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

[platinumsage]

The Flight Attendant - I think it's supposed to be a thriller-comedy or something. Not my cup of tea but will persist with it at least for a while.

 

[redsquirrel]

The Nest (not to be confused with the British tv series), about a trader (Jude Law) who on a spur, relocates his Anglo-American family from New York to a huge mansion in Surrey during the 80s and everything goes to shit. This is great, probably my favourite film of the year. It is Sean Durkin's second film as a writer-director after the excellent Martha Marcy May Marlene and he has a knack for making dramas which feel like horror films. This has a similarly haunting quality as his debut. Carrie Coon is excellent as the wife who, once far from home, finds out that hubby may be delusional about his "greed is good" aspirations and their financial prospects. It's just a shame that after a highly acclaimed debut feature, these days it takes a filmmaker as talented as Durkin nearly a decade to get another film off the ground.

Sounds good. Can't believe it has taken Durkin so long to make a follow up MMMM was very good.

 

[Part 2]

Yorgos Lanthimos' new short, Nimic on Mubi.

Bloody brilliant, very dark and very funny.

 

[MBV]

Watched The Nest based on Reno 's recommendation. Some great performances - I'm going to look up MMMM now.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

Terminator: Dark Fate. I enjoyed it.

 

[sojourner]

Just watched '71 on 4OD. Intense, traumatic, brilliant. The writer must know the history of the situation in Belfast at the time. Very true to the Peter Taylor trilogy.

 

[Artaxerxes]

The App - Italian film on Netflix


Why the fuck did I bother.

 

[T & P]

I’ve already plugged this in the Netflix thread, but worth a mention here. Call (aka The Call) is great and ludicrously enjoyable time-bending brand new sci-fi thriller from South Korea. As gripping, clever and enjoyable as you can hope to get in the genre. Worth checking out if you have Netflix.

 

[redsquirrel]

Halfway through Rohmer's comedies and proverbs series, seen The Aviator's Wife, A Good Marriage and Pauline at the Beach. Never seen any Rohmer before, overall I'm somewhat mixed about them, all have bits I like and bits I don't. Rohmer does seem to get good performances out of youngsters the best bits of both The Aviator's Wife and Pauline at the Beach are those where Pauline (Amanda Langlet) and Lucie (Anne-Laure Meury) star, they seem to inject more life and humanity into the films.

The Skin I Live In - first time I've seen this since it came out at the cinema and glad to find it stands up, both Banderas and Elena Anya are top notch.

Beautiful New Bay Area Project - short showing as part of the Kiyoshi Kurosawa season on MUBI, I've not caught anything in the rest of the season but this is great - a mad sort of fantasy, martial arts comedy. Definitely worth checking out if you've a spare half hour

What We Do in the Shadows - Despite all the rave reviews I've seen people give this I've never actually got around to watching it, I was somewhat worried that that it would not live up to expectations but it does. Very funny and very silly.

Diego Maradona - Asif Kapadia's documentary about Maradona. Very good, the concentration on the Napoli period works well as providing structure for the film. Probably not quite as strong as Kapadia's Senna, but still very good.

Three Days of the Condor - Decent-ish 70s Cold War thriller, not quite in the top rank but Redford and especially Von Sydow make sure there is enough quality. Certainly much better than ...

The Executioner - George Peppard is a British spy. The aim is obviously a sort of Ipcress File downbeat but with enough action to move the plot but despite a cast of British 70s luminaries starring opposite Peppard (really not sure they could have found anyway less suitable) and Joan Collins. There could have been a decent film there but the final result is just cliched and pretty dreadful.

Happiest Season - Clea Duvall's follow up to The Intervention, with a similar mix of comedy and drama, it does drop into schmaltz at points but overall the two central performances keep it above the quality of most Xmas films.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

Parasite. Sort of forced myself to watch this, because nothing I'd heard about it beforehand made me desperate to watch it (other than all the praise it received ). Anyway, glad I made time for it - great, thought-provoking film.

 

[Sue]

Halfway through Rohmer's comedies and proverbs series, seen The Aviator's Wife, A Good Marriage and Pauline at the Beach. Never seen any Rohmer before, overall I'm somewhat mixed about them, all have bits I like and bits I don't. Rohmer does seem to get good performances out of youngsters the best bits of both The Aviator's Wife and Pauline at the Beach are those where Pauline (Amanda Langlet) and Lucie (Anne-Laure Meury) star, they seem to inject more life and humanity into the films.

