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It's funny, in the days after it I was thinking about how it was actually quite well put together as a film, and makes for a near textbook opportunity for a how-to-read-film exercise which is the kind of thing I'm trying to pay attention to. Like case in point: there's this one scene where Liam is calling the French minister guy asking him for a favor, calling from a remote location instead of meeting in a public park as requested. I'm thinking, okay what purpose does this scene serve in the story? What narrative goal does it achieve? Well, it's an illustration of the power dynamic between these two guys. It's showing who's holding the stronger negotiating hand. Now, Liam wants something from the French guy—help finding his daughter—so nominally it's the French guy who holds the cards. But Liam has set up the scene such that he has the tactical high ground. He's on the phone and watching the guy through binoculars; he's literally on the high ground because he's up on a roof or in a high window or some such, and he's styling on the French guy by telling him "hey your goons can stop jogging". And through their repartee when it becomes clear that the French guy can't or won't give him the help he wants, Liam shuts the door on him and hangs up. But the very last thing he says, which I didn't hear properly and had to look up later, was "it was a trailer, not a building", a bit of a tongue-in-cheek riposte to the French guy's earlier accusation that Liam had blown up a building. So that's a joke, one final jab to the ribs to show he's still in charge. But at the same time it's an admission of guilt: "Okay it wasn't actually a building but yeaahhhh you got me, lol", which is an offer of vulnerability, by choice. He's showing a bit of belly. He's leaving the door open that they could still be friends. (But because I didn't hear the line properly I asked the person I was watching it with "what was that last line? Something about a building? You understood it apparently because you laughed" and the guy hemmed and hawed (probably had already forgotten the line tbh, just didn't want to admit it) and said something like "...I hate to say it like this but you wouldn't understand, it's an operator thing") Data Graham fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Feb 27, 2024 |
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Feb 27, 2024 03:34
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Y'all know it's a French film right?
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Feb 27, 2024 04:47
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I have a particular set of skills... a certain... je ne sais quoi
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Feb 27, 2024 05:00
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The Insider This was great, very gripping considering the subject matter. Going in I thought it was going to be more about a guy still working at the company trying to exfiltrate secrets but it was really about something else entirely. Crowe's performance was mindblowing, cannot believe that Gladiator was released the next year. If you watch the actual 60 minutes episode he really nailed the mannerisms, although it was still a pretty complimentary casting choice for the IRL Wigand.
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Feb 27, 2024 11:28
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Phantom Thread Paul Thomas Anderson The worst part about watching a PTA film is that you immediately want to slot it into the best films you've ever seen list, but there are already 3 others populating it. TWBB, The Master, and Phantom Thread all neck and neck in the greatest American Films of all time competition. It's funny knowing that DDL is a boring dude who spends all day watching reality TV who got a call from PTA about the project and after some brainstroming came up with the name Reynolds Woodcock himself. And then he goes and brings such an odd specificity to the role. The way he carries himself, lets himself get worked up over nothing, his manner of vacillating between complete indifference and beaming at Alma. He doesn't play Reynolds as a child, even though he is, he plays him as a man stuck as a child who on some level knows of his arrested development and is overcompensating for it with his petty tyrannism and feigned indifference. It's too bad he probably didn't live to see Runaway drop. And Krieps as Alma, I honestly thought less of her after seeing Corsage. Not that she was bad, but the movie was and it made me second guess how good she was. I can safely say that I was totally wrong. She is perfect in the role. The way she holds her acquiescence to his requests just a second too long, how she acts out just to get a rise out of him, her clear discomfort whenever she is forced to be with him but not alone and how she later covers that up with stoic indifference that leads her to attempting to double down on being alone with him leading to the film worlds funniest couple fight. Seriously in all of media only the suitcase scene from The Sopranos matches the majesty of the asparagus conflict. Enchanting the whole way through. Also easily one of the most gorgeous films of the decade. Pretty impressive for a film without a cinematographer.
