rekil
to menny cranks
Give Mr D a go. Canadian sitcom about out of his depth manchild teacher. It runs out of ideas eventually but the first 3 and a half series are great. Like Review it should be much better known.
What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
La Strada - Bloody brilliant! Giulietta Masina is brilliant and Anthony Quinn does an excellent job as the straight man. The only other Fellini I've seen is La Dolce Vita and this is much warmer more heartfelt than that.
Reno
The In Kraut
I've started to watch Mrs. America, the 9 part Hulu mini-series about feminism in the 70s and the movement to pass the Equal Right Amendment. Three episodes in I'm trying to put my finder on why this doesn't work as well as it should. Great cast, fascinating subject matter and the type of production values you'd expect from "peak tv" these days but I don't find it as involving as it should be. The conceit to make the central character Phyllis Schlaffly (played by Cate Blanchett in grand-dame mode), a prominent antagonist to the feminist movement, is not a bad one but you spend a lot of time with a loathsome hypocrite. In terms of its politics it all feels a little flat and obvious. A made up drama like Mad Men dealt with similar themes with more nuance. It's not bad, so far it's just not as good as I'd like it to be but I'll stick with it.
Reno
The In Kraut
I watched episode 4 of Mrs. America and maybe I wrote it off too early. The episode focusing on Betty Friedan was the best one yet and Tracey Ullman is fantastic in the role.
I also watched The Vast of Night, an indie science fiction film which got a lot of praise after film festival outings but which I can't quite make up my mind about. It's about two teenagers in the 50s who come across possible UFO activity in New Mexico. The material may not be new but the way it's made is sometimes very original and at others slightly frustrating, mostly consisting of dialogue sequences in very long single takes. Then right in the middle there is a long single shot which is breathtaking and which made me wonder how they did that on a tiny budget. The framing device which is that of a Twilight Zone style tv series, adds nothing, but the dialogue full of period appropriate slang, is interesting.
While in no way a horror film, the film it reminded my most of is Pontypool, which also is a film about a major unearthly event from a limited perspective, based around a radio programme. This is a promising first film and even if this didn't quite work for me, I'm curious about what the filmmakers will do next.
I also watched The Vast of Night, an indie science fiction film which got a lot of praise after film festival outings but which I can't quite make up my mind about. It's about two teenagers in the 50s who come across possible UFO activity in New Mexico. The material may not be new but the way it's made is sometimes very original and at others slightly frustrating, mostly consisting of dialogue sequences in very long single takes. Then right in the middle there is a long single shot which is breathtaking and which made me wonder how they did that on a tiny budget. The framing device which is that of a Twilight Zone style tv series, adds nothing, but the dialogue full of period appropriate slang, is interesting.
While in no way a horror film, the film it reminded my most of is Pontypool, which also is a film about a major unearthly event from a limited perspective, based around a radio programme. This is a promising first film and even if this didn't quite work for me, I'm curious about what the filmmakers will do next.
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farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Watched some of the Alien films over the last few days. Always enjoyable.
Some?
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Yes, i.e. not all of the box set.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Tomboy - Great. Wonderfully subtle examination of how kids, and adults, see gender and homosexuality. Célina Sciamma gets some amazing performances out of the kids, the scenes with both the family and the children playing together feel incredible natural. I think I prefer Portrait of a Women on Fire but this is a really good film.
Water Lilies - In contrast while this film definitely showed Sciamma's promise as a film maker, as I've said before, I don't think it quite works. Watching it again I think part of the problem might be the Anne storyline - it takes up too much time to be a supporting part but is not developed enough to balance the Marie/Floriane relationship. Not a bad film by any means, but one that does not quite work.
Ema - Pablo Larraín's latest, not sure about this. In some ways it is a really excellent piece of work on loss, hurt and anger. The direction is great, the images you see are wonderful - the dance scenes really exciting, Gael Garcia Bernal is as good as usual and Mariana di Girolamo (who plays the eponymous character) is fantastic, she has an amazing physicality that drives the film but is also capable of subtly. That said there is one key weakness that really works against the film. The plot concerns the loss of a child, by returning him to adoption services, now this is essentially a framing device which is not necessarily a problem but that framing device needs to be strong enough for the film to hang on and frankly it isn't. Put a child into the care of these people, I wouldn't trust them with a pair of plastic scissors.
