's almost non-existent in the Will Smith version. Aside from all that it's also just a lot of fun to watch. Plenty of action, cool shots of the deserted city, and Heston/Zerbe chewing scenery make it a really nice combination of B-movie and more thoughtful drama. 1. Bicycle Thieves: This is a pretty big one. It often ranks very high on Greatest of All-Time lists and lots of great directors mention it as one of their influences. 2. Bonnie and Clyde: One of those movies where I've seen the iconic ending but never actually sat down to watch the whole thing. It won a bunch of awards though so I guess I should. 3. 4. A Christmas Story: I grew up in a Jewish household and it's not like I wasn't allowed to watch Christmas movies but I guess I just never had the desire to. 5. F for Fake: I've heard people praising this and I really just don't even know what it is exactly. Is it a documentary? The answer is never quite clear to me so I should just watch it myself and find out. 6. Labyrinth: Not sure why I never saw this but I definitely want to, it seems like something I'd like. 7. Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance: I'm just going to put the first film in this series on the list and then if I like it I'll continue on. But I've heard great things about it. 8. Missing in Action: This may seem like an odd choice but it's actually a pretty important film in the pantheon of schlocky Cannon action flicks, and it's one of Chuck Norris biggest hits. And I'm an action fan so I definitely need to see it. 9. 10. Princess Mononoke: I've been wanting to delve into Miyazaki a little bit more and I've heard this is a good one.
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Jun 14, 2021 15:55
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It genuinely warms my heart to see this thread still going. It was my introduction to a film history outside of Hollywood classics, and it's done a lot to enhance my understanding of the medium. Now that I have more free time again, I'll definitely try to get back into it.Basebf555 posted:5. F for Fake: I've heard people praising this and I really just don't even know what it is exactly. Is it a documentary? The answer is never quite clear to me so I should just watch it myself and find out. I can't promise that things will be clearer once you've finished, but I hope you'll enjoy the ride all the same. --- 1. Arsenal (1929): Might as well try to order this list chronologically. I've caught up with most of the big names in silent film, but Dovzhenko is still something of a blindspot for me despite loving Earth. 2. Kuhle Wampe (1932): Brecht worked on the script, and I do love me some Brecht. 2. The Naked Spur (1953): More than anything, the Shameful thread got me to watch a lot of great westerns. I hope the trend continues. 3. The Wrong Man (1956): What would a shameful list be without Hitchcock? 5. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960): I literally know nothing about this film other than it being directed by Naruse, but I can't pass up a title this great. 6. The Earth (1968): I was a bit lukewarm on Chahine's supposed magnum opus Cairo Station, but his style's definitely interesting enough to warrant a second look. 7. Caddyshack (1980): It's always fun to see how well (or badly) comedies from the 80s hold up. 8. Paris is Burning (1990): Supposedly not about Paris? 9. Laagan (2001): Bollywood is a huge blindspot for me. All I know about this one is that a former school friend loved it. But he also played cricket, so there may have been a slight bias.  10. Burning (2018): Trying to catch up with some of the big releases from the past few years.
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Jun 14, 2021 17:50
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Samuel Clemens, Only one on your list that I saw was Caddyshack. So, that's my pick for you. I saw both parts of Die Nibelungen and I must say I was pretty impressed. It seemed to be very epic in it's scope. In fact, I see a lot of similarities between this and the LOTR movies. It's not quite as immense as LOTR, but still pretty ambitious. Fritz Lang hasn't let me down yet. My List: Fort Apache - This will be my John Wayne spot for now. The Departed - Don't know much about this movie. Jabberwocky - Following up one Terry Gilliam movie with another. The Cocoanuts - Working my way through the Marx Brothers movies. This is their first movie.OLDEST Sunrise - A friend of mine who likes silent movies recommended this one. Looking forward to seeing it. Pelle the Conquerer - Big fan of Max Von Sydow. Need to see more of his work. Transformers: The Movie - Taking a break from Studio Ghibli. Not the Michael Bay movies. The animated movie from the 80's. Holiday Inn - Star Trek: Nemesis - This is the only Star Trek movie I haven't seen. I haven't heard good things about it, but I'll give it a shot. NEWEST Mulholland Drive - Just recently saw Twin Peaks: The Return and that got me in the mood for more David Lynch. Ocean's 11 - A slot here for Elvis, Sinatra, Beatles movies. This is the original with Frank Sinatra.
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Jun 16, 2021 21:51
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Dmitri Russkie posted:The Departed - Don't know much about this movie. If you like this, you should follow it up with Infernal Affairs, which the Departed is based on. The Searchers (1956) Directed by John Ford  The Searchers is widely considered to be the best western of all time. It’s definitely a beautifully shot and technically excellent movie. From the opening scene, you know you’re in for a visual feast. The vistas of Monument Valley, where The Searchers was shot, are just spectacular. I think it’s interesting to have Ethan be such an explicitly racist character. He’s not sympathetic in the least, but his obsessive quest for revenge is what drives the entire story. He’s there to do violence to protect his family from violence. Martin is supposed to be the voice of reason, but he’s more of a living obstacle, barely keeping Ethan from veering too far from society’s norms. The more I think about it, the more layers there are. That said, I enjoyed Stagecoach and Red River much more. My list of shame: 1. Hoop Dreams (1994) A great documentary that I could have seen in theaters, but missed my chance. 06-17-2021 2. Minari (2020) One of the Oscar nominees I didn’t get to see and really wanted to. 05-28-2021 3. Metropolis (1927) This is another great one I've only seen bits and pieces of. 04-01-2021 4. The Human Condition (1959) I suppose I like Japanese films that break my heart. 04-26-2021 5. The Deer Hunter (1978) A 70s classic I should have seen by now, but never have. 04-20-2021 6. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) The saddest anime. 03-29-2021 7. Reality Bites (1984) The most Gen-X of all movies. 06-09-2021 8. Barry Lyndon (1975) This is probably the best Kubrick movie that I haven't seen. 03-30-2021 9. The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) I've wanted to get into this series for a long time. 06-17-2021 10. Twenty Years Later (1984) If I can track this down I would really like to see it. 04-30-2021 Watched: The Godfather 5, The Godfather: Part II 4.5, Alien 4.5, The Hills Have Eyes 3, The Rules of the Game 4, Battleship Potemkin 4, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4.5, Schindler’s List 5, Halloween 4, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, A Woman Under the Influence 4.5, Harakiri 4.5, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 4.5, 8 1/2 4.5, Get Out 4.5, M 4.5, The Evil Dead 3.5, Safety Last! 4, City of God 5, Portrait of a Lady on Fire 4.5, Wild Strawberries 4, Some Like It Hot 4.5, Amadeus 5, Tokyo Story 5, Platoon 4, Friday the 13th 3.5, The Passion of Joan of Arc 5, Stop Making Sense 4.5, The Bride of Frankenstein 4, A Fistful of Dollars 4, Ran 5, The Innocents 4.5, The Searchers 4 twernt fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Jun 21, 2021 |
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Jun 17, 2021 20:43