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Feb 27, 2024 12:32
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Fallen Leaves This was my first time seeing a Kaurismaki film and I was impressed, really liked it. The story was well constructed, just a great romance, with wonderfully understated performances. Excellent casting for all the characters, even the background extras. I really liked the colour grading too, every shot has this stark beauty to it. And I appreciate the short runtime. Yuki's Sun Miyazaki project from 1972, a five minute pilot. Holds up pretty well. It's impressive how much info they're able to convey in such short time.
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Feb 27, 2024 18:33
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One From the Heart (Francis Ford Coppola, 1982) Down in London with an evening to kill and stop I caught the 4K restoration at the Prince Charles and despite knowing nothing about it except it being a bomb on its original release, I kinda enjoyed it. After a rough start it picks up, though I never quite believed in the relationship between the two leads and was disappointed when they got back together at the end, as they each seemed much better matched with the people they have their respective affairs with (Teri Garr should have gone off with Raul Julia!). I loved the artificiality of all the sets, all shot on American Zoetrope's soundstages as a card at the end proudly announces, and there's some beautiful production design and use of miniatures and painted backdrops. Nice to also see Harry Dean Stanton and Natassja Kinski on screen together a couple of years before Paris, Texas. Some of Tom Waits' songs for the score had extremely on-the-nose lyrics, describing exactly what a character was feeling or doing, but I liked the 80s-ness of it overall. There's also a very misplaced, laugh out loud moment near the end where in a very Three Stooges sort of scene, Frederic Forrest's Hank gets electrocuted by a neon sign, bangs his head and gets a foot stuck in a bucket. edit: also, having never been aware of ever watching Teri Garr in anything, so far this year I've seen her in this and After Hours. Carpet fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Feb 27, 2024 |
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Feb 27, 2024 21:17
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Carpet posted:edit: also, having never been aware of ever watching Teri Garr in anything, so far this year I've seen her in this and After Hours. Watch Young Frankenstein
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Feb 27, 2024 21:59
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Gaius Marius posted:Phantom Thread i rewatched this on a whim last year and it went from a 4 star movie to 5 stars perfect no notes. i loved it. i had been listening to the soundtrack since i first saw it and always loved the score but the movie itself now is an all timer for me. also vicky krieps was at my coffee shop here in LA yesterday. we made eye contact as any set of strangers might while out somewhere and i immediately turned away but also was like "oh holy poo poo i know that person's face, oh poo poo it's alma from phantom thread!" i didn't say anything bc i never wanna be That Guy
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Feb 28, 2024 00:01
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Showing Up (Kelly Reichart, 2022) After watching First Cow and Certain Women on Blu-ray, this is my third Reichart film and the first I've watched in the cinema. Another beautiful, quiet film from her which stand coming in a leisurely 1hr54m but it felt like it deserved to be that long. The struggles faced by Michelle Williams' Lizzie, such as looking after an injured pigeon, dealing with a broken boiler, a recalcitrant fellow artist/friend/landlord, and her divided family, while also trying to make a living as an artist struggling to meet a deadline for a gallery showing of her sculptures feels like Reichart's commentary on her own struggles to get films made. And after dogs and cows in her previous films, this time we get a cat, a dog, and a pigeon.
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Feb 28, 2024 00:40
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ShoogaSlim posted:also vicky krieps was at my coffee shop here in LA yesterday Did she need the notepad to take your order?