While watching it I was reminded of Joe Cinque’s Consolation (more the book than the film), that is also built around a mothers/parents loss of a child, and like here you think that it would be much better for all if the parents could escape from that hurt and anger. But however destructive and unhealthy those emotions are to Joe Cinque’s parents they are part of the tragedy of that death. In Ema the "loss" is entirely selfish, this is not the devastating grief of parents but the toy throwing of self-obsessed, self-entitled wankers.
Water Lilies - In contrast while this film definitely showed Sciamma's promise as a film maker, as I've said before, I don't think it quite works. Watching it again I think part of the problem might be the Anne storyline - it takes up too much time to be a supporting part but is not developed enough to balance the Marie/Floriane relationship. Not a bad film by any means, but one that does not quite work.
Ema - Pablo Larraín's latest, not sure about this. In some ways it is a really excellent piece of work on loss, hurt and anger. The direction is great, the images you see are wonderful - the dance scenes really exciting, Gael Garcia Bernal is as good as usual and Mariana di Girolamo (who plays the eponymous character) is fantastic, she has an amazing physicality that drives the film but is also capable of subtly. That said there is one key weakness that really works against the film. The plot concerns the loss of a child, by returning him to adoption services, now this is essentially a framing device which is not necessarily a problem but that framing device needs to be strong enough for the film to hang on and frankly it isn't. Put a child into the care of these people, I wouldn't trust them with a pair of plastic scissors.
While watching it I was reminded of Joe Cinque’s Consolation (more the book than the film), that is also built around a mothers/parents loss of a child, and like here you think that it would be much better for all if the parents could escape from that hurt and anger. But however destructive and unhealthy those emotions are to Joe Cinque’s parents they are part of the tragedy of that death. In Ema the "loss" is entirely selfish, this is not the devastating grief of parents but the toy throwing of self-obsessed, self-entitled wankers.
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Reno
The In Kraut
Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson
Starts as a fun documentary about 60s/70s exploitation filmmaker of Al Adamson and then turns into a true crime documentary when he became the victim of a murder. Entertaining and well made, by the director of the excellent Lost Soul.
Starts as a fun documentary about 60s/70s exploitation filmmaker of Al Adamson and then turns into a true crime documentary when he became the victim of a murder. Entertaining and well made, by the director of the excellent Lost Soul.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Fedora - Billy Wilder's second to last film and a sort of re-visiting/companion piece to Sunset Boulevard. with William Holden again meeting up with a reclusive film star and trying to tempt her out of retirement. It's part of MUBI perfect failures group and while it certainly is not on par with Sunset Boulevard it's not without some qualities. The plot is very silly and (purposefully) cliched but that's the point. I don't think it quite hangs together for me, it is certainly too long (losing 20 minutes would improve the film considerably) and Marthe Keller is no Gloria Swanson, but there is obvious potential there, Wilder is still a top notch director. One of those films that you feel with a few changes could have been very good, as it is it is a curiosity.
Reno
The In Kraut
I watched all of Mrs. America. I was cool on it at the start but ended up liking and it works as a drama and a history lesson. Gloria Steinem I knew a reasonable amount about but the other figures of US 70s feminism, I often knew no more than the names and it made me read up on them. Making an antagonist like Phyllis Schlafly the central characters draws a line to the present and Trump, as she employed some of the same tactics as the modern republican party. The cast is first rate. Worth a watch.
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Reno
The In Kraut
I too have a soft spot for Fedora though it feels a little too subdued and leisurely for its melodrama and its crazy plot twist. Billy Wilder wanted Marlene Dietrich and Faye Dunaway in the two central roles and the film probably would have worked a lot better with more star wattage. It's similar to Hitchcock's Family Plot. Both giants of classic Hollywood tried to pull of one more old school Hollywood film in the age of the movie brats and both were hampered by not getting the cast (and budget) which could have made that type of film work.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Two firsts for me, first Bresson and first Huillet-Straub.
Diary of a Country Priest - Robert Bresson's film of a young priest tormented by his faith. It's obviously a very good piece of film making and did provoke an emotional response, the case are good in their roles and even the narration works. That said while the film is such a good piece of work that you can't help but feel some of the crisis the priest is going through, there was a part of me that found the ennobling of suffering and pain quite unpleasant.
