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

Life of Crime: 1984-2020 - a shocker in unexpected ways. Started out as a low-to-no-budget community film project in Newark, NJ, following around a pair of local petty crims - likely lads and pains in the ass but not master offenders. US society being what it is, the next 36 years brought them through the poverty to prison pipeline, the carceral system, several different drug epidemics, health nightmares and terrible losses. The early years footage is quirky and shambolic and stilted; there are moments of very queasy near-exploitation and almost-fake-seeming interviews ... and as the tone gets bleaker and bleaker, several VERY VERY explicit and upsetting sequences on the physical and emotional horrors of all sorts of addiction. One of those docu's where you start asking yourself whether it's time for the maker to put down the camera and intervene as a human. But overall its heart is in the right place and it makes Requiem for a Dream look like the pretentious neurotic art-directed fever dream of these sorts of stories that it is. Hard-hitting isn't in it - still feel a bit shaken by it overall. Not 100% bleak throughout but the overall weight of damage and hurt is crushing. Also has one of the most devastating last-act twists I've ever seen. Worth it if you can catch it on Sky Documentaries (it was finished off with funding from HBO so might also be available in otehr places)
 
I finished The Last Duel. It was..good. A bit long. But it had the ending I’d feared it might not (and I didn’t already know the history) when I started it last week. So that was good. It was a pleasant sensation, seeing the rapist finally swallow that blade. I still wouldn’t necessarily highly recommend the film, I guess. There’s really only been one film in the last couple of years I‘ve recommended to others, that was The Lighthouse - which has become one of my absolute favorite movies. Another I’d recommend, if to a lesser degree, is The Hunt. It did a pretty great job at poking fun at both (insufferable) sides of American politics, and worked very well as a dark comedy. Other than that everything has been pretty meh. On the flip side, though, two movies I saw this year that I hated more than anything, were Mama and Vivarium; pointless, pretentious, confusing garbage. Not that this is a ‘movie recommendation’ thread; but I didn’t see one of those.

So, in conclusion.. go watch The Lighthouse if you haven’t already.
 
The original Nightmare Alley, film noir about a carnival barker who becomes a successful stage magician thanks to the women he conspires with. Watched it before the inevitably overproduced Guillermo del Toro remake comes out. Hadn't seen it since my twenties, it's still good and Tyrone Power is excellent, though I'd remembered it ending
with him actually biting the head off a chicken, which sadly doesn't happen.

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Reno said:
The original Nightmare Alley, film noir about a carnival barker who becomes a successful stage magician thanks to the women he conspired with, before the inevitably overproduced Guillermo del Toro remake comes out. Hadn't watched it since my twenties, it's still good and Tyrone Power is excellent, though I'd remembered it ending
with him actually biting the head off a chicken, which sadly doesn't happen.

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Ah, saw the trailer for the Del Toro version yesterday, didn't realise it was a remake. Must see if I can get hold of the original though as it sounds like my kind of thing.
 
Reno said:
Last Night in Soho, the new Edgar Wright film. Wonderful first half, the recreation of 60s Soho is gorgeous and I loved the fluid camera work. Unfortunately the film takes a turn for the worse when it attempts to be a horror film in the second hour. After a plot twist towards the end which doesn't work, it completely falls apart. As a horror film it isn't scary and the villain played by Matt Smith is too underdeveloped to be menacing. Diana Rigg in her last film has the biggest role of the three 60s stars featured but her character turns out to be one of the films biggest problems, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp are wasted in nothing roles. Despite my dissappointment in how the film pans out, I still think it's worth watching for the rapturous first hour.

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Saw this yesterday and enjoyed it (I did go in with quite low expectations though.) Reno's criticisms are absolutely valid but I enjoyed the 60s and modern day Soho location spotting and costumes enough to not care so much that the revelation near the end was pretty :hmm: and that Tushingham/Stamp were underused. I thought Matt Smith did well in the circumstances.

I saw this in the West End as it wasn't still on in many places. Two surprises:

1) The Empire's moved from Leicester Square to that beautiful old cinema in Haymarket -- can't remember what it was called before, think the last time I was in there was to see something at the LFF a few years ago.

2) It was a tenner to get in. It's that price all day apart from screen 1 which is £13? I think. I haven't been to see a film in the WE for a long time (apart from the PC) but that's way cheaper than the last time and cheaper than my local cinemas, even with a member discount. That's a huge change. Is it Covid-related trying to get people back into the WE or something else?

Eta Wrong thread given I saw it at the cinema :facepalm: .
 
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Party Girl - A Nicholas Ray film that I was not familiar with until I saw it come up on KG. A gangster backdropped drama with dance scenes. Apparently Ray was shut out of directing the dance scenes (gah, it would have wonderful for him to have had control over them) but it is still very, very much a Ray picture. The story is pretty slight but who cares.

A Actor's Revenge - A female Kabuki impersonator takes revenge on those that were responsible for the deaths of his parents. Like Party Girl it is not so much the story but rather the telling of it that makes this so good. It is purposely filmed in a theatrical manner - soliloquies, lighting, dual roles, comic side parts - but it works. I wonder if it was an influence - both visually and with the female impersonator - in Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi (one of my favourite films).
 
trabuquera said:
Life of Crime: 1984-2020 - a shocker in unexpected ways. Started out as a low-to-no-budget community film project in Newark, NJ, following around a pair of local petty crims - likely lads and pains in the ass but not master offenders. US society being what it is, the next 36 years brought them through the poverty to prison pipeline, the carceral system, several different drug epidemics, health nightmares and terrible losses. The early years footage is quirky and shambolic and stilted; there are moments of very queasy near-exploitation and almost-fake-seeming interviews ... and as the tone gets bleaker and bleaker, several VERY VERY explicit and upsetting sequences on the physical and emotional horrors of all sorts of addiction. One of those docu's where you start asking yourself whether it's time for the maker to put down the camera and intervene as a human. But overall its heart is in the right place and it makes Requiem for a Dream look like the pretentious neurotic art-directed fever dream of these sorts of stories that it is. Hard-hitting isn't in it - still feel a bit shaken by it overall. Not 100% bleak throughout but the overall weight of damage and hurt is crushing. Also has one of the most devastating last-act twists I've ever seen. Worth it if you can catch it on Sky Documentaries (it was finished off with funding from HBO so might also be available in otehr places)
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Looks interesting, cheers 👍



www.theguardian.com

Life of Crime: a shocking film about three decades of addiction and incarceration

The often brutal HBO documentary follows 36 years in the life of a trio in New Jersey in the throes of vicious addictions
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Gate of Hell
1953 drama of obsession and honour in feudal Japan directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Bit of a strange one this - a pretty thin plot performed in a stagey, flat way and lacking in much depth of feeling, but it's saved by looking absolutely incredible. The opening scene alone makes it worth a watch for the psychedelic swirls of colour and texture as robed women and men run backwards and forwards during some confusing episode of samurai warfare. At least the highly theatrical style probably helps to give more space and prominence to the meticulously crafted visual side. Quite enjoyed watching it despite its flaws.
 
Reno said:
Last Night in Soho, the new Edgar Wright film. Wonderful first half, the recreation of 60s Soho is gorgeous and I loved the fluid camera work. Unfortunately the film takes a turn for the worse when it attempts to be a horror film in the second hour. After a plot twist towards the end which doesn't work, it completely falls apart. As a horror film it isn't scary and the villain played by Matt Smith is too underdeveloped to be menacing. Diana Rigg in her last film has the biggest role of the three 60s stars featured but her character turns out to be one of the films biggest problems, Rita Tushingham and Terence Stamp are wasted in nothing roles. Despite my dissappointment in how the film pans out, I still think it's worth watching for the rapturous first hour.

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Yeah generally l agree though I I wasn’t too put down by the latter part of the film, even if I agree the horror element of it really doesn’t work as such.

Nonetheless I still enjoyed it overall and would recommend it.
 
Didn’t see a tv series thread, but I binged the first five episodes of the new Dexter series, and so far it’s been great. I loved the original series, and this has the same bingeworthy factor, the second an episode ends i can’t wait to start the next. Admittedly though I’m a bit disappointed I actually have to wait week by week to see new episodes, I usually just wait until a series is over; but I was rather excited about this one, and I would have started it sooner were i one to keep up with, anything. I also just realized it’s always sunny is already 4 episodes deep, I watched those the other night; they’re, pretty good I guess. I mean, it’s still always sunny; which is good enough for me.
 
