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

[redsquirrel]

Passion - Brian de Palma's remake of a French thriller (I've not seen the original). Absolutely appalling, not a huge de Palma fan but this is just tripe. Stupid, boring, and hackneyed. I've seen some people trying to claim that this is supposed to be a partial send up erotic thrillers, post-justification for a very bad film IMO.

Mona Lisa - Never got around to seeing this previously. Really good, though far more comic/absurd than I had expected. Hoskins really was a good actor and Cathy Tyson does not get enough work. Caine is better than he often is too playing a very slimy mid-level crim.

L'Amant Double - François Ozon psychological thriller with a twin theme, you can't but help the thoughts of Hitchcock and, even more, de Palma's Sisters. It's not one of Ozon's better films, but is far more watchable than Passion above. Still I'd suggest going for Swimming Pool or even In the House instead.

 

[Reno]

Pinocchio by Matteo Garrone, who still is most famous for Gomorrah. Since then he's already made the fairy tale film Tale of Tales, which I found interminable. Pinocchio is a lot better. Of all the film versions this may be the most faithful to the book, blending a neo realist approach in regard of its Tuscan setting with the grotesquery of 19th century children's book illustrations.

The first half hour is a bit of a slog, Garrone indulges in stunt-casting by having Roberto Benigni play Gepetto, who starred as Pinocchio in a disastrous adaptation in 2002, a vanity project after he won his Oscar for the horrendous Life is Beautiful. He's unlikeable and irritating in the role. The film gets better once Pinocchio gets kidnapped by Mangiafuoco and sets off on his adventures. Instead of using CGI, all the characters are played by actors in make up and if ever a film deserved an Oscar for best make up, this is it. The characters, including Pinocchio, look the stuff of nightmares but that works. The art direction and costumes are stunning, I suppose Terry Gilliam could have made something like this in the 80s and sometimes this feels like what The Singing Ringing Tree might have looked like had it been made on a far larger budget. Its sensibility and aesthetics are rooted in what would have been regarded as funny and whimsical the 19th century when the novel was written, which makes it feel far less cute than other modern fairy tale films but that's what I liked about it.

 

[T & P]

Not that I hadn’t seen it before, but enjoyed a late night viewing of The Thing the other night and remarked to myself, not for the first time, what a fucking good sci-fi movie this film is.

Yes, the special effects are legendary, but the film is so much more than that. It conveys a sense of tension and impending doom throughout that only the best in the genre achieve. Not more so than the scene when all surviving characters have been tied to a chair while Kurt Russell tests their blood samples one by one to work out who the alien replica might be. Absolutely bloody superb.

A ludicrously underrated film even today with its fairly positive ratings, never mind when it was first released and received mind-boggling widespread negative reviews. Top 10 sci-fi material for me.

 

[Reno]

Not that I hadn’t seen it before, but enjoyed a late night viewing of The Thing the other night and remarked to myself, not for the first time, what a fucking good sci-fi movie this film is.

Yes, the special effects are legendary, but the film is so much more than that. It conveys a sense of tension and impending doom throughout that only the best in the genre achieve. Not more so than the scene when all surviving characters have been tied to a chair while Kurt Russell tests their blood samples one by one to work out who the alien replica might be. Absolutely bloody superb.

A ludicrously underrated film even today with its fairly positive ratings, never mind when it was first released and received mind-boggling widespread negative reviews. Top 10 sci-fi material for me.

I really don't think The Thing is ludicrously underrated anymore, its considered a classic now (status sealed by the BFI book in its series in classic films) and usually comes up first when the conversation turns to great remakes or John Carpenter's best movie. Agree with the rest.

 

[Part 2]

Low Tide....Low budget debut feature film for writer/producer/director Kevin McMullin.

3 teenagers burgle holiday homes off (New) Jersey shore. They're shitty teenage criminals with all the faults that go with that. No backstory is given into their personalities and the story begins when one is left with a broken leg after a job goes wrong. The younger brother of one of the trio joins the next trip as lookout and things begin to fall apart from there.

It's a well paced 84 minutes, the performances were good and the story well told but I had no idea why these kids were robbing from houses. Midway through there's some exposition in relation to the brothers then there's obvs got to be the one who's a bad influence, although I'd no idea how he got to be like that. The 4th kid is a snivelling shit. I liked the younger brother though played by Jaeden Martell who was in Knives Out and IT.