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twernt posted:7. Reality Bites (1984) The most Gen-X of all movies. 06-09-2021 "Hello, you've reached the winter of our discontent." 2010: The Year We Make Contact - This sequel clears up some of the ambiguity from the first film but new questions are brought about. It turns out that it's not a great idea for politicians to lie to AI. HAL 9000 goes from villain to hero in a sense. The mysterious 1x4x9 monoliths loom large so more astronauts and cosmonauts are sent up to investigate. When some of the mysteries are revealed it brings to mind things found in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). And the ship interiors look similar to the stuff found in Alien (1979) and Outland (1981). When Dave Bowman reappeared I thought of Solaris (1972), Starman (1984) and K-PAX (2001). It even borders on Mormon cosmology. In 2021 eyes it's somewhat anachronistic at times what with US and USSR cold war tensions as fresh as ever. Also watched: Spring in a Small Town - WWII refugees are stuck in a desolate town of rubble. A sickly husband with heart troubles is living with his wife and sister. It captures some of the malaise of small-town life. It's quotable and full of descriptive narration. Anyway, an old friend returns and it's the catalyst for an inadvertent love quadrangle. This unleashes an agonizing love story that reminded me of a restrained In the Mood for Love (2000). The level of pent-up sexual energy is on par with what's found in Splendor in the Grass (1961). And there are only five actors so it's a remarkably small and economical cast. Free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYOmvNg2IUk Nomadland - The economic crisis has hit and whole towns are closing down while the homeless population is burgeoning. People turn to Amazon as a savior but it's drudgery of course. Nomads traveling from junky job to junkier job. Some seek solace with this guy named Bob Wells who initially comes across like a quasi-cult leader. He compares the US to the RMS Titanic. It brings to mind American Winter (2013). Most of the cast are earthy extroverts full of life regrets, family troubles, health issues, attachment issues et al. It's well-acted but I found this to be a somewhat disjointed downer. There are so many scenes that end abruptly with a non sequitur. In the end vibes from Monster's Ball (2001) come through. It's a different story but it's about others who've been screwed in the US and how they react. Characters more apt to move on rather than exhibit the rage. James Bond versus Godzilla (42/64 completed): new Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II - Mechagodzilla lives. This should actually be part III. 6/20/21 Hesitation (61 completed): #54 I Confess - This is a Hitchcock film with critical praise but I never hear it mentioned much these days. 3/9/21 #57 Millennium Mambo - Sounds enticing. 3/21/21 #60 Autumn Sonata - Two Bergman's for the price of one. 4/6/21 #65 Sunshine - I've heard this one was good. 4/30/21 #66 Easy Money - A Rodney Dangerfield comedy I meant to watch at one point. 5/3/21 #67 Secrets & Lies - Recently released by Criterion. 5/8/21 new #68 The Beast Within - One of those overlooked horror films from the 1980s. 6/20/21 BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (98/100 completed): #95 Floating Clouds - Not to be confused with Floating Weeds. 3/21/21 Richard Roeper's Top Films 2000-2020 (17/21 completed): new 2013 American Hustle - This was a really popular one that I missed. 6/20/21 Zogo fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Jun 21, 2021 |
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Jun 20, 2021 23:19
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Zogo posted:#57 Millennium Mambo - Sounds enticing. 3/21/21 I've yet to catch up with it myself, but Hou Hsiao-Hsien can do no wrong in my eyes. --- Caddyshack  I'm not immune to the simple pleasures in life, so seeing Bill Murray getting outwitted by a goofy-looking gopher animatronic puts a smile on my face. The rest of Caddyshack is pretty hit-or-miss unfortunately. I feel like there's a lot of satiric potential inherent in observing a bunch of rich white men who take their sport way too seriously that the film barely touches on. Most of it's too silly to be biting, jumping from gag to gag so haphazardly that each scene constitutes its own disjointed setpiece. That the character who flaunts his wealth most openly is also meant to be one of the most likeable ones just further adds to the confused agenda, but I suppose we can chalk that up to the mammon worship of the Reagan era. It is kind of impressive how much talent is assembled in front of the camera though, and that skilled ensemble cast is probably the main reason the film remains so beloved. Impeccable comedic timing can do a lot to save otherwise mediocre jokes. 1. Arsenal (1929): Might as well try to order this list chronologically. I've caught up with most of the big names in silent film, but Dovzhenko is still something of a blindspot for me despite loving Earth. 2. Kuhle Wampe (1932): Brecht worked on the script, and I do love me some Brecht. 2. The Naked Spur (1953): More than anything, the Shameful thread got me to watch a lot of great westerns. I hope the trend continues. 3. The Wrong Man (1956): What would a shameful list be without Hitchcock? 5. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960): I literally know nothing about this film other than it being directed by Naruse, but I can't pass up a title this great. 6. The Earth (1968): I was a bit lukewarm on Chahine's supposed magnum opus Cairo Station, but his style's definitely interesting enough to warrant a second look. 7. (new) Divorce Italian Style: Having a dedicated comedy slot probably isn't a bad idea. 8. Paris is Burning (1990): Supposedly not about Paris? 9. Laagan (2001): Bollywood is a huge blindspot for me. All I know about this one is that a former school friend loved it. But he also played cricket, so there may have been a slight bias. 10. Burning (2018): Trying to catch up with some of the big releases from the past few years.
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Jun 21, 2021 09:55
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Samuel Clemens posted:3. The Wrong Man (1956): What would a shameful list be without Hitchcock? Funny that I can assign this to you because it's a film where an iconic director appears to assure the audience that everything you are about to see is absolutely true. And I happen to have just watched... F For Fake  This is probably one of the most confounding movies I've ever seen just because of how difficult it is to categorize or describe. It's bizarre that it even exists, to be honest. The mind of Orson Welles really was an alien thing, just a totally different wavelength than anyone else. Some of it was a bit of a whirlwind as he's jumping from topic to topic and leaving threads hanging for later, but pretty much everyone you encounter is a compelling character and the middle-ground Welles struck between fantasy and reality is pretty unique. Doing some reading after I watched it, there's actually a lot more reality to the movie than I thought(or is there?) So it was consistently entertaining, definitely never boring, and there's nothing else like it that I can think of to compare it to. It's just one of those movies you have to watch to see for yourself, which I suppose fits with what I've always been told about it. Nobody ever seems to want to sell it or give you the elevator pitch, it's a "just watch it" movie and those are always gems, which is a big part of why it's in the Criterion collection. I suppose after another selection or two I'll add some new stuff to the list but for now I'll stick with what I have: 1. Bicycle Thieves: This is a pretty big one. It often ranks very high on Greatest of All-Time lists and lots of great directors mention it as one of their influences. 2. Bonnie and Clyde: One of those movies where I've seen the iconic ending but never actually sat down to watch the whole thing. It won a bunch of awards though so I guess I should. 3. 4. A Christmas Story: I grew up in a Jewish household and it's not like I wasn't allowed to watch Christmas movies but I guess I just never had the desire to. 5. 6. Labyrinth: Not sure why I never saw this but I definitely want to, it seems like something I'd like. 7. Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance: I'm just going to put the first film in this series on the list and then if I like it I'll continue on. But I've heard great things about it. 8. Missing in Action: This may seem like an odd choice but it's actually a pretty important film in the pantheon of schlocky Cannon action flicks, and it's one of Chuck Norris biggest hits. And I'm an action fan so I definitely need to see it. 9. 10. Princess Mononoke: I've been wanting to delve into Miyazaki a little bit more and I've heard this is a good one.
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Jun 25, 2021 17:17
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I feel like F For Fake is the perfect movie version of just sitting around with Orson Welles listening to him tell you about random stuff, which he was apparently extremely good at and could do for hours.