Antlers - decent horrorish movie produced by Guillermo del Toro, with Keri Russell and Jesse Plemmons playing siblings in an Oregon mining town.
 
platinumsage said:
Antlers - decent horrorish movie produced by Guillermo del Toro, with Keri Russell and Jesse Plemmons playing siblings in an Oregon mining town.
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Watched this last night, decent creature feature with a well above average cast for that sort of thing. Thematically it bites of more than it can chew (the environment, the US opioid crisis, child abuse) but as a monster movie it works well enough.
 
Brightburn.

Origin story of a super villain, which doesn't do the premise justice. It's ok, some nice nods to Superman and apparently in the same universe as Super, which is a better film.

6/10
 
krtek a houby said:
Brightburn.

Origin story of a super villain, which doesn't do the premise justice. It's ok, some nice nods to Superman and apparently in the same universe as Super, which is a better film.

6/10
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I don't see a link to Super which didn't feature superheroes or anything supernatural, just a couple psychopaths who thought they superheroes. But yes, underrated film, at least James Gunn has hit the big time since, bringing a similar sensibility to blockbusters, especially with The Suicide Squat.

I quite liked Brightburn but it's the rare film which shouid have been 10 to 20 minutes longer. It could have done with a little more character development considering the strong cast, it heads into the action too fast. It fully commits to its horror elements though.
 
Reno said:
I don't see a link to Super which didn't feature superheroes or anything supernatural, just a couple psychopaths who thought they superheroes. But yes, underrated film, at least James Gunn has hit the big time since, bringing a similar sensibility to blockbusters, especially with The Suicide Squat.

I quite liked Brightburn but it's the rare film which shouid have been 10 to 20 minutes longer. It could have done with a little more character development considering the strong cast, it heads into the action too fast.
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Yeah, really needs more, or a sequel. The Super reference is during the end credits, blink and you miss,
with Michael Rooker's conspiracy nut ranting about various unexplained phenomena...
 
Got around to seeing the new Bond film (No Time to Die).

Barely a Bond film at all (more like Taken 4) - the plot is nonsensical, which I could forgive in a Bond film if it wasn't so boring. 2.5 hours feels like 4 and then..... an ending that makes no sense.

Looking at the writer credits and genuinely confused that they thought 'Yep, this'll do". The editing felt weirdly abrupt as well, I can't put my finger on it exactly but crucial scenes just happen with no build-up or rhythm, it's very offputting.

Complete waste of Rami Malek and Lashana Lynch too.

The sequence in Cuba with Ana De Armas' character was apparently a late addition / reshoot, yet manages to have better humour, action scenes and pacing than the rest of the film.

5/10
 
It was the first 4k/HDR thing I watched on my new OLED TV, so I enjoyed it for that. I don't think the plot even registered as I was looking at The Pretty the whole time. :)
 
I watched The Truffle Hunters last night. It’s a documentary about some delightful old fellas and their dogs who hunt in the forests of Northern Italy for the famed rare and expensive White Truffle, like Cage and his pig.
It’s beautifully filmed - some of the scenes of the men talking in the evening are lit like a Caravaggio and the forest looks unreal.
It’s so engrossing to watch - the bond the men have with the owners is so intense and joyful to see. They’re a scruffy ageing bunch, aghast at the rapaciousness of the younger competitors/merchants in the trade and aware of their own obsolescence. There are some contrasting scenes of dolled up rich Italians at truffle auctions - these things sell for thousands (of course the hunters get barely enough to live on down at their end of the chain). They’re mostly single/hermits, but one is married and there are some lovely scenes with his wife, lovingly asking him not to go out hunting at night any more after he scratches his face on a branch and needs medical attention. My favourite scene of them sorting and wasting tomatoes from the garden/farm. Was lusting after the tomatoes by the end of it. :D
5 stinky fun guys out of 5
 