Antigone - this is less an adaptation of Sophocles play than a simple presentation of it on screen, that can work The Hollow Crown took a similar approach and a lot of those plays were rather good. Here Huillet-Straub take such an approach to an extreme, there is only a series of static shots, the actors only move to leave the "stage" and often the shots do not include the actor(s). I suppose on one level this approach does work as it produces a strong response in the viewer, and viewed as a piece of video art there's something to be said for the film, but as an actually movie, or even a filming of a play, it fails totally. I saw a brilliant version of Antigone live it brought the play to life and made you really feel the characters motives, it was a wonderful adaptation, but this is just totally dead, the actors declaim but the only emotional response is tedium. While seeing a play on screen cannot be the same as seeing it on screen The Hollow Crown and NT Live performances nevertheless show that such screenings can work but Antigone does not, largely because of how the play was shot, though I also felt the translation/subtitling was strange (perhaps because it was verse?). I think I'll take some convincing to watch another Huillet-Straub.
Diary of a Country Priest - Robert Bresson's film of a young priest tormented by his faith. It's obviously a very good piece of film making and did provoke an emotional response, the case are good in their roles and even the narration works. That said while the film is such a good piece of work that you can't help but feel some of the crisis the priest is going through, there was a part of me that found the ennobling of suffering and pain quite unpleasant.
Antigone - this is less an adaptation of Sophocles play than a simple presentation of it on screen, that can work The Hollow Crown took a similar approach and a lot of those plays were rather good. Here Huillet-Straub take such an approach to an extreme, there is only a series of static shots, the actors only move to leave the "stage" and often the shots do not include the actor(s). I suppose on one level this approach does work as it produces a strong response in the viewer, and viewed as a piece of video art there's something to be said for the film, but as an actually movie, or even a filming of a play, it fails totally. I saw a brilliant version of Antigone live it brought the play to life and made you really feel the characters motives, it was a wonderful adaptation, but this is just totally dead, the actors declaim but the only emotional response is tedium. While seeing a play on screen cannot be the same as seeing it on screen The Hollow Crown and NT Live performances nevertheless show that such screenings can work but Antigone does not, largely because of how the play was shot, though I also felt the translation/subtitling was strange (perhaps because it was verse?). I think I'll take some convincing to watch another Huillet-Straub.
I really love Bresson's films, though he didn't make very many of them. The 'ennobling of suffering and pain' and how that's tied up with faith and sacrifice is I guess, a common theme in religion and religous films. (Everything from Joan of Arc to Ordet to The Song of Bernadette to Silence. And don't get me started on Biblical epics.)
Maybe it's my Catholic upbringing or something -- all those martyrs and martyrdom being something to aspire to...
I'm with you on Huillet-Straub though.
Reno
The In Kraut
I like Bresson's films of the 50s (A Man Escaped, Diary of a Country Priest and Pickpocket) but after that, his films make me feel like a dog who gets his face rubbed in his own wee, as in being taught about the awfulness of mankind. I never need to see Mouchette or Au Hasard Balthazar again.
Reno
The In Kraut
Paris, Texas, which I had not watched since it came out. This and Wings of Desire were the only Wim Wenders films I'd seen for many years and I never liked them much. Over the last few years I've checked out Wenders' early films and I especially loved Kings of the Road and The American Friend. So I thought I'd revisit this to see whether I'd revised my opinion.
Maybe I now appreciate even more just how beautiful the film looks and sounds and its worth it for that alone. I'm still not invested in the plot or in the characters. Travis getting his family back together is too sentimental and cliched a motor for the plot. There is something both creepy and not credible that the incredibly young and beautiful Nastassja Kinski would have been his wife. The nearly four decade age difference between her and Travis never really gets addressed. As soon as he takes his son from his brother and his sister in law (who clearly loves the kid like her own son) to find Kinski, he lost my sympathy because the boy was better off with them. The child actor is very good, but I found it hard to believe that he would so easily leave his foster family behind. Kinski's character doesn't make sense, she comes across more like Wenders' idealised version of a woman rather than an actual human being, so when she gets reunited with her son, I felt nothing. Travis' amnesia, which starts the film as a mystery is just forgotten about a third in.
Stanton's look at the start of the film has inspired millions of hipster though. I read that initially the film was to focus on Travis and his brother, played by Dean Stockwell and I would have preferred that film, even if it may have been too similar to Kings of the Road. The first half, when it is about Travis' relationship with Walt and his family, is stronger than the quest for Kinski.