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Jun 25, 2021 18:16
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Yeah, a large part of F for Fake's appeal lies in Orson Welles being an extremely talented storyteller. Though I think the fantastic editing, rivaling some of the best work by Eisenstein or Vertov, deserves a lot of praise as well. I'll also use this opportunity to champion Welles' Filming Othello, which is literally just him sitting in his living room and talking about, well, filming Othello. Much less adventurous than F for Fake, but surprisingly captivating nonetheless.
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Jun 26, 2021 13:29
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Basebf555 posted:10. Princess Mononoke: I've been wanting to delve into Miyazaki a little bit more and I've heard this is a good one. This is the film that got me into Ghibli/Miyazaki, so I gotta recommend it. Definitely one of his best. I have a bunch of movies lying around on disc or my USB stick I need to get to, so I decided to partake in this thread for the first time in a very long time. 01. As Tears Go By: Got the WKW Criterion boxset so wanna go through it in order (I’ve already seen Chungking/Happy Together/In the Mood) 02. Beau Travail: Only seen High Life by Denis, which was pretty good! Picked the Criterion up on release. 03. Being There: This is just the third Criterion I picked up as part of a sale once. I don’t know a whole lot about it other than people compare the Dougie sections of Twin Peaks season 3 to it, and I absolutely loved all that poo poo 04. Branded to Kill: Watched Tokyo Drifter in Jan and loved it and apparently this is even crazier???? 05. The Double Life of Veronique: I actually did watch this like a decade ago but remember almost nothing about it!!!! Irene Jacobs is cute though and I recently did a Three Colours rewatch. Oh my god I just realised I’m gonna have to put Dekalog on here eventually 06. F For Fake: This sounds great and I don’t know why I haven’t seen it but I just haven’t!!!! Owned on Criterion. 07. A Face in the Crowd: A few friends watched this at around the same time and all loved it so I picked the Criterion up. Seems like something I’d enjoy quite a bit. 08. Memories of Murder: Not seen any of Bong’s Korean films aside from Parasite and this seems like the best one to start with. I never heard anything about it until last year compared to The Host and Mother, but now it seems to be his most acclaimed 00s film? 09. Songs from the Second Floor: Picked up Artificial Eye’s Roy Andersson boxset recently. I remember adoring You, the Living when I saw it in 2008-9, but that’s my only experience with his work so far. 10. Ugetsu: Got really into watching the highest-ranked movies on the TSPDT 1000 list that I’d never seen at the start of the pandemic and burned out just before this, the last movie in the top 50 I still haven’t seen!!!! oops!!!!!
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Jun 28, 2021 08:34
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Escobarbarian posted:02. Beau Travail: Only seen High Life by Denis, which was pretty good! Picked the Criterion up on release. Would be a shame to let that Criterion blu-ray go to waste. --- The Wrong Man  What do you know? A Hitchcock cameo I've actually managed to catch. Based on a true story, the man himself proudly proclaims in the opening scene, and reading up on the case, he appears to have stuck remarkably close to the facts (the euphemistic ending text crawl notwithstanding). This dedication to truth probably accounts for many of the stylistic divergences from Hitchcock's other works of that era, notably the relative lack of suspense. (As well as the fact that Henry Fonda is one of the few male protagonists in Hitchcock's post-war canon who isn't at least a bit of a creep.) The slow, procedural style that seems to have alienated critics and audiences alike upon release now strikes me as the film's strongest selling point. It's a harrowing depiction of an innocent person being caught in the supposed wheels of justice. (Few phrases are as terrifying as "an innocent man has nothing to fear".) Due respect to Henry Fonda of course, who embodies the all-American decent guy with the gusto I've come to expect of him, but the real standout for me was Vera Miles as his wife slowly losing her grip on sanity. A real shame this ended up being her only collaboration with Hitchcock. One scene I would like to point out because it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the dry proceedings that dominate the rest of the film and because I'm still not sure whether I like it or not, is what I can only call a straight-up miracle. Manny's prayer leading directly to the arrest of the actual robber. As an individual moment it works exceptionally well, but it seems like a needlessly extravagant flourish within the context of the whole story. Then again, perhaps the rules of dramaturgy condition us to accept a literal deus ex machina over random happenstance. Either way, it encourages me to go back through the Hitchcock films I've already watched and see how much religious symbolism I may have overlooked. 1. Arsenal (1929): Might as well try to order this list chronologically. I've caught up with most of the big names in silent film, but Dovzhenko is still something of a blindspot for me despite loving Earth. 2. Kuhle Wampe (1932): Brecht worked on the script, and I do love me some Brecht. 2. The Naked Spur (1953): More than anything, the Shameful thread got me to watch a lot of great westerns. I hope the trend continues. 3. (new) Suspicion (1941): More Hitchcock. 5. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960): I literally know nothing about this film other than it being directed by Naruse, but I can't pass up a title this great. 6. The Earth (1968): I was a bit lukewarm on Chahine's supposed magnum opus Cairo Station, but his style's definitely interesting enough to warrant a second look. 7. Divorce Italian Style (1961): Having a dedicated comedy slot probably isn't a bad idea. 8. Paris is Burning (1990): Supposedly not about Paris? 9. Laagan (2001): Bollywood is a huge blindspot for me. All I know about this one is that a former school friend loved it. But he also played cricket, so there may have been a slight bias. 10. Burning (2018): Trying to catch up with some of the big releases from the past few years.