Orang Utan said:
I watched The Truffle Hunters last night. It’s a documentary about some delightful old fellas and their dogs who hunt in the forests of Northern Italy for the famed rare and expensive White Truffle, like Cage and his pig.
It’s beautifully filmed - some of the scenes of the men talking in the evening are lit like a Caravaggio and the forest looks unreal.
It’s so engrossing to watch - the bond the men have with the owners is so intense and joyful to see. They’re a scruffy ageing bunch, aghast at the rapaciousness of the younger competitors/merchants in the trade and aware of their own obsolescence. There are some contrasting scenes of dolled up rich Italians at truffle auctions - these things sell for thousands (of course the hunters get barely enough to live on down at their end of the chain). They’re mostly single/hermits, but one is married and there are some lovely scenes with his wife, lovingly asking him not to go out hunting at night any more after he scratches his face on a branch and needs medical attention. My favourite scene of them sorting and wasting tomatoes from the garden/farm. Was lusting after the tomatoes by the end of it. :D
5 stinky fun guys out of 5
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Sounds a bit like Honeyland... which I loved
 
Part 2 said:
Sounds a bit like Honeyland... which I loved
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I was thinking of Honeyland while watching it too - would be a good double bill to watch - both are entrancing depictions of a disappearing rural way of life - rueful of modern developments but ultimately celebratory of human resilience and the beauty of nature. Something that would be very welcome right now for a lot of people
 
Orang Utan said:
I watched The Truffle Hunters last night. It’s a documentary about some delightful old fellas and their dogs who hunt in the forests of Northern Italy for the famed rare and expensive White Truffle, like Cage and his pig.
It’s beautifully filmed - some of the scenes of the men talking in the evening are lit like a Caravaggio and the forest looks unreal.
It’s so engrossing to watch - the bond the men have with the owners is so intense and joyful to see. They’re a scruffy ageing bunch, aghast at the rapaciousness of the younger competitors/merchants in the trade and aware of their own obsolescence. There are some contrasting scenes of dolled up rich Italians at truffle auctions - these things sell for thousands (of course the hunters get barely enough to live on down at their end of the chain). They’re mostly single/hermits, but one is married and there are some lovely scenes with his wife, lovingly asking him not to go out hunting at night any more after he scratches his face on a branch and needs medical attention. My favourite scene of them sorting and wasting tomatoes from the garden/farm. Was lusting after the tomatoes by the end of it. :D
5 stinky fun guys out of 5
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I’m surprised nobody is openly talking about the ending. Even allowing for an initial period of collective courtesy about not spoiling anything for those yet to see the film, I’d imagine by now there’d have been countless debates online as well as contemplative pieces in the press about the turn of events and what the future holds.
 
T & P said:
I’m surprised nobody is openly talking about the ending. Even allowing for an initial period of collective courtesy about not spoiling anything for those yet to see the film, I’d imagine by now there’d have been countless debates online as well as contemplative pieces in the press about the turn of events and what the future holds.
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The ending of The Truffle Hunters ? Did that film trigger Star Wars levels of debate on social media ?

Also, you can always discuss an ending AS LONG AS YOU DO IT IN SPOILER TAGS. If not, then sojourner will hunt you down and strangle you with your own intestines.
 
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Reno said:
The ending of The Truffle Hunters ? Did that film trigger Star Wars levels of debate on social media ?

Also, you can always discuss an ending AS LONG AS YOU DO IT IN SPOILER TAGS. If not, then sorjourner will hunt you down and strangle you with your own intestines.
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Spoiler around intestines FFS. :rolleyes:
 
T & P said:
I’m surprised nobody is openly talking about the ending. Even allowing for an initial period of collective courtesy about not spoiling anything for those yet to see the film, I’d imagine by now there’d have been countless debates online as well as contemplative pieces in the press about the turn of events and what the future holds.
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did you mean to reply to this one?
The Octagon said:
Got around to seeing the new Bond film (No Time to Die).

Barely a Bond film at all (more like Taken 4) - the plot is nonsensical, which I could forgive in a Bond film if it wasn't so boring. 2.5 hours feels like 4 and then..... an ending that makes no sense.

Looking at the writer credits and genuinely confused that they thought 'Yep, this'll do". The editing felt weirdly abrupt as well, I can't put my finger on it exactly but crucial scenes just happen with no build-up or rhythm, it's very offputting.

Complete waste of Rami Malek and Lashana Lynch too.

The sequence in Cuba with Ana De Armas' character was apparently a late addition / reshoot, yet manages to have better humour, action scenes and pacing than the rest of the film.

5/10
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Alan Partridge predicted the ending
 
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