Cinematographer Robby Müller is the real star of Paris, Texas and despite my reservations about the film, I thoroughly recommend it because of his work:
Maybe I now appreciate even more just how beautiful the film looks and sounds and its worth it for that alone. I'm still not invested in the plot or in the characters. Travis getting his family back together is too sentimental and cliched a motor for the plot. There is something both creepy and not credible that the incredibly young and beautiful Nastassja Kinski would have been his wife. The nearly four decade age difference between her and Travis never really gets addressed. As soon as he takes his son from his brother and his sister in law (who clearly loves the kid like her own son) to find Kinski, he lost my sympathy because the boy was better off with them. The child actor is very good, but I found it hard to believe that he would so easily leave his foster family behind. Kinski's character doesn't make sense, she comes across more like Wenders' idealised version of a woman rather than an actual human being, so when she gets reunited with her son, I felt nothing. Travis' amnesia, which starts the film as a mystery is just forgotten about a third in.
Stanton's look at the start of the film has inspired millions of hipster though. I read that initially the film was to focus on Travis and his brother, played by Dean Stockwell and I would have preferred that film, even if it may have been too similar to Kings of the Road. The first half, when it is about Travis' relationship with Walt and his family, is stronger than the quest for Kinski.
Cinematographer Robby Müller is the real star of Paris, Texas and despite my reservations about the film, I thoroughly recommend it because of his work:
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redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Agree with pretty much all that Reno, never quite got the adoration Paris, Texas often receives.
Reno
The In Kraut
I'm half way through the first season of What We Do in the Shadows. I was a huge fan of the film and initially couldn't get into the series, so after watching the first episode I didn't get back to it for months. I found the cast not as funny the one in the film and thought this type of humor may wear thin in a tv series. Now I'm five episodes in and it makes me laugh at least two or three times an episode. As you can tell from my posts, I hardly ever laugh, so this is a good sign.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
I See You. Fairly new so on pay per view atm, and whereas I wouldn’t endorse paying a fiver to watch it, it’s definitely worth checking out once you can watch it for free.
Just by telling what genre it is I would be spoiling it to a small degree. Suffice to say that while the first third of the film firmly indicates the film is of a certain genre- and not a particularly good one at that- something then happens that changes everything and you realise everything you’ve watched so far is quite different to what you’d assumed it to be.
That is not the only twist and although the film is not much more than decent overall, the unexpected turns and capacity to surprise gets a big thumbs up from me, and makes the film worth checking out.
Just by telling what genre it is I would be spoiling it to a small degree. Suffice to say that while the first third of the film firmly indicates the film is of a certain genre- and not a particularly good one at that- something then happens that changes everything and you realise everything you’ve watched so far is quite different to what you’d assumed it to be.
That is not the only twist and although the film is not much more than decent overall, the unexpected turns and capacity to surprise gets a big thumbs up from me, and makes the film worth checking out.
Reno
The In Kraut
The Deeper You Dig, a micro-budget indie horror film which got some good reviews. The film itself shows promise, the acting is good and there are some striking visuals and and effective frights. As a ghost story it doesn't do anything new though and the pacing is a bit on the slow side.
The most interesting thing about the film is that it was made be a family, the Adams family no less, father, mother and teenage daughter. They wrote, shot, edited and directed the film and they played the three lead roles, which makes them a very cool family in my book. A family who makes horror films together is of course the family I would have loved to grow up in.
If they keep at it I can see them making a great film one day, the potential is there.
The most interesting thing about the film is that it was made be a family, the Adams family no less, father, mother and teenage daughter. They wrote, shot, edited and directed the film and they played the three lead roles, which makes them a very cool family in my book. A family who makes horror films together is of course the family I would have loved to grow up in.
If they keep at it I can see them making a great film one day, the potential is there.
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MUBI served up a bit of a mixed bag this weeked:
Ena Sendijarević’s debut Take Me Somewhere Nice was great. Based around a Dutch girl visiting relatives in Bosnia, this was a beautifully filmed road movie which was very reminiscent of Jarmusch's Stranger the Paradise. The photography/cinematography was incredible, with a pastel drenched palette. Completely loved it.