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Jun 28, 2021 12:09
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Samuel Clemens posted:7. Divorce Italian Style (1961): Having a dedicated comedy slot probably isn't a bad idea. This is on one of my challenge lists so I'd really like to hear what you say about it. Reality Bites (1984) Directed by Ben Stiller  Reality Bites is pretty decent. It starts out as a relatively conventional ensemble comedy, then switches gears to become a relatively conventional love triangle drama. I don’t think either half could have stood on its own, but they sort of work together. Aside from the soundtrack, there isn’t anything extraordinary going on here. I think if I had seen this closer to its release date I would have appreciated it more, but there it is. My list of shame: 1. Hoop Dreams (1994) A great documentary that I could have seen in theaters, but missed my chance. 06-17-2021 2. Minari (2020) One of the Oscar nominees I didn’t get to see and really wanted to. 05-28-2021 3. Metropolis (1927) This is another great one I've only seen bits and pieces of. 04-01-2021 4. The Human Condition (1959) I suppose I like Japanese films that break my heart. 04-26-2021 5. The Deer Hunter (1978) A 70s classic I should have seen by now, but never have. 04-20-2021 6. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) The saddest anime. 03-29-2021 7. Ivan the Terrible, Part II (1944) I need to get off my butt and watch this sequel. 06-28-2021 8. Barry Lyndon (1975) This is probably the best Kubrick movie that I haven't seen. 03-30-2021 9. The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) I've wanted to get into this series for a long time. 06-17-2021 10. Twenty Years Later (1984) If I can track this down I would really like to see it. 04-30-2021 Watched: The Godfather 5, The Godfather: Part II 4.5, Alien 4.5, The Hills Have Eyes 3, The Rules of the Game 4, Battleship Potemkin 4, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4.5, Schindler’s List 5, Halloween 4, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, A Woman Under the Influence 4.5, Harakiri 4.5, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 4.5, 8 1/2 4.5, Get Out 4.5, M 4.5, The Evil Dead 3.5, Safety Last! 4, City of God 5, Portrait of a Lady on Fire 4.5, Wild Strawberries 4, Some Like It Hot 4.5, Amadeus 5, Tokyo Story 5, Platoon 4, Friday the 13th 3.5, The Passion of Joan of Arc 5, Stop Making Sense 4.5, The Bride of Frankenstein 4, A Fistful of Dollars 4, Ran 5, The Innocents 4.5, The Searchers 4, Reality Bites 3
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Jun 28, 2021 18:52
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twernt posted:8. Barry Lyndon (1975) This is probably the best Kubrick movie that I haven't seen. 03-30-2021 This was tough, but Lyndon's been on your list for long enough now I think, and god drat is it a beautiful movie. Beau Travail  A really excellent example of the 'tone poem' style of filmmaking. The focus on bodies in motion was so gorgeous, with these militaristic training exercises and movements looking strangely beautiful. Obviously the central theme is repression and jealousy, and this is presented wonderfully - helped by the fact that Denis Lavant has one of the all-time best faces - but I also enjoyed how much the movie stressed that it's so bizarre that the Legion are even there in the first place. I found every shot involving the locals to be completely fascinating, especially when they're just watching the soldiers dick around. Gorgeous photography and use of the opera's score, striking editing, and one of the single greatest endings I've ever seen in a movie. My one issue is that I do think it became repetitive by the end, showing you the same variations on the central themes too often. I would have liked some more character development, particularly for Sentain, but then you run the risk of taking away from the centrality of Galoup's POV, I suppose. Didn't know about the Le Petit Soldat connection until afterwards but I found it incredibly funny that Denis just kind of added her own headcanon for a 40 year old movie by another director into the mix. God that ending was SO loving good though. Really powerful and sad (at least the way I interpreted it). Shame List: 01. As Tears Go By: Got the WKW Criterion boxset so wanna go through it in order (I’ve already seen Chungking/Happy Together/In the Mood) 03. Being There: This is just the third Criterion I picked up as part of a sale once. I don’t know a whole lot about it other than people compare the Dougie sections of Twin Peaks season 3 to it, and I absolutely loved all that poo poo 04. Branded to Kill: Watched Tokyo Drifter in Jan and loved it and apparently this is even crazier???? 05. The Double Life of Veronique: I actually did watch this like a decade ago but remember almost nothing about it!!!! Irene Jacobs is cute though and I recently did a Three Colours rewatch. Oh my god I just realised I’m gonna have to put Dekalog on here eventually 06. F For Fake: This sounds great and I don’t know why I haven’t seen it but I just haven’t!!!! Owned on Criterion. 07. A Face in the Crowd: A few friends watched this at around the same time and all loved it so I picked the Criterion up. Seems like something I’d enjoy quite a bit. 08. Memories of Murder: Not seen any of Bong’s Korean films aside from Parasite and this seems like the best one to start with. I never heard anything about it until last year compared to The Host and Mother, but now it seems to be his most acclaimed 00s film? 09. Songs from the Second Floor: Picked up Artificial Eye’s Roy Andersson boxset recently. I remember adoring You, the Living when I saw it in 2008-9, but that’s my only experience with his work so far. 10. Ugetsu: Got really into watching the highest-ranked movies on the TSPDT 1000 list that I’d never seen at the start of the pandemic and burned out just before this, the last movie in the top 50 I still haven’t seen!!!! oops!!!!! 11. Harakiri: Insanely highly-rated basically everywhere, but I know almost nothing about it! I think it's a samurai film but I'm genuinely unsure! Watched: Beau Travail
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Jun 28, 2021 22:14
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Escobarbarian posted:11. Harakiri: Insanely highly-rated basically everywhere, but I know almost nothing about it! I think it's a samurai film but I'm genuinely unsure! I watched this earlier this year and it was so good. Tatsuya Nakadai is fantastic as the lead. The summary on Letterboxd gives away a key plot point so don't read that unless you already have. Barry Lyndon (1975) Directed by Stanley Kubrick  Barry Lyndon is the kind of period costume drama I could get into. The main characters actually have depth. The scenery is beautiful and shot amazingly well. Overall, this may be even prettier than Ran. I didn't realize that it was three hours when I put it on my list. Paradoxically, it's slow, but it doesn't feel slow. I didn't spend much time looking at my phone or wondering how much longer a particular scene was going to drag on. It doesn’t bother me that Redmond Barry is a somewhat forgettable doofus who is swept along through history, usually by by circumstances beyond his control. He’s an 18th century Forrest Gump who never manages to be in the right place at the right time to actually do anything important. My list of shame: 1. Hoop Dreams (1994) A great documentary that I could have seen in theaters, but missed my chance. 06-17-2021 2. Minari (2020) One of the Oscar nominees I didn’t get to see and really wanted to. 05-28-2021 3. Metropolis (1927) This is another great one I've only seen bits and pieces of. 04-01-2021 4. The Human Condition (1959) I suppose I like Japanese films that break my heart. 04-26-2021 5. The Deer Hunter (1978) A 70s classic I should have seen by now, but never have. 04-20-2021 6. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) The saddest anime. 03-29-2021 7. Ivan the Terrible, Part II (1944) I need to get off my butt and watch this sequel. 06-28-2021 8. Us (2019) I sort of missed the boat on this one and definitely want to see it before Candyman comes out. 07-01-2021 9. The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) I've wanted to get into this series for a long time. 06-17-2021 10. Twenty Years Later (1984) If I can track this down I would really like to see it. 04-30-2021 Watched: The Godfather 5, The Godfather: Part II 4.5, Alien 4.5, The Hills Have Eyes 3, The Rules of the Game 4, Battleship Potemkin 4, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4.5, Schindler’s List 5, Halloween 4, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, A Woman Under the Influence 4.5, Harakiri 4.5, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 4.5, 8 1/2 4.5, Get Out 4.5, M 4.5, The Evil Dead 3.5, Safety Last! 4, City of God 5, Portrait of a Lady on Fire 4.5, Wild Strawberries 4, Some Like It Hot 4.5, Amadeus 5, Tokyo Story 5, Platoon 4, Friday the 13th 3.5, The Passion of Joan of Arc 5, Stop Making Sense 4.5, The Bride of Frankenstein 4, A Fistful of Dollars 4, Ran 5, The Innocents 4.5, The Searchers 4, Reality Bites 3, Barry Lyndon 4.5
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Jul 1, 2021 18:22
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twernt posted:I didn't spend much time looking at my phone 
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Jul 1, 2021 19:09
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Barry Lyndon is basically Failson: The Movie, and if they weren't both so goddamn long I'd say it would make a great double feature with Eyes Wide Shut.
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Jul 1, 2021 19:14
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I know I know 
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Jul 1, 2021 20:12
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Barry London is a masterpiece. The picturesque cinematography and the natural lightning from a shitload of candles is a sight to behold.