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Feb 28, 2024 00:42
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distortion park posted:The Insider This was great, very gripping considering the subject matter. Going in I thought it was going to be more about a guy still working at the company trying to exfiltrate secrets but it was really about something else entirely. Crowe's performance was mindblowing, cannot believe that Gladiator was released the next year. If you watch the actual 60 minutes episode he really nailed the mannerisms, although it was still a pretty complimentary casting choice for the IRL Wigand. This is one of my favorite movies of all time Complex legal stuff going on but you never feel confused. And yeah Crowe is fantastic Watched Leave the World Behind and wish I hadn’t
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Feb 28, 2024 02:01
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Past Lives: Greta Lee does a lot of staring, and she's really effective at it. So much emotion is conveyed. I disliked the first minute with the bar/who are these people intro and wish the movie had just jumped right in, but that intro was short at least. It's a quiet movie, so you gotta be in the mood for it and maybe it's a little long, but it definitely leaves a lasting impression. I was in similar long distance relationship before my spouse chose to immigrate and marry me. So all those Skyping and scheduling felt very relatable. But what stood out also is that in such situations someone always has to make the big choice to move to the other often forcing a change in ambitions. But here, neither Nora or Hae Sung wanted to make that choice. The movie comparison that came to mind for me was last years fantastic EEAAO. Both are about ladies who immigrated and reflect on what they left behind. But Past Lives really doesn't have any of the regret or anxiety of choice. There's an acceptance and reflection and the time together between the leads is more about closure than wishing life had been different. The bar conversation is just very powerful and memorable.
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Feb 28, 2024 02:27
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Perfect Days (2023) look it’s a Wim Wenders fiction film, it’s beautiful and moving. Koji Yakusho is amazing, his characters near complete lack of dialogue doesn’t hinder his expression of his emotional state at all. If you’re prone to falling asleep at movies skip this one, it’s deliberately slow and repetitive to really submerge the audience into his simple, structured life, in order to upset it with just a couple small incidents. Ends on a perfect note. Loved this one
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Feb 28, 2024 04:33
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Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles: That's certainly a movie. I don't know how to really feel about it. I loved a lot about it, and felt it really brought her experience to the forefront, you understood why overcooking the potatoes would be a big deal! And that her dropping a spoon shows just how much things are falling apart. The feeling of loneliness it evoked, even when she was with others was heartbreaking. And the camera, still and static shots was suffocating, I felt trapped as well and wishing for a camera movement just to relief the tension. All that was great! I did feel it was cheating a bit with what it shows and what it doesn't. At first I thought we were like a ghost in the building, not ever leaving even when they go out for the evening, but that's not true. So I'm left wondering where do they go and what's up. Is it just a walk around? A visit to the dead husband? Also then not showing the events in the bedroom day 2, but bringing us in day 3. Just some of this stuff that made me feel the sleight of hand under the movie. Overall I think I'm happy to have seen it, and am happy to be thinking about it and really processing, but not sure if it was a great experience viewing it, if that makes sense.
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Feb 28, 2024 06:57
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Good Time Some tiny % of people you talk to irl and online are the Pattinson character
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Feb 28, 2024 21:35
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Seconds, the 1966 John Frankenheimer film recently came to my attention from a Criterion Closet video. I'm not sure what I think about it. There's a lot of handheld and extreme closeup used to give a sense of extreme paranoia and alienation which works. There's also some almost-Steadicam footage that reminded me of the technique that Darren Aronofsky used in Pi and Requiem For A Dream, but this was done 10 years before the Steadicam was invented, so, yeah, really cool. I know nothing about movie making techniques from an historical standpoint, so maybe this was more common that I'm aware of, but I was impressed. Unfortunately, the movie itself was kind of a dud. The first third certainly got you invested in the story and did a really good job of requiring the viewer to read between the lines as to what was happening. Unfortunately, the mid-part became far flabbier. There's this whole hippy/Bacchanal wine stomping section which I suppose was intended to show the protagonist's "rebirth" but just didn't work, especially considering that the scene directly after has the lead completely fail to assimilate into his new life. Unfortunately, the finale makes the whole movie seem like an extended Twilight Zone episode.
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Feb 29, 2024 19:11
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Defending Your Life: this was a pretty fun watch. Brooks and Streep are fantastic together and you really feel his sense of how silly this whole procedure of judging various past events. But it is really amusing to watch all of his past mistakes, especially the ones due to stupidity. The obvious movie that comes to mind here Kore-Eda Afterlife. The past is reviewed there also, but instead of judgment to move on to the next universe phase, the dead are asked to choose a memory that will become their own personal heaven of sorts. It's an interesting difference in culture, or genres, perhaps.