 

[T & P]

I really don't think The Thing is ludicrously underrated anymore, its considered a classic now (status sealed by the BFI book in its series in classic films) and usually comes up first when the conversation turns to great remakes or John Carpenter's best movie. Agree with the rest.

I have just checked the current ratings online and you're quite right. I sort of remember that when I checked a while ago they were decent enough but not in the same level as other classic films of the genre.

 

[Detroit City]

New Wave Hookers 3

 

[Reno]

I have just checked the current ratings online and you're quite right. I sort of remember that when I checked a while ago they were decent enough but not in the same level as other classic films of the genre.

I don't know what ratings you refer to (I hope not imdb) but when books get written about a film years later, it's a classic.

 

[redsquirrel]

Youth of the Beast - Japanese gangster film, with a plot inspired by Yojimbo, a mad cast of semi-drawn characters, plot holes galore and scenes that do not seem to connect. It should not work at all and yet somehow it manages to overcome all these flaws and become a really exciting piece of cinema. It's the type of film that sends Tarantino into ecstasies but it has an enthusiasm that is missing from a lot of his bloated recent work.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Watched Da 5 Bloods on Netflix. Took a while to get going, and some of the coincidences that moved the plot along did stretch credibility a tad, but performances were good and the ending was fun.

 

[T & P]

Come to Daddy Weird in more ways than one, but ultimately satisfying as it turns to be more interesting and also of a completely different genre than the first half of the film seemed to be.

Not great but one of those films that you watch when you can’t find anything else at all expecting it to be 1h 45m of your life you’ll never get back, but it ended up as a poor man’s Cohen Brothers film, and weird enough to work.

 

[Orang Utan]

Come to Daddy Weird in more ways than one, but ultimately satisfying as it turns to be more interesting and also of a completely different genre than the first half of the film seemed to be.

Not great but one of those films that you watch when you can’t find anything else at all expecting it to be 1h 45m of your life you’ll never get back, but it ended up as a poor man’s Cohen Brothers film, and weird enough to work.

That was one film in which I never expected there to be a joke featuring Michael Heseltine

 

[Sue]

The Magnificent Seven.

 

[redsquirrel]

Hoop Dreams - Excellent documentary following two very good young basketball players, but using their stories to introduce issues of race and education in American. Despite dating from the late 80s/early 90s it still feels relevant to today's world and avoids 'casting' people in the role of good/bad guys. Despite being almost three hours it does not drag, which indicates how good it is.

 

[redsquirrel]

The Stranger - As I said above I've virtually no experience of Indian cinema, I've heard of Ray of course but this is the first film if his I've seen, and it is absolutely great. It looks lovely, no flashy effects or tricks just wonderfully but understatedly shot, the performances are great and the story moving. It reminded me of Ozu, not so much in terms of style but the humanism running through it, the problems of people (families) trying to connect with each other. So far MUBI's Indian cinema series has been top notch, I'm looking forward to the next films.

 

[rubbershoes]

The Stranger - As I said above I've virtually no experience of Indian cinema, I've heard of Ray of course but this is the first film if his I've seen, and it is absolutely great. It looks lovely, no flashy effects or tricks just wonderfully but understatedly shot, the performances are great and the story moving. It reminded me of Ozu, not so much in terms of style but the humanism running through it, the problems of people (families) trying to connect with each other. So far MUBI's Indian cinema series has been top notch, I'm looking forward to the next films.

Satyajit Ray is a world away from typical Indian cinema. Where's the songs? The dancing? The mustachioed villain?

There's plenty of Bollywood on netflix if you want to dive in. Be prepared for some 3 hour epics

 

[Reno]

Satyajit Ray is a world away from typical Indian cinema. Where's the songs? The dancing? The mustachioed villain?

There's plenty of Bollywood on netflix if you want to dive in. Be prepared for some 3 hour epics

John Cassavetes is a world away from typical US cinema. India long had its own alternative to mainstream cinema, mostly social realist films. Ray was the most famous but far from the only film-maker in that tradition.

 

[Chz]

Watched Call Me By Your Name.

I wasn't surprised to see James Ivory's name on it. Like most things he's been involved in, it's gorgeous, well-acted, and - to me - boring.

I can see why people loved it, and there's a lot to like in there, just not me.

 

[redsquirrel]

Mia Madre - Nanni Moretti's latest, about a director struggling to make a film while her mother is dying. John Turturro gives a great turn as a mad actor. Probably 15 minutes or so too long but nicely relaxing.