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Jul 1, 2021 21:19
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Don't Look Now isn't on the Criterion Channel anymore so I watched: Salesman "Money is being made in the bible business. It's a fabulous business, it's a good business. All I can say to people who aren't making the money, it's their fault." These frightening words are spoken towards the start of the film at a convention for bible-sellers by a kind of nightmarish, soft-faced bully manager. He has the perfect temperament and style for the role - friendly, joking, kidding enough to make you feel like he's your well-meaning older brother, but under this are rings and rings of sharp, gnashing teeth, each one stamped with a dollar sign. He travels with the four salesmen featured in the film, coralling them from place to place and cajoling them to action with just world platitudes like the one above. Like a lot of great documentaries, Salesman acts as a pocket-sized mirror to a vast system of problems. The bully manager, for example, is a perfect summation of not just the toxicities of capitalism (if you can't produce, it's your fault, and when capitalism tosses you aside to die, it's your fault) but of the dismal lie of postwar America. The idea that anyone could be self-made, that all you had to do was take advantage of everything America provided, and you would doubtlessly be flung upwards into comfort and happiness, and that if you couldn't...it's your fault. And because it's your fault, it's not the responsibility of the system to take care of you once you've failed. Another reflection: on the ever-present fiery collision of capitalism and theology, of religion being all stick and no carrot, wielded with the purpose of sapping funds from suckers. Buy, and be blessed. Sell, and be saved. Four salesmen, four pathetic losers, struggling to scrape chump change out of suburban pocketbooks, lingering in living rooms and endlessly needling housewives with chintzy picture plates of Jesus. You can't hate them, just pity them, because the Maysles do such a good job of illuminating them as people, suffering and hoping like anyone else. It's also a fantastic snapshot of the era, from the hairstyles to the houses, the sturdy, snowed-in homes in Boston and the brand-new Florida bungalows, the unrestrained accents in the children and the parents, the loping speech rhythms. One salesman is sent to pursue leads in a Florida town that's bizarrely themed, like a section of Disneyland, to random Arabian Nights imagery. The camera whizzes past intersection signs - Alibaba St and Sesame Rd - and the salesman circles back, lost, to the fake Middle-Eastern arches of the city hall. Elsewhere are couches populated by wives and their husbands, TVs playing sappy Christmas programs. This was really an era in which everything was figured out, everything was coming to you at the push of a button, everything was informed, cultured, and ready-to-eat. Viewing it after so many years of decay, those same brand-new Florida bungalows now rotting and going underwater, those ludicrous picture-plate bibles long ago tossed (heirloom my rear end), those ways of speaking and ways of knowing people phased out, is surreal and discomforting. On the surface are many indicators of a passed society, but below that are all the same worms. 10/10 shamezone 1) Beyond the Valley of the Dolls - doll movie 2) The Blue Angel - Dietrich movie 3) Daughters of the Dust - movie i want to see movie 4) The Deer Hunter - wedding movie 5) The Tree of Wooden Clogs - mike leigh's favorite movie 6) The Times of Harvey Milk - milk movie 7) The Long Good Friday - hoskins movie 8) Nomadland - recent movie 9) Alexander Nevsky - ice movie 10) A League Of Their Own - baseball movie [sub][full list] Floating Weeds 9/10, Daisies 8/10, Stray Dog 8/10, Victim 6/10, Man Bites Dog 9/10, Night and Fog 10/10, Weekend 8/10, Jubilee 10/10, Sans Soleil 10/10, Candidate 8/10, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 10/10, The Freshman 5/10, Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers 10/10, Branded to Kill 8/10, In Heaven There Is No Beer? 10/10, Blood Simple 10/10, The Marriage of Maria Braun 7/10, A Day In The Country 7/10, A Brief History of Time 10/10, Gates of Heaven 10/10, The Thin Blue Line 10/10, The Fog of War 10/10, My Beautiful Laundrette 10/10, Blind Chance 8/10, My Winnipeg 10/10, The River 7/10, Odd Man Out 8/10, The Passion of Anna 9/10, Brute Force 10/10, The Rite 5/10, The Piano Teacher 10/10, Ashes and Diamonds 7/10, Meantime 9/10, Carnival of Souls 8/10, La Notte 10/10, Frances Ha 10/10, L'avventura, Again 10/10, A Room With a View 9/10, Laura 8/10, Marjorie Prime 10/10, Ex Machina 8/10, Tampopo 10/10, Pickpocket 4/10, Harlan County USA 10/10, The Spirit of the Beehive 10/10, Heaven's Gate 4/10, A Short Film About Killing 9/10, The Pillow Book 6/10, Desert Hearts 9/10, Alice in the Cities 10/10, Yi Yi 10/10, Rififi 9/10, Children of Paradise 10/10, A Poem is a Naked Person 8/10, Late Autumn 8/10, Chimes at Midnight 10/10 Watership Down 9/10, Ugetsu 9/10, Veronika Voss 9/10, The Hidden Fortress 7/10, Close-Up 10/10, Journey to Italy 10/10, L'Eclisse 7/10, Andrei Rublev 11/10, Vagabond 9/10, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari 9/10, Shoplifters 10/10, Escape From New York 10/10, Die Hard 10/10, The Last Picture Show 9/10, Mr Smith Goes To Washington 8/10, Saturday Night Fever 9/10, First Blood 7/10, Mad Max 7/10, Come and See 10/10, Friday the 13th 7/10, Predator 5/10, Sicario 10/10, Grizzly Man 9/10, Cache 10/10, The Evil Dead 9/10, Tetsuo: The Iron Man 10/10, One Sings, The Other Doesn't 8/10, The Last House on the Left 10/10, Cries and Whispers 10/10, Salesman 10/10 (total: 186) Twernt gets Hoop Dreams Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Jul 2, 2021 |
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Jul 1, 2021 23:02
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That's a great write-up. I can't remember; do we ever see anyone successfully sell a Bible in Salesman?Magic Hate Ball posted:5) The Tree of Wooden Clogs - mike leigh's favorite movie Good on Mike Leigh. --- Divorce Italian Style  Coming on the heels of La Dolce Vita, which it directly references, and in some ways anticipating next year's Il Sorpasso, Divorce Italian Style represents something of a turning point; not just in Italian cinema but in Italian society as a whole. I'm neither Italian nor a historian, so I can't pinpoint the precise nature of the shift or its causes, but it seems to be linked to the declining influence of the Catholic Church and the rise of a new middle class no doubt spurred by the post-war economic boom. What emerges from these two developments is a hitherto unprecented degree of social and sexual freedom, and a corresponding willingness to criticise the hypocrisy of the old world order. And hypocrisy's the name of the game in Divorce Italian Style. Marcello Mastroianni (with goofy mustache and enough grease in his hair to make John Travolta envious) plays Baron Cefalù, last in a line of broke aristocrats. Even more useless than the average nobleman, he spends his days fawning over his cousin and fantasizing about murdering his wife. When he learns of a woman who became a popular hero after killing her husband because she caught him cheating, the baron decides to set a convoluted scheme in motion. By encouraging his wife to commit adultery, he wants to create a situation in which it becomes socially acceptable for him to shoot her in cold blood. Most of the humour derives from the baron not only playing his wife, but the entire town, shamelessly exploiting the people's conservative values to literally get away with murder. It's not an explicitly anti-religious film, but it does display a keen understanding of how the Catholic teachings on sexual immorality intersecting with a patriarchal worldview fosters a warped sense of justice. A sentiment that must have ruffled quite a few feathers back upon release, when those traditional teachings were still very much reverberating throughout society. Formally, the film's nowhere near as radical as in its content, preferring a relatively traditional shooting approach. Not that this doesn't have its own charms. The way the voice-over wryly comments on and sometimes subverts the visuals reminds me of Sacha Guitry's Confessions of a Cheat, and the black-and-white photography occassionally veers close to the gothic. All in all, a strong recommendation if you like black comedies. 1. Arsenal (1929): I've caught up with most of the big names in silent film, but Dovzhenko is still something of a blindspot for me despite loving Earth. 2. Kuhle Wampe (1932): Brecht worked on the script, and I do love me some Brecht. 2. The Naked Spur (1953): More than anything, the Shameful thread got me to watch a lot of great westerns. I hope the trend continues. 3. Suspicion (1941): More Hitchcock. 5. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960): I literally know nothing about this film other than it being directed by Naruse, but I can't pass up a title this great. 6. The Earth (1968): I was a bit lukewarm on Chahine's supposed magnum opus Cairo Station, but his style's definitely interesting enough to warrant a second look. 7. (new) The Pearls of the Crown (1937): Speaking of Sacha Guitry, still have to see more of his work. 8. Paris is Burning (1990): Supposedly not about Paris? 9. Laagan (2001): Bollywood is a huge blindspot for me. All I know about this one is that a former school friend loved it. But he also played cricket, so there may have been a slight bias. 10. Burning (2018): Trying to catch up with some of the big releases from the past few years.