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Mar 1, 2024 02:04
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Oppenheimer: This was not what I was expecting. The movie throws around wild, unprovable accusations with abandon. It opens and closes with not only unproven, but unprovable accusations of murder plots. In-between, it's descriptions are only slightly less irresponsible.
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Mar 1, 2024 02:48
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What murder plot at the end?
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Mar 1, 2024 02:50
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The murder of our souls
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Mar 1, 2024 02:52
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Gaius Marius posted:What murder plot at the end? Strauss, the "bad guy" of the film is established as a petty, vindictive man. One who is willing to nurse his grudges for years only to strike from the shadows when least expected. To me, it feels like the film is structured to claim that he metaphorically "assassinated" Oppenheimer's character and his career. Strauss's aide informs him that several senators switched to voting against him at the last minute, but the only named senator who voted against him is JFK. JFK's assassination is, in the popular imagination at least, held to be unsolved. In context of the film's other claims about it him, it seems to me to be implying that Strauss was behind JFK's assassination too. It's wild. LLSix fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Mar 1, 2024 |
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Mar 1, 2024 03:01
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LLSix posted:Oppenheimer ending: Honestly it's an honor. I didn't realize you were still alive Mr.Stretch Armstrong. Would you sign my action figure?
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Mar 1, 2024 03:05
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Gaius Marius posted:Honestly it's an honor. I didn't realize you were still alive Mr.Stretch Armstrong. Would you sign my action figure? Yes, that's my point.
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Mar 1, 2024 03:08
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Yeah no Oppenheimer doesn't make that implication at all. Turns out Einstein wasn't talking about Strauss or JFK. Well this is an original complaint at least.
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Mar 1, 2024 03:20
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Leave the World Behind: This was...interesting. It feels very much like a stage play because dialog drives most of what happens in the film. Obviously that's a feature rather than a flaw since most of what is happening is speculative, and we're left knowing little more than the main characters. However, I feel the dialog is also the weakest part of the film. It feels very scripted rather than natural. Some of the word choices by Julia Roberts' and Mahershala Ali's characters seem designed specifically to cause tension and drama, and that kept me from really getting into it. It's also a movie that wants to say a lot about race relations, the U.S.'s perception to the rest of the world, our dependence on technology, and our diminishing connection to other people. I think it hints at what it wants to say, but never really outright delves into them outside of one moment: Ethan Hawke's plea to Kevin Bacon to help his son because he is useless without tools like smartphones or GPS. As I wrote that, I realized that F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is a rather obvious riff on that last one. I originally thought Myha'la's comment on how the show is nostalgic for a time that never existed was more about race and class (no black people, and young twenty-somethings being able to afford large apartments in NYC). However, it's likely more meant to hammer home the idea that having a close sense of community with friends and neighbors less likely a reality for any of us, if it ever really existed. I liked it. Not enough to have it be my favorite, but I might rewatch it again. I know it got a lot of publicity, especially since the Obamas helped produce it (and they very proudly emblazon the opening credits with that in massive letters). I don't know if it would have made that much of an impact without them. It's a tense slow-burn with some moments of catharsis. Kevin Bacon is only in it for a bit, but he rules in it. I do appreciate that the ending is rather open-ended, with one exception: Rose gets the chance to see the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. series finale.
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Mar 1, 2024 07:52
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LLSix posted:Yes, that's my point. Your point is that you are reaching to conclusions the film isn't making?
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Mar 1, 2024 08:43
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I finally watched The Flash and... gently caress. I thought I was prepared for how chaotic and stupid it was, but I was not. Some stray thoughts I jotted down whilst watching it, and this movie has been on streaming for months so I'm assuming anyone who actually wants to see it, has seen it at this point. -- After so many "oh no the world/universe is in danger" stories, watching Batman, Flash and, out of nowhere Wonder Woman, clean up some street level heist to begin the movie somehow seems really out of character. I know in the comics the Justice League routinely dealt with silly poo poo (because kids read it!), but in the DCEU (RIP) it's hard to believe this is ever how they'd be using their time. -- Holy hell the CGI and stagecraft looks so obvious and cheap. This movie cost about $300 million? I am convinced an epic amount of embezzlement occurred and was written off as production costs. Peacemaker, an episodic series, looked way better than this. When he enters the speed force, everyone looks like a character model from Next Media Animation. -- Ugh, Ezra Miller just sucks at this and makes me glad we'll get a totally new take on the character at some point. It was tolerable until he went back and I kept getting Pauly Shore vibes. -- So many random Looney Tunes references in the movie, yet this dumbass studio is going to probably delete Coyote vs. Acme? gently caress David Zazlav. -- So Batman can just electrocute someone to be a Flash? Cool. Make better Flashes plz, kthx -- Was Michael Shannon actually in this movie? Every one of his scenes feels like it was shot without him, then composited. -- Seeing Keaton in the cowl again was fun, even if his action scenes were just a CGI golem bending like Gumby. Shame we'll never see him again. -- I really enjoyed this take on Supergirl by Sasha Calle. She was pretty bad rear end. Even bigger shame we'll never see her in this role again. -- In the first act, they made a real point to make sure we knew Barry had to eat non-stop to stay energized. By the third, I guess they just forgot about it? -- The cameos... what the actual gently caress? This is the most ghoulish poo poo in a comic movie. The George Reeves one was incredibly distasteful considering that irl history. This 'world between worlds' motif is awful looking. I'll be honest, considering the circumstances surrounding the movie's production, it somehow still wasn't actually quite as bad as I thought it would be. It's actually a perfect encapsulation of what we'll ultimately remember of the DCEU: a great idea, rushed through production with a mountain of lovely decisions overstuffing the whole thing. Oh, and final thing: Considering Ezra Miller cameo'ed on The Flash on CW, not having the CW or old 90s CBS Flash make a cameo in the lovely "stand and stare" cameo portion was really stupid.
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Mar 1, 2024 20:18
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Do you like Orientalism and Japanophobia at the same time? Rising Sun is the movie for you!
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Mar 2, 2024 02:35
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Lovely Dark and Deep. What a piece of poo poo. It was like watching an LP of an Eastern European psychological horror walking sim.
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Mar 2, 2024 03:07
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LLSix posted:Oppenheimer ending: with everything going on in that movie i am actually impressed that you were able to squeeze this conspiracy theory out of the dialogue and everything else the movie was doing lol
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Mar 2, 2024 06:54
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Poor Things : Yorgos makes a gorgeous Frankenstein allegory of his own. Easily a career best from Emma Stone. People have been trying to make this into a feminist movie but it's really not saying all that - it's a fantasy film. Everything just sings, from the titles onward. Stunning and begging for a rewatch
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Mar 2, 2024 16:03
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Nimona - Ok here's the thing, a 1,000 year old society built around the concept of monster hunting isn't the result of one corrupt administrator, and it's not going to change overnight just by removing that one administrator. This is Obama Tweeting "Vote": The Movie. Also 17 minutes of the runtime is end credits.
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Mar 2, 2024 16:06
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Watched Dinner in America last night after seeing it on RLM a few days ago. It's great. Just a little movie about an angry local punk and weird girl falling in love after they meet when the former is running away from the cops. It's funny, gross, and at the end, kind of sweet. There isn't much of a plot but the two main characters have a nicely satisfying arc. Also liked that they didn't water down the punk aspects of it, both the characters and the few songs they play at the end sound like something you'd expect and "nice" movie punk. You can check the RLM video, I mostly agree with them though they do show a lot of the best parts throughout the video. Nothing is spoiled per se but going in blind might be better.
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Mar 2, 2024 17:13
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Alive (1993) - thought this was quite well made really, balancing the need for verisimilitude against careful handling of the lurid details of the story. Having studied this incident for a long time I wanted to see this for quite a while. I thought there were two particularly noteworthy things about it that were well handled: 1) the nicely contemplative scene of the debate about whether to eat the dead, which neatly (and reasonably realistically) covered all the various ethical and spiritual and practical grounds of the argument in a neat and compact way that never felt contrived; and b) the thread about whether a "team captain" has any real claim on the title of "leader" when it comes to life and death. This is parallel to what among many other much more interesting questions got raised in Galaxy Quest of all things; just because you play the captain and you wear a commander's uniform as your costume, why would you think that entitles you to actually hold a position of authority? And the guy who does that in this movie indeed does have a whole arc of cowardice and halfway redemption where you're left with the understanding that he's just another schmuck with no better moral or meritorious claim on leadership than any other person in the plane. Low-key excellent musical score by James Newton Howard. As a bassoonist I enjoyed the solo that accompanied the scene following the avalanche, and the nice subtle shifting from major to minor as they went from triumphant recovery to dragging a body out of the snow. Well done. Not a huge fan of how they changed up the whole rescue expedition to be a hike over and down westward into Chile, rather than back eastward into Argentina as in real life—not sure why that happened (a particularly cheesy cliffhanger scene leads me only to think they were hard pressed to pad out the climax of the movie with a "exciting" scene) when really the story was that they just went downhill the whole way until they found some guy in a truck. The whole final 20 minutes seemed fairly poorly put together from a narrative standpoint so I'm not sure how the story was served by the changes they made. But overall it's a good tale well told, with enough moments of surprising humor to keep it from being brutal, and god drat, the cinematography is first-rate. Data Graham fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Mar 2, 2024 |
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Mar 2, 2024 20:49
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The Lady Vanishes: The first two thirds might be my favorite thing Hitchcock has done? I feel a bit crazy saying that given my love for Rear Window and Rope. But its fun and interesting, and funny. There's a solid mystery and the feeling of dread as these people do gaslight her about her friend having gone missing. The cricket loving gentlemen were great too, even better in Night Train to Munich, though that is also fun. It does have some air let out of it once the mystery is resolved and the shooting starts, but a bunch of fun.
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Mar 3, 2024 00:29
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Malone (1987)- A Burt Reynolds vehicle populated by a number of recognizable character actors. A story of a Cia assassin trying to get out, but his plans are derailed when his car breaks down in a town being taken over by a right wing terror organization. Decent watch. Very slow, but I enjoyed it. The ending action sequence was fun.
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Mar 3, 2024 04:32
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Not the first time, but the first time in a long time - The Village! People shat on this movie after it's release, but they were fools and charlatans. A solid thriller with a stacked cast and same gold performances. What's not to like?
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Mar 3, 2024 05:23
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Dr. Yinz Ljubljana posted:Not the first time, but the first time in a long time - The Village! People shat on this movie after it's release, but they were fools and charlatans. A solid thriller with a stacked cast and same gold performances. What's not to like? A climax that's so incredibly transparent yet takes itself so serious.
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Mar 3, 2024 08:52
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Three Colours: Blue It was a cold and very rainy afternoon yesterday so I decided to finally give it a go, turns out that was the right mood. The first half worked a lot better for me than the second, in particular I found the scene at the start where the nurse sees Julie in her office absolutely heartbreaking. Because at the start so much emphasis was placed on how Julie was sad about her daughter, and a couple of other things, I started to think there was going to be some revelation about her relationship with her husband. So for the second half I was often looking for signs of this rather than connecting with her character. I also found myself rolling my eyes a bit at some of the incredibly stereotypical choices of additional characters (although I guess you could call it a triptych, the wife, the mistress and the prostitute)
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Mar 3, 2024 09:44
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