I'm torn about Rohmer. Some of his films I really like (Ma Nuit Chez Maud, Le Rayon Vert), some I absolutely hate (Le Genou de Claire) and some I think are mixed (Pauline a la Plage, La Collectionneuse). IIRC, he was quite a rightwing Catholic and there sometimes feels like a bit of an undercurrent of misogyny in there that gets my back up.

 

[Orang Utan]

Wolfwalkers
Irish animation set in Cromwell's rule in 17th century Kilkenny, about a young girl encountering a werewolf-like creature in the forest Cromwell is planning on destroying. It looks beautiful and hand-drawn (though it may not be), but it has its own original look, with nods to Irish pagan culture. 5 runes out of 5

 

[redsquirrel]

Wolfwalkers
Irish animation set in Cromwell's rule in 17th century Kilkenny, about a young girl encountering a werewolf-like creature in the forest Cromwell is planning on destroying. It looks beautiful and hand-drawn (though it may not be), but it has its own original look, with nods to Irish pagan culture. 5 runes out of 5

Loved the previous two films by the filmmakers of this. Did you see this as part of Leeds IFF?

 

[Orang Utan]

Loved the previous two films by the filmmakers of this. Did you see this as part of Leeds IFF?

Aye - you'll need to take a bite of the Apple to see it now though (or torrent it)

 

[redsquirrel]

Probably come onto BFI, KG or MUBI before long. Looking forward to it.

 

[Orang Utan]

Probably come onto BFI, KG or MUBI before long. Looking forward to it.

Might not as it's an 'Apple Original' whatever that means

 

[Johnny Vodka]

The Lighthouse.

 

[Reno]

Proxima, French film about a female astronaut in training for a year long space mission. Definitely not a science fiction film, it's a drama about how a woman reconciles the toughest of career choices with having a young daughter. The main reason to watch is Eva Green, who is a wonderful actress and IMO still somewhat underrated. I found the film absorbing but there is a plot point late on, involving breaking quarantine, to which I was much more sensitive now than I would have been in 2019, when the film was made. It undermines the point the film tries to make. Also, Matt Dillon as the leader of the space mission is too much of a chauvinist stereotype and the film is pushing too hard there. Still worth watching, just don't expect a space adventure.

 

[redsquirrel]

Pool of London - excellent Ealing drama, with crime tones, from 1950. Uses the docking of a ship and the shore leave of some sailors to bring together a series of stories - race relations, crime, human drams. While not quite in the same class I see similarities to It Always Rains on a Sunday, with the crime forming a core around which a human drama is made, and like IAROAS it is surprisingly progressive. Well worth watching

Full Moon in Paris - Continuing with Rohmer, again it seems to have the mix of highlights and problems for me that most of his films do (and that Sue mentioned above). This one does star a very young Thcéky Karyo which is a definite plus.

 

[platinumsage]

On episode 4 now. It’s good and solid enough, but certainly a bit slow paced and not particularly remarkable so far.

It’s funny how having made his acting career and spanning most of it as a hapless, mumbling timid likeable Englishman in romantic comedies, Hugh Grant has suddenly revealed himself as a semi-decent actor playing unlikeable characters in dramatic roles.

I have finished The Undoing and now thoroughly recommend it - I believe it was on Sky Atlantic for those who don't do torrents.

Spoiler

I love how I was totally taken in by Hugh Grant's character, just as his wife was, and I decided early on that he probably didn't do it. I then spent the rest of the series wondering which of the other characters committed the murder, even considering the victim's son. This was in spite of the sometimes overwhelming evidence pointing his way such as his mother claiming he was basically a psychopath.

 

[Part 2]

Boys State, documentary.

16 and 17 year old Texas boys attend a camp to develop their interest in politics and get put into one of 2 parties, Federalists and Nationalists,. They then go about choosing some of the party roles from their number, governor being the highest position. The policies they focus on are probably unsurprising, it's Texas after all. Debates are held and at the end of camp an election is held between the 2 at which point regardless of which party they've been in they can vote as they choose.