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Jul 2, 2021 16:00
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I don't think the de facto main character sells any, but the others do sell a few, or at least close a sale. Also, as someone who has done arts telefundraising/ticket selling, it's really funny how little the industry has changed. Not only were we told we were doing a good thing ("you're helping the arts!"), but the degree to which the job itself was essentially a big roulette wheel was constantly downplayed by daily meetings where we were told that following the script = success!
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Jul 2, 2021 16:25
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Samuel Clemens posted:9. Laagan (2001): Bollywood is a huge blindspot for me. All I know about this one is that a former school friend loved it. But he also played cricket, so there may have been a slight bias. "There is one thing you don't know. If they lose, which they will, they will have to pay the Queen three times the tax." Millennium Mambo - A woman (Shu Qi) recounts her oscillating love between two very different guys and the two worlds they resided in (Taiwan and Japan) circa 2001. With one she's trapped in the classic love-hate relationship. A bohemian lifestyle full of parties, video games, drugs and theft. I liked its style when it featured black lights, darkly lit club venues and pumping club music. Some films of Robert Altman came to mind. Particularly the atmosphere found in California Split (1974) where the vibes supersede the story and plot. James Bond versus Godzilla (42/64 completed): Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II - Mechagodzilla lives. This should actually be part III. 6/20/21 Hesitation (62 completed): #54 I Confess - This is a Hitchcock film with critical praise but I never hear it mentioned much these days. 3/9/21 #60 Autumn Sonata - Two Bergman's for the price of one. 4/6/21 #65 Sunshine - I've heard this one was good. 4/30/21 #66 Easy Money - A Rodney Dangerfield comedy I meant to watch at one point. 5/3/21 #67 Secrets & Lies - Recently released by Criterion. 5/8/21 #68 The Beast Within - One of those overlooked horror films from the 1980s. 6/20/21 BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (98/100 completed): #95 Floating Clouds - Not to be confused with Floating Weeds. 3/21/21 Richard Roeper's Top Films 2000-2020 (17/21 completed): 2013 American Hustle - This was a really popular one that I missed. 6/20/21 new 2007 Michael Clayton - Something about lawyers. 7/2/21
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Jul 3, 2021 05:45
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Zogo posted:#60 Autumn Sonata - Two Bergman's for the price of one. 4/6/21 Note to everyone that if you have a Bergman on your list I will almost definitely pick it every time. This is a really good one, too, and one of my favourite Ullmann performances. Fun tidbit: it's also the last Bergman made specifically for a theatrical release. Harakiri  A great deconstruction of the nonsense and hypocrisies in traditional honour codes. The story and structure were near-perfect, and it was gorgeously shot, with some striking visual symbols. While I wasn't totally sold on the pace being as slow as it was, each new story beat kept me enthralled, and the climax is truly fantastic. The way that Tsugumo and Kobayashi tear down the concept of ritual seppuku, and the clan's (apparent) rigid insistence on sticking to their code, is really satisfying. Definitely among the best Japanese films I've ever seen. It was funny to go on the Criterion site after and see an interview about the video game Ghost of Tsushima taking reference from Kobayashi's films, as I was thinking about it basically the entire time I was watching. Anyone who's played it and is aware of this film will note how it follows the same basic theme - although it's far more rote and predictable in the game, as could be expected - and the combat was very clearly influenced by the Hikokuro duel. Despite the story of the game being a bit predictable, they clearly did their homework as far as making it look and feel just like the classic films about that era. Shame List: 01. As Tears Go By: Got the WKW Criterion boxset so wanna go through it in order (I’ve already seen Chungking/Happy Together/In the Mood) 03. Being There: This is just the third Criterion I picked up as part of a sale once. I don’t know a whole lot about it other than people compare the Dougie sections of Twin Peaks season 3 to it, and I absolutely loved all that poo poo 04. Branded to Kill: Watched Tokyo Drifter in Jan and loved it and apparently this is even crazier???? 05. The Double Life of Veronique: I actually did watch this like a decade ago but remember almost nothing about it!!!! Irene Jacobs is cute though and I recently did a Three Colours rewatch. Oh my god I just realised I’m gonna have to put Dekalog on here eventually 06. F For Fake: This sounds great and I don’t know why I haven’t seen it but I just haven’t!!!! Owned on Criterion. 07. A Face in the Crowd: A few friends watched this at around the same time and all loved it so I picked the Criterion up. Seems like something I’d enjoy quite a bit. 08. Memories of Murder: Not seen any of Bong’s Korean films aside from Parasite and this seems like the best one to start with. I never heard anything about it until last year compared to The Host and Mother, but now it seems to be his most acclaimed 00s film? 09. Songs from the Second Floor: Picked up Artificial Eye’s Roy Andersson boxset recently. I remember adoring You, the Living when I saw it in 2008-9, but that’s my only experience with his work so far. 10. Ugetsu: Got really into watching the highest-ranked movies on the TSPDT 1000 list that I’d never seen at the start of the pandemic and burned out just before this, the last movie in the top 50 I still haven’t seen!!!! oops!!!!! 12. Mikey and Nicky: I'd never heard of this until last year when it started popping up all over the place. It sounds really interesting and I love me some Peter Falk. Watched: Beau Travail, Harakiri
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Jul 3, 2021 19:43
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Escobarbarian posted:08. Memories of Murder: Not seen any of Bong’s Korean films aside from Parasite and this seems like the best one to start with. I never heard anything about it until last year compared to The Host and Mother, but now it seems to be his most acclaimed 00s film? "Did you see his face?" Autumn Sonata - This is a film about fractured relationships wherein characters psychologically dissect themselves and each other. A mother and daughter dredge up darkness from the past and attempt to hash things out. The death of a child and the death of a spouse are just a couple of the inflection points in their ongoing interpersonal conflict. It has the moodiness of Melancholia (2011), drama bombs on par with Marriage Story (2019) and as a bonus the story unfolds like Manchester by the Sea (2016) with some surprises. In the end the fickleness of emotions really comes through. James Bond versus Godzilla (42/64 completed): Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II - Mechagodzilla lives. This should actually be part III. 6/20/21 Hesitation (63 completed): #54 I Confess - This is a Hitchcock film with critical praise but I never hear it mentioned much these days. 3/9/21 #65 Sunshine - I've heard this one was good. 4/30/21 #66 Easy Money - A Rodney Dangerfield comedy I meant to watch at one point. 5/3/21 #67 Secrets & Lies - Recently released by Criterion. 5/8/21 #68 The Beast Within - One of those overlooked horror films from the 1980s. 6/20/21 BBC Culture: The 100 Greatest Foreign Language Films (98/100 completed): #95 Floating Clouds - Not to be confused with Floating Weeds. 3/21/21 Richard Roeper's Top Films 2000-2020 (17/21 completed): 2013 American Hustle - This was a really popular one that I missed. 6/20/21 2007 Michael Clayton - Something about lawyers. 7/2/21 new 2005 Syriana - IIRC George Clooney injured himself during the shooting of this one. 7/5/21
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Jul 6, 2021 05:41