 

[T & P]

I posted this already in the Netflix thread so apologies for the repetition.
I watched a new sci-fi film called Freaks last night. Nothing to do with the 1932 flick- this is a sci-fi/ horror movie (though it's not really horror at all) that starts rather slowly but finishes at a frantic pace, and whereas the premise borrows heavily from certain aspects of the X-Men concept, it turned out to be a surprisingly good and watchable film.

 

[Reno]

I watched An Unmarried Woman for the first time last night and so far it's my favourite film discovery of the year. This came out when I was 15. I'd started to watch more "grown up" films like Annie Hall and The Goodbye Girl, but a film about middle aged divorce wasn't in my ballpark yet. The film was a big deal then, probably being the major Hollywood film informed by second wave feminism of the late 70s. Since it came out the film hasn't been that easy to see and I thought it may have rightfully been consigned to the dustbin of time, as of-the-moment, well meaning and probably a little dated. The film is nothing like it, it's wonderfully alive, with characters who feel flawed, likeable and real. You don't see sex scenes which feel this awkward and real in Hollywood films anymore. I get why this was a star-making turn for Jill Clayburg, she is wonderful in the film. After initially finding it intrusive, I even warmed to the somewhat overbearing saxophone score by Bill Conti and there is nothing I love more than a 70s New York movie.

I also watched A League of Their Own for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Even if one can lament that Hollywood doesn't make mid- to large budgeted films like it anymore, it feels broad and unsubtle when compared to the low key naturalism of An Unmarried Woman. Every statement about feminism is broadly signposted to generate cheers, every character feels like a stereotype there to make a point. It's the type of film I was afraid An Unmarried Woman would be but wasn't. Hollywood films from the 90s now often look far more like relics than films from the 70s.

 

[Orang Utan]

I wonder if they know what they're about to experience?

 

[Reno]

I wonder if they know what they're about to experience?

Looking at their twitter, I think they know.

 

[Detroit City]

I watched Sleeper with Woody Allen. Still as funny as ever...

 

[Orang Utan]

Looking at their twitter, I think they know.

the dog definitely know what's coming

 

[T & P]

I recently watched:

the 2020 reboot of The Invisible Man (great, one of the better horror films in recent years)
Swallow (overrated, plays like the idiot's version of Todd Haines' Safe)

Just saw this and really enjoyed it. For the sake of those who don’t like horror films I would myself describe it as a psychological thriller rather than horror, so no need to give it a miss if you dislike that genre but are okay with thrillers with a few ‘jump moments’. A great, entertaining film.

Although more than happy to suspend my disbelief for the main premise of the film, something did irk me plot-wise, namely that

Spoiler

unless I missed something (which happens not infrequently nowadays) the initial claim that the main antagonist had killed himself was never explained and seems a significant plot hole to me. All we ever heard as evidence is his brother saying he saw the body. That clearly would never be enough for the cops, so why did everyone believe he was dead?

 

[Reno]

Just saw this and really enjoyed it. For the sake of those who don’t like horror films I would myself describe it as a psychological thriller rather than horror, so no need to give it a miss if you dislike that genre but are okay with thrillers with a few ‘jump moments’. A great, entertaining film.

Although more than happy to suspend my disbelief for the main premise of the film, something did irk me plot-wise, namely that

Spoiler

unless I missed something (which happens not infrequently nowadays) the initial claim that the main antagonist had killed himself was never explained and seems a significant plot hole to me. All we ever heard as evidence is his brother saying he saw the body. That clearly would never be enough for the cops, so why did everyone believe he was dead?

It's now several months ago that I saw the film but I can't remember it bothering me. In the beginning the film sketches in the backstory quickly to get to the point where it needs to be.

Spoiler

Faking ones death is a thriller trope we've seen many times and we simply have to take it on faith that a brilliant inventor with unlimited financial resources who creates an invisibility suit, wouldn't have problems faking his own death. Cecilia never really believes he is dead because she knows what he is capable of and this appears to be confirmed 15 minutes into the film. As the entire film is from her POV, it never bothers spending time on trying to convince the audience of that aspect.

 

[T & P]

Would You Rather. A dark psychological horror/ thriller on Netflix. Kind of like the Saw franchise films in terms of fuck-upness, but with added moral dilemmas and ethical choices, which is what makes the film worth watching so long as you’re okay with the unpleasantness and like that genre.

Not great but certainly better than the critics’ ratings would suggest IMO.

 

[Humberto]

Hereditary. Pointless shite.

 

[Humberto]

I like the actors in it too. just a nothing.