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

[redsquirrel]

Smooth Talk - Again another film that I had not heard about before it came up on KG. This needs to be better known. Laura Dern plays a 15 year old (she's obviously a little too old for the role but gives such a strong performance that you can go with it), who's bored, attractive and want's to explore life. Her relationship with her family, especially her mother, is strained. Then a danger appears in the shape of an older drifter - I don't want to say much more as I don't want to give too much away. The mix of realism and strangeness, the undercurrent of danger and the acting all make this a really great piece of work.

A Place in the Sun - First in a Clift double bill. Very dated, over long (it could be trimmed by 20 minutes) and often unsubtle. There are just enough good things in the movie that it is watchable. Shelly Winters is very good (in a pretty cliched role), the scene where she goes to the doctor and tries to get an abortion is the best thing in the whole movie. Clift does the troubled young man part that he made his own, Taylor is the rich girl that he sets his heart on causing the problems. You can see how Clift's character falls for Taylor but not really why she goes head over heels for him.

The Young Lions - Marlo Brando with a blonde dye job and German accent (well I guess that that it is supposed to be what it is) plays a German solider who while not a dedicated Nazi enlists in the army and is somewhat supportive of a new Germany. Despite the accent he's got the best role and makes the most of it. Clift plays a Jewish US soldier looking to get married and Dean Martin a entertainer who is called up. The Martin storyline is the weakest part and the movie would have been better if it was dropped, or at least shortened.

 

[Reno]

Smooth Talk - Again another film that I had not heard about before it came up on KG. This needs to be better known. Laura Dern plays a 15 year old (she's obviously a little too old for the role but gives such a strong performance that you can go with it), who's bored, attractive and want's to explore life. Her relationship with her family, especially her mother, is strained. Then a danger appears in the shape of an older drifter - I don't want to say much more as I don't want to give too much away. The mix of realism and strangeness, the undercurrent of danger and the acting all make this a really great piece of work.

A Place in the Sun - First in a Clift double bill. Very dated, over long (it could be trimmed by 20 minutes) and often unsubtle. There are just enough good things in the movie that it is watchable. Shelly Winters is very good (in a pretty cliched role), the scene where she goes to the doctor and tries to get an abortion is the best thing in the whole movie. Clift does the troubled young man part that he made his own, Taylor is the rich girl that he sets his heart on causing the problems. You can see how Clift's character falls for Taylor but not really why she goes head over heels for him.

The Young Lions - Marlo Brando with a blonde dye and German (well I guess that that it is supposed to be what it is) plays a German solider who while not a dedicated Nazi enlists in the army and is somewhat supportive of a new Germany. Despite the accent he's got the best role and makes the most of it. Clift plays a Jewish US soldier looking to get married and Dean Martin a entertainer who is called up. The Martin storyline is the weakest part and the movie would have been better if it was dropped, or at least shortened.

Never watched The Young Lions but completely agree with you on the first two. Smooth Talk is a great movie and I never liked A Place in the Sun. That film could have worked as a film noir, but not as the preachy issue movie it is, a waste of a great cast.

 

[inva]

Ramrod
Tough, noirish and nicely complicated western from 1947 directed by Andre de Toth and starring Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea. A violent power struggle between rival cattle ranchers spreads a web of corruption across a small western town. At times a bit confusing and struggling against the conventions of the genre and probably the production code, it's refreshingly unjudgmental of its characters and has plenty of murkiness to spread around. It's let down a little by the ending but I liked this a lot. Great score by Adolph Deutsch too.

 

[nogojones]

Karnan. A Tamil film about caste and a village that rebels when the bus won't stop for them.

Amazing film!

 

[Elpenor]

I watched police academy for the first time.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

We're watching PT Anderson's first three San Fernando Valley-set films over the next three weeks, in preparation for his newest one Licorice Pizza which is supposed to come out in early January, pandemic willing. First up was Boogie Nights (1997), which I pretty much have memorised but is still a great watch - excellent performances from all his regular cast members, and a happy ending for just about everyone, pun intended. Next weekend is Magnolia, then Punch Drunk Love around New Years.

 

[krtek a houby]

I watched police academy for the first time.

ugh

 

[platinumsage]

1883, a spin-off of Yellowstone. I started Yellowstone and thought it was rubbish, but this spin-off is in another league entirely and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

 

[Elpenor]

Watched Gran Torino tonight. Trying to tick off a few films I want to see on Prime before I cancel it in the New Years. Probably should have put this on the prime thread but it seems to be more about tv series

 

[Reno]

Alternately funny, bizarre and frustrating, Climate of the Hunter is considered the most accessible of outsider filmmaker Mickey Reece films so far, I haven't seen his previous ones. Two sisters, who live in the middle of nowhere, catch up with an old friend after a couple of decades when he comes to stay with them. Sexual tensions flare up and one of the sisters comes to suspect their guest may be a vampire after he coughs up a used tampon during dinner.

It takes its style from 70s B-movies and daytime soaps, the original Dark Shadows in particular looks like it was an influence. The acting is stilted on purpose and it's more camp than horror but there are enough laughs and oddball moments to make it worth a watch if you are prepared to go with it.

Reece's latest film Agnes, looks like it has a bigger budget and is a nunsploitation/possession film.

Agnes is Mickey Reece's follow up to Climate of the Hunter. I enjoyed the offbeat quality and 70s daytime soap aesthetics of Climate of the Hunter and while the same deadpan humour and camp sensibility are present in Agnes, it's a far more polished, professional looking film. I can see how horror fans would feel mislead by the publicity (there is a lot of rage-downvoting on IMDb), the first half is a parody of possession & exorcism films and its being sold as more of a straight horror film than it turns out to be. The way it dives right into the possession mayhem at the start is hilarious but half way through, Agnes takes a sharp turn and morphs into a surprisingly affecting drama about trauma and loss of faith.

If you make the time for one nunsploitation film in 2021, skip the tired provocations of Verhoeven's Benedetta and watch this instead. I can't wait to see where Reece goes from here.
Top

 

[Elpenor]

I watched the start of Gary Delaneys new comedy show (emailed to his mailing list) then fell asleep almost immediately

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Finally got around to watching 127 Hