What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)

[redsquirrel]

My Film Studies classmate at Uni was a fan of Kawashima, I remember him getting us to watch Burden of Love and Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate, which are prob the director's most famous films and well regarded. I never really clicked with Japanese film generally, but both of those were def watchable.

Thanks Octagon. It was Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate that introduced me to Kawashima, really enjoyed it. Absolutely love Ozu.

I was never a fan of Donnie Darko,it always felt like a film trying to impress 15 year olds with its ohh so deep man philosophy. And as I have a real philosophy degree, I looked down my nose at it.

every now and then I do realise that that is snobby bullshit and I should give it/Kelly another chance. 40 minutes into this I remember that the follow up to DD was actually Domino, and this is as shit as that was.

Both ST and DD do have a sort of max freakout superficial philosophy, but while DD is not a great film its does come together and is genuinely entertaining. ST is a real mess.

 

[redsquirrel]

Eva - Joseph Losey has Jeanne Moreau destroy Stanley Baker with his own weaknesses in Venice. It's somewhat of its time but it looks great, some of the shots of Venice are gorgeous, and Moreau is cold as ice.

 

[Reno]

The Lodge which is the first American film by the directors of the Austrian horror film Goodnight Mommy. That film was hugely atmospheric and very stylish. I enjoyed it up to the reveal of its plot twist. Then the film went on a less interesting and more familiar direction than it had been on before. The Lodge also has a plot twist, but this one I really enjoyed.

A father takes his new girlfriend and his two children to his holiday home for Christmas. The kids resent her because the seperation from their mother didn't go well. The girlfriend has mental health issues due to a traumatic childhood. Dad needs to leave her in charge of the kids for a couple of days, while he attends to an emergency at work. Things don't go well.

 

[krtek a houby]

Chugging through season 6 of The Good Wife before it's taken off the streaming service. So far, so good but not as good as the previous season.

 

[RTWL]

Watched Children of Men last night. Great film . Its quite accurate in its near future predictions . Places a pandemic in 2018 .

 

[Reno]

We Summon the Darkness, which was good fun. Three girls head for a heavy metal gig, they meet three boys, nothing good comes of it. Can't really get into what actually happens because there is a plot twist half an hour in when it's revealed what the film really is about. Without giving much away, it's a satirical thriller/horror film to do with the 80s satanic panic scare.

 

[redsquirrel]

The Duke of Burgundy - Re-watched this and pleased to see that it stands up to re-watching, if fact like the best films you get something different from it. Need to get around to watching In Fabric

From the Life of the Marionettes - Another Bergman, detailing a failing marriage with a crime that the husband commits, didn't enjoy this one as much as Autumn Sonata. The scenes between the married couple are good and the use of black and white is lovely, but the gay business partner and psychiatrist are weak. The "explanation" for the action the husband is horribly pat, I'm not entirely sure whether that is a decision made on purpose (society, as the psychiatrist, has to rationalise Peter's action, so creating his theory of latent homosexuality) or just not great writing/direction, but I think I probably lean towards the latter.

 

[belboid]

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

Finally got around to it, and it's distinctly okay. Spent far too long getting around to the main bit, all that 'we've got to do a thing that will let us find a clue to the main thing that will let us do another thing, none of which really matter that much.' The last hour is good, and there were a couple of 'blimey, didn't expect that' moments.

Carrie Fisher still managed to out act Mark Hammil.

 

[Chz]

Hammil's not a bad actor, but he's not the sort that can rise above the insipid source material they're feeding him. I can't blame him for being bad in that. Plus he's still the best Joker.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.

Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.

 

[DexterTCN]

I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.

Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.

It is. Don't ever think anyone is nice.

 

[Supine]

I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.

Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.

I might rewatch the shield. Tis good.

 

[krtek a houby]

I watched The Godfather I, II and III over two days.

Now started to watch 'The Shield'. Only on episode two, too early to tell if it is any good.

Oh, it's good.

 

[T & P]

Watched The Sword of Trust (2019) this afternoon . Delightful , well observed , and at times beautifully shot comedy. I say comedy but it’s a story built on a small premise that is touching , funny , quirky and understated. Woman’s grandfather dies and leaves her an antique sword with correspondence that claims the South really won the American Civil War and they take it to a pawn shop. They team up with the pawn shop owner and staff to try and sell the sword.
I really enjoyed it .

Watched this today. A very enjoyable independent offbeat dark comedy. As you said, very good observational comedy at times. It's now available on Sky Movies and I'd recommend watching it to anyone subscribed to it. Not superb but certainly very good, and a great weekend film.

 

[redsquirrel]

Nona, If They Soak Me I'll Burn Them - A sort of part documentary, part drama about a Chilean grandmother who moves to the country (after some vigilantism in the city), where there is a background danger of wildfires. The film is shot using a number of different mediums, for the fiction and "fact", which is ambitious but does not work. Maybe I'm missing some background but with the movement between drama and documentary, between film styles and plot points it all feels like a bit of a mess, and not even a particularly interesting mess.

Assault on Precinct 13 - The John Carpenter the original not the re-make, excellent stuff, love a bit of 70s Hollywood action - The Outfit, Charley Varrick, Prime Cut - this is probably not quite up there with those but still good. Anyone got any suggestions for anything else in the same line?

 

[Reno]

Assault on Precinct 13 - The John Carpenter the original not the re-make, excellent stuff, love a bit of 70s Hollywood action - The Outfit, Charley Varrick, Prime Cut - this is probably not quite up there with those but still good. Anyone got any suggestions for anything else in the same line?

Rio Bravo by Howard Hawks

Carpenter's The Fog revisits a similar scenario with a supernatural twist.

Mario Bava's minimalist pulp thriller Rabid Dogs is the closest to something similar to Assault on Precinct 13 I can think of. Make sure you watch Bava's original version, not the one revised by his son which also goes under the title Kidnapped.

 

[Orang Utan]

The Outfit, Charley Varrick, Prime Cut - this is probably not quite up there with those but still good.

I've never even heard of those!

 

[Reno]

I've never even heard of those!

All great. Prime Cut is one of my favourite films of the 70s but you need a stomach for politically very incorrect 70s pulp.

 

[belboid]

Charley Varrick! totes amazeballs

 

[Orang Utan]

just looked them up and they look like a lot of fun

 

[Orang Utan]

I guess Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia is in this territory. My dad is watching all the Peckinpah movies, so rewatched this with him the other night. Also very politicallly incorrect

 

[Reno]

Of more recent films, Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room is in the same ballpark as Assault on Precinct 13.

 

[redsquirrel]

I've never even heard of those!

What! All three absolutely excellent if you like that sort of nihilistic 70s action strand. The Outfit is not quite as good as the other two but still well worth watching.

Rio Bravo by Howard Hawks

Mario Bava's minimalist pulp thriller Rabid Dogs is the closest to something similar to Assault on Precinct 13 I can think of. Make sure you watch Bava's original version, not the one revised by his son which also goes under the title Kidnapped.

Ta, I'll check that out. Enjoyed Green Room at the cinema, Patrick Stewart nicely menacing.

 

[Orang Utan]

What! All three absolutely excellent if you like that sort of nihilistic 70s action strand


Ta, I'll check that out. Enjoyed Green Room at the cinema, Patrick Stewart nicely menacing.

I was quite shocked by the violence in it, think I’m getting soft

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

Carpenter's The Fog revisits a similar scenario with a supernatural twist.

As does his Prince of Darkness

 

[redsquirrel]

The Whalebone Box - Andrew Kötting's latest. Kotting, his daughter, Iain Sinclair and others go on a trip to take a box made of whalebone back to the Hebrides where the whale it was made from was first washed up in order to release the healing energies inside the box. Hmm guess how much you like this one will depend on how into the occult end of psychogeography. 20 minutes too long anyway.

Le Corbeau - Great, gorgeously shot with strong characters and contrasting views. You can debate Clouzot's actions and the intentions of the film but it is an excellent piece of film making. I loved every minute of it up until the last five minutes which are handled terribly, both pat, muddled and hurried all at the same time. In fact the ending seems such a bad mis-step from the rest of the films that I wondered if, like the dreadful ending of Suspicion, it was forced on Clouzot but couldn't find anything.

 

[Reno]

Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare, a documentary about an Australian filmmaker financing a horror film called Red Christmas with his own and his family's money. Entertaining and the guy is just so likeable and engaging that I really wanted him to succeed. I remember his film being shown at horror film festivals, it got OK reviews and a limited release but it wasn't the type of low budget break out film like The Babadook which he was hoping for.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Gawd, I knew RK didnt direct it, but had forgotten it was Tony Scott who did. Not one of his best, and probably not his worst tho I hope never to find out.

It remained on (for another two fucking hours!) which gave me almost enough time to re-organise my CD collection.

View attachment 209497

Now I just have to work out where to put my 107 Julian Cope CD's.

Nice bit of shelfie humbebragging with the JC book in the background

 

[belboid]

Nice bit of shelfie humbebragging with the JC book in the background

book? There are three if you're paying attention. The toy car I paid £75 for twenty years ago is just out of shot....

 

[redsquirrel]

Quai des Orfèvres - Another Clouzot, this one set, and made, just after the war. Great little crime movie with definite shades of Chabrol, there's no mystery as such rather just an exploration of what can drive people to such actions. The characters, even the minor ones, are all interesting and deepen the story. It is probably not quite as good a film as Le Corbeau or Wages of Fear but really really enjoyable.

Woman in Chains - last one of the Clouzot series on mubi, shades of Chabrol here too. No crime as such but an exploration of the motivations of people for their (self-destructive) actions. The central female character is attracted to a submission relationship with a business partner of her husband, all of then struggling with the consequences. The setting in the late 60s French art world is unusual and adds to how the film is shot. I rather liked it with the exception of the ending which was daft and badly done.

Blessed - Australian film adaptation of the play Who's Afraid of the Working Class but Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap) among others. It's about the lives of a set of children out on the streets of Melbourne, and their mothers. Like a lot of modern plays I don't think it adapts well to the screen, what often works in the theatre becomes cliched, overwritten and lacking subtly when put into a film. Despite a very good cast - William McInnes, Debora-Lee Furness - it does not really get off the ground.