In contrast, Claire Denis's Let The Sunshine In - with Juliette Binoche - is one of the worst and most tedious and depressing films I've ever had the misfortune to sit through. Juliette Binoche plays a successful painter who goes through a series of transitory relationships with a variety of men, punctuated by would-be profound conversations. This is then topped by a completely cringe-worth end credits sequence featuring Gerard Depardieu.
Ena Sendijarević’s debut Take Me Somewhere Nice was great. Based around a Dutch girl visiting relatives in Bosnia, this was a beautifully filmed road movie which was very reminiscent of Jarmusch's Stranger the Paradise. The photography/cinematography was incredible, with a pastel drenched palette. Completely loved it.
In contrast, Claire Denis's Let The Sunshine In - with Juliette Binoche - is one of the worst and most tedious and depressing films I've ever had the misfortune to sit through. Juliette Binoche plays a successful painter who goes through a series of transitory relationships with a variety of men, punctuated by would-be profound conversations. This is then topped by a completely cringe-worth end credits sequence featuring Gerard Depardieu.
Saw this at the cinema when it came out. I too thought it was terrible -- no idea why it got loads of great reviews. I left during the Depardieu bit as I literally couldn't take any more...
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I watched the first part of The Sorrow and The Pity* and some of the second half, will finish it tonight. Saw it years back but this is remastered, better subtitled and I'm following it closer. Getting more from it this time.
*a two-part 1969 documentary film by Marcel Ophuls about the collaboration between the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II. The film uses interviews with a German officer, collaborators, and resistance fighters from Clermont-Ferrand. They comment on the nature of and reasons for collaboration, including antisemitism, Anglophobia, fear of Bolsheviks and Soviet invasion, and the desire for power.
The title comes from a comment by interviewee Marcel Verdier, a pharmacist in Montferrat, Isère, who says "the two emotions I experienced the most [during the Nazi occupation] were sorrow and pity".
*a two-part 1969 documentary film by Marcel Ophuls about the collaboration between the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War II. The film uses interviews with a German officer, collaborators, and resistance fighters from Clermont-Ferrand. They comment on the nature of and reasons for collaboration, including antisemitism, Anglophobia, fear of Bolsheviks and Soviet invasion, and the desire for power.
The title comes from a comment by interviewee Marcel Verdier, a pharmacist in Montferrat, Isère, who says "the two emotions I experienced the most [during the Nazi occupation] were sorrow and pity".
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Why Don't You Just Die? Russian family implodes in an imaginative and funny Tom & Jerry-style orgy of ultraviolene. Seems to use the same colour palette of Beanpole - all reds and greens. The music is a pastiche of Morricone/Leone westerns and works well with the action. Recommended.
Spy - loads of people have said it's one of the funniest films in years. Meh. I did laugh quite a bit but I was drunk on tequila
Spy - loads of people have said it's one of the funniest films in years. Meh. I did laugh quite a bit but I was drunk on tequila
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
Best anime series I've seen in a while. It's about three high school girls who just want to... create anime! It's hard to do the show justice by describing it, but it's joyous. It truly is. Fantastic use of different art styles to show what they're imagining, and one of the best theme tunes in ages.
Best anime series I've seen in a while. It's about three high school girls who just want to... create anime! It's hard to do the show justice by describing it, but it's joyous. It truly is. Fantastic use of different art styles to show what they're imagining, and one of the best theme tunes in ages.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Misbehaviour
About the protests around the 1970 Miss World competition. A feelgood British movie hoping to replicate Pride. It's all decent enough and perfectly enjoyable but without any of the outstanding scenes that could elevate it to something more. Not seeing it at a cinema didn't seem like a great loss.
After Hours - havent seen this for years,probably Scorcese's lightest movie in many ways. Griffin Dunne is even more of an asshole than I recalled and thoroughly gets what he deserves. A fine blend of comedy and noirishness. Michael Powell came up with the ending.
About the protests around the 1970 Miss World competition. A feelgood British movie hoping to replicate Pride. It's all decent enough and perfectly enjoyable but without any of the outstanding scenes that could elevate it to something more. Not seeing it at a cinema didn't seem like a great loss.
After Hours - havent seen this for years,probably Scorcese's lightest movie in many ways. Griffin Dunne is even more of an asshole than I recalled and thoroughly gets what he deserves. A fine blend of comedy and noirishness. Michael Powell came up with the ending.
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