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Zogo posted:#65 Sunshine - I've heard this one was good. 4/30/21 Assuming it's the one I'm thinking of, this is a really cool sci-fi film with a surprisingly strong cast. Or it could be a Ralph Fiennes movie. Either way, enjoy.  Princess Mononoke I didn't know this going in but apparently this is sort of a departure for Miyazaki? It's very adult compared to my uneducated perception of what I thought Miyazaki was, I do wonder if that was properly communicated when it was released or if there were kids in the theater freaking out about the decapitations and other graphic violence. The story is a pretty epic adventure, which for me is a perfect fit for this style of animation. Every new creature and fantastical happening is exciting because they all have so much craft and imagination radiating from them. I found myself less concerned with the twists and turns of the plot and more interested in what new crazy thing I'd get to see next. Aside from just the visuals, the movie is also packed with great characters. The wolf pack vs. Lady Eboshi conflict was really really cool and Lady Eboshi is an excellent "villain", if that word even really applies. She actually has her own understandable motivations and you can kinda see from the perspective of both sides so she's a lot more than like a one-dimensional Disney-esque villain. All in all I had a lot of fun with it and I'll definitely be watching more Miyazaki but with the awareness that most of his stuff probably won't be like this. List with new additions: 1. Bicycle Thieves: This is a pretty big one. It often ranks very high on Greatest of All-Time lists and lots of great directors mention it as one of their influences. 2. Bonnie and Clyde: One of those movies where I've seen the iconic ending but never actually sat down to watch the whole thing. It won a bunch of awards though so I guess I should. 3. Tampopo: I've considered blind buying the Criterion edition of this movie so there's really no excuse to not watch it if it's available for streaming 4. A Christmas Story: I grew up in a Jewish household and it's not like I wasn't allowed to watch Christmas movies but I guess I just never had the desire to. 5. Oliver Twist: David Lean is one of my favorite directors so I'd like to fill in the gaps I have left with his filmography. 6. Labyrinth: Not sure why I never saw this but I definitely want to, it seems like something I'd like. 7. Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance: I'm just going to put the first film in this series on the list and then if I like it I'll continue on. But I've heard great things about it. 8. Missing in Action: This may seem like an odd choice but it's actually a pretty important film in the pantheon of schlocky Cannon action flicks, and it's one of Chuck Norris biggest hits. And I'm an action fan so I definitely need to see it. 9. Cool Hand Luke: I don't even really know what this movie is about but it's very famous and I feel I should have seen it by now 10. Castle in the Sky: More Miyazaki
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Jul 6, 2021 16:08
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Princess Mononoke was actually the first Miyazaki film to receive a release in the US. (Nausicaä made it stateside, but only in a heavily recut version that bore little resemblance to the original.) So most Americans at the time had no prior knowledge of Miyazaki or his style. That said, I definitely recall stories about people taking their kids to see the film because they expected anything animated to be family friendly and checking out after the first decapitation scene.Basebf555 posted:1. Bicycle Thieves: This is a pretty big one. It often ranks very high on Greatest of All-Time lists and lots of great directors mention it as one of their influences. Time to finally fill the gap. --- Lagaan  I’ll preface this comment by confessing that I know next to nothing about cricket, which I associate more with the two obsessive fans in The Lady Vanishes than any real-life athletes. But then, a good sports narrative hardly depends on an intricate understanding of the ruleset. The appeal lies in seeing a team of underdogs overcome individual weaknesses (and in this case, levelling all differences in religion and caste) to defeat a more experienced but morally bankrupt opponent. Whether they’re playing football or Hungry Hungry Hippos is a secondary concern. Cricket does seem surprisingly suited to a film adaption though. The sheer number of rounds in a single match allows for plenty of up and downs, with constantly shifting momentum and various individual displays of skill. And having everything ultimately boil down to a single moment (does the batter hit the ball or not?) means you can stretch out the tension to the breaking point as if you were showing a Wild West gun duel. Lagaan executes its clichéd story with gusto and a likeable cast. I certainly wasn’t bored at any point, though looking back on it I also couldn’t claim that it pulls off anything considerably better than some of the other Bollywood films I’ve seen. Which makes me wonder if its success in the West (at least relative to most of India’s cinema, which remains disappointingly obscure) can be partly attributed to the fact that the sports narrative is so instantly recognizable in our culture. Bollywood productions often seem to struggle overseas because we can’t map them neatly onto our own understanding of genres. They contain song-and-dance numbers, but those aren’t foregrounded enough to unquestionably fall under the musical label. Same goes for the action, comedy, and romance elements that often seem to fit together rather jarringly. I suspect the reason this combination works better in India than here is that Bollywood to some extent still believes in the ideal that a film can reach out to society as a whole. While Hollywood at some point figured out that there’s more money to be made by appealing to different demographics with different productions, a film like Lagaan is meant to bring everyone together by offering different pleasures within a single umbrella. This approach carries its own set of ideological and practical problems, but I have to admit that at least in theory, I rather admire the notion of cinema as great unifier, managing to bring together people from of all walks of life, even if only for a couple of hours. 1. Arsenal (1929): I've caught up with most of the big names in silent film, but Dovzhenko is still something of a blindspot for me despite loving Earth. 2. Kuhle Wampe (1932): Brecht worked on the script, and I do love me some Brecht. 2. The Naked Spur (1953): More than anything, the Shameful thread got me to watch a lot of great westerns. I hope the trend continues. 3. Suspicion (1941): More Hitchcock. 5. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960): I literally know nothing about this film other than it being directed by Naruse, but I can't pass up a title this great. 6. The Earth (1968): I was a bit lukewarm on Chahine's supposed magnum opus Cairo Station, but his style's definitely interesting enough to warrant a second look. 7. The Pearls of the Crown (1937): Still have to see more by Sacha Guitry. 8. Paris is Burning (1990): Supposedly not about Paris? 9. (new) Dil Chahta Hai (2001): This Aamir Khan fellow seems to be kind of a big deal. 10. Burning (2018): Trying to catch up with some of the big releases from the past few years.
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Jul 6, 2021 17:15
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Samuel Clemens posted:Princess Mononoke was actually the first Miyazaki film to receive a release in the US. (Nausicaä made it stateside, but only in a heavily recut version that bore little resemblance to the original.) So most Americans at the time had no prior knowledge of Miyazaki or his style. That said, I definitely recall stories about people taking their kids to see the film because they expected anything animated to be family friendly and checking out after the first decapitation scene. My parents rented Akira for my sister and I when we were like 8 and 11. They similarly assumed all animation was Disney type stuff, saw a Japanese anime at the video store, and thought to try it out without paying too much attention to the box. I think we made it like 10 minutes in.