It's a compelling watch, there's some characters to get behind, some easy to dilike, some surprises and it was easy for me to pick a side.

Also Dekalog 8. Still great telly but my one episode a night rationing is making it feel drawn out now.

 

[Reno]

Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, because I needed something comforting and cheerful and it did the job. One thing which struck me this time was that Hollywood films of that time so seldom were shot almost entirely on location. Despite being a romantic comedy about a runaway princess, there is a touch of neo-realism about it. The plot is simple but it grows out of the characters and unlike with most romantic comedies, nothing feels contrived. Everything about this film works, I'd almost say it's perfect.

 

[T & P]

I have finished The Undoing and now thoroughly recommend it - I believe it was on Sky Atlantic for those who don't do torrents.

Spoiler

I love how I was totally taken in by Hugh Grant's character, just as his wife was, and I decided early on that he probably didn't do it. I then spent the rest of the series wondering which of the other characters committed the murder, even considering the victim's son. This was in spite of the sometimes overwhelming evidence pointing his way such as his mother claiming he was basically a psychopath.

Yeah, completely agree. Finished it the other day and also enjoyed it. And like you said I was fully expecting the murderer to be just about anyone- the wife, her father, the kid, the blonde lawyer friend- but I guess because so very few scriptwriters choose to make the murderer the guy who seems overwhelmingly guilty throughout the story, this caught me off-guard. I was fully expecting Grant to either be found guilty and then revealed innocent or the other way around.

I must also say I rate Grant so much more as an actor when he plays baddies. Who would’ve thought he could even manage to look remotely threatening or a wrong’un after watching him playing a bumbling idiot in romcoms for most of his career... .

It’s also on NowTV for anyone tempted who hasn’t got Sky Atlantic.

 

[D'wards]

Just watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles for the first time in about 20 years.
Just as great as I remembered. The death of John Candy was a real loss to cinema - he was fantastic in it.
If they had made it about Christmas rather than Thanksgiving it would be talked about as being one of the great Christmas films

 

[Marty1]

So the gf ‘forced’ me to watch this - and I’m glad she did.



It’s filmed entirely in London and features the cities most narrow alley.

The plot has an unexpected twist and the entire soundtrack is George Michael songs - unsurprisingly the film is named after GM’s famous Xmas song.

It’s a feel good film and it doesn’t disappoint- the gf informs this is the 4th time she’s watched it.

 

[Part 2]

The Weight of Gold, documentary.

Presented by Michael Phelps, former Olympians discuss the impact of training and competing on their mental health. I went in feeling they're not the easiest people to identify with but came out feeling they were pretty much fucked over, and usually from being kids. Groomed for their special talents, often at the expense of every other thing in their lives. I knew someone who fucked up her Olympic moment when she was a dead cert for gold and wondered what her life is like now.

 

[Cloo]

Watched Midsommar, which is not normally my kind of thing at all, and Ari Aster's other film, Hereditary, is a firm 'Never, ever want to see on any account'. But I was intrigued by what I heard about Midsommar - found it blackly (very blackly) funny as well as horrifying and disturbing. Amazing imagery and attention to detail as well.

 

[T & P]

So the gf ‘forced’ me to watch this - and I’m glad she did.



It’s filmed entirely in London and features the cities most narrow alley.

The plot has an unexpected twist and the entire soundtrack is George Michael songs - unsurprisingly the film is named after GM’s famous Xmas song.

It’s a feel good film and it doesn’t disappoint- the gf informs this is the 4th time she’s watched it.

It it was perfectly alright in my opinion too. Certainly as good as you can expect a romcom Xmas film to be. This is one of those cases in which the professional critics are being biase, snob and/ or prejudiced twerps, and laughably disconnected from the public.

 

[Reno]

It it was perfectly alright in my opinion too. Certainly as good as you can expect a romcom Xmas film to be. This is one of those cases in which the professional critics are being biase, snob and/ or prejudiced twerps, and laughably disconnected from the public.

Give me a break.

 

[Orang Utan]

It it was perfectly alright in my opinion too. Certainly as good as you can expect a romcom Xmas film to be. This is one of those cases in which the professional critics are being biase, snob and/ or prejudiced twerps, and laughably disconnected from the public.

They’re paid to say what they think not what others might think.