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Jul 6, 2021 17:25
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Basebf555 posted:Assuming it's the one I'm thinking of, this is a really cool sci-fi film with a surprisingly strong cast. Or it could be a Ralph Fiennes movie. Either way, enjoy. Yes, I am planning to watch the 2007 sci-fi film. Samuel Clemens posted:Which makes me wonder if its success in the West (at least relative to most of India’s cinema, which remains disappointingly obscure) can be partly attributed to the fact that the sports narrative is so instantly recognizable in our culture. Bollywood productions often seem to struggle overseas because we can’t map them neatly onto our own understanding of genres. They contain song-and-dance numbers, but those aren’t foregrounded enough to unquestionably fall under the musical label. Same goes for the action, comedy, and romance elements that often seem to fit together rather jarringly. Yeah, Dangal (2016) and Chak De! India (2007) are two others that have that basic sports/crossover appeal. The first few Bollywood films for most viewers will be kind of jarring like you said. I think after seeing three or four I finally realized that you're just going to get fed a smörgåsbord of genre (especially with the longer films). Once you go into a film fully expecting a few hard tonal shifts it suddenly feels natural and lifelike.
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Jul 6, 2021 21:35
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Samuel Clemens posted:Arsenal (1929): I've caught up with most of the big names in silent film, but Dovzhenko is still something of a blindspot for me despite loving Earth. Silent film in general is a blind spot for me but I really like reading other other folks' impressions of it. Hoop Dreams (1994) Directed by Steve James  Hoop Dreams is easily one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. It is probably the best and most emotionally engaging. I was not much of a school athlete, so the world in which high schools recruit and compete for children is completely foreign to me. The idea that a private school would offer a scholarship to play basketball to maybe increase alumni donations is just bizarre. It’s just one of the many ways in which this system consumes children before they even have a chance to consider going to college. In Hoop Dreams, William Gates and Arthur are two Chicago middle schoolers who are recruited to play basketball at St. Joseph High School, a private school in the suburbs. They both get scholarships, but not full scholarships, which ends up causing unexpected hardships down the line. The film follows them for the next four years as they struggle to balance school, basketball, and their personal lives while trying not to disappoint all of the people around them who are trying to live vicariously through them. It’s amazing but not really surprising how much drama and emotion is packed into just under three hours of high school life. You genuinely root for these kids and want them to succeed, knowing that the odds are against them, especially if they want to make it all the way to the NBA. My list of shame: 1. Casablanca (1942) It's me. I'm the one who has never seen Casablanca all the way through. 2021-07-07 2. Minari (2020) One of the Oscar nominees I didn’t get to see and really wanted to. 2021-05-28 3. Metropolis (1927) This is another great one I've only seen bits and pieces of. 2021-04-01 4. The Human Condition (1959) I suppose I like Japanese films that break my heart. 2021-04-26 5. The Deer Hunter (1978) A 70s classic I should have seen by now, but never have. 2021-04-20 6. Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Probably the best non-Miyazaki Studio Ghibli film. 2021-03-29 7. Ivan the Terrible, Part II (1944) I need to get off my butt and watch this sequel. 2021-06-28 8. Us (2019) I sort of missed the boat on this one and definitely want to see it before Candyman comes out. 2021-07-01 9. The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) I've wanted to get into this series for a long time. 2021-06-17 10. Before Sunrise (1995) Watching Reality Bites reminded me of this other big 90s blind spot. 2021-07-07 Watched: The Godfather 5, The Godfather: Part II 4.5, Alien 4.5, The Hills Have Eyes 3, The Rules of the Game 4, Battleship Potemkin 4, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 4.5, Schindler’s List 5, Halloween 4, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, A Woman Under the Influence 4.5, Harakiri 4.5, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 4.5, 8 1/2 4.5, Get Out 4.5, M 4.5, The Evil Dead 3.5, Safety Last! 4, City of God 5, Portrait of a Lady on Fire 4.5, Wild Strawberries 4, Some Like It Hot 4.5, Amadeus 5, Tokyo Story 5, Platoon 4, Friday the 13th 3.5, The Passion of Joan of Arc 5, Stop Making Sense 4.5, The Bride of Frankenstein 4, A Fistful of Dollars 4, Ran 5, The Innocents 4.5, The Searchers 4, Reality Bites 3, Barry Lyndon 4.5, Hoop Dreams 4.5
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Jul 7, 2021 16:28
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gohuskies posted:My parents rented Akira for my sister and I when we were like 8 and 11. They similarly assumed all animation was Disney type stuff, saw a Japanese anime at the video store, and thought to try it out without paying too much attention to the box. I think we made it like 10 minutes in. I think I know the exact scene that made your parents go: "Nope, not gonna happen." Animation being targeted at kids is a stereotype so deeply ingrained in our society that we seem to ignore all evidence to the contrary. I remember at least one newspaper article marvelling at the idea of Sausage Party employing sexual humour, as if South Park hadn't been a huge hit two decades earlier.
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Jul 7, 2021 17:50
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twernt posted:4. The Human Condition (1959) I suppose I like Japanese films that break my heart. 2021-04-26 I feel somewhat bad for assigning you a ten-hour film right after you finished a three-hour one, but drat it, how often do you get the chance to introduce someone to The Human Condition? --- Arsenal  Dovzhenko is something of an odd man out in the Soviet directors pantheon, coming from a poor Ukrainian peasant family rather than Russia’s intellectual circles. Perhaps this background explains why his films exhibit a worldliness that you don’t find in his contemporaries. Eisenstein may have idolised peasants in The General Line, but Dovzhenko knew them; knew that they could be violent, crude, and selfish just as much as joyous, kind, and courageous, and this honesty lends his work a rare authenticity. Arsenal confirms what I suspected after watching Earth; Dovzhenko sees film as poetry rather than prose. He’s not interested in directly retelling the events surrounding the revolt at the Arsenal weapon’s factory, nor in linking these events to the broader Soviet movement as Eisenstein did in Strike or Pudovkin in Mother. What concerns him are the individual impressions that result from a violent struggle: soldiers afflicted by mustard gas, corpses lining railway tracks, endless executions, heavy smoke and spent shell casings lying everywhere. The horrors of war reduced to quintessential images. Reportedly, the Politburo wasn’t pleased with the film’s detachment from history (nor, I suspect, with its implication that the workers were far from morally outstanding supermen). And yet, the universality of Dovzhenko’s approach is precisely what allowed Arsenal to age more gracefully than many other silents. Nearly a century later, its harrowing depiction of violence still packs a heavy punch. 1. (new) A Page of Madness (1926): My knowledge of Japanese silent cinema begins and ends with Ozu. 2. Kuhle Wampe (1932): Brecht worked on the script, and I do love me some Brecht. 3. The Naked Spur (1953): More than anything, the Shameful thread got me to watch a lot of great westerns. I hope the trend continues. 4. Suspicion (1941): More Hitchcock. 5. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960): I literally know nothing about this film other than it being directed by Naruse, but I can't pass up a title this great. 6. The Earth (1968): I was a bit lukewarm on Chahine's supposed magnum opus Cairo Station, but his style's definitely interesting enough to warrant a second look. 7. The Pearls of the Crown (1937): Still have to see more by Sacha Guitry. 8. Paris Is Burning (1990): Supposedly not about Paris? 9. Dil Chahta Hai (2001): This Aamir Khan fellow seems to be kind of a big deal. 10. Burning (2018): Trying to catch up with some of the big releases from the past few years. Samuel Clemens fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Jul 10, 2021 |
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Jul 10, 2021 15:00
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Samuel Clemens posted:I feel somewhat bad for assigning you a ten-hour film right after you finished a three-hour one, but drat it, how often do you get the chance to introduce someone to The Human Condition? Don't feel bad! I bought the Blu-ray set during the B&N Criterion sale and I have some vacation time coming up so it will be great.
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Jul 10, 2021 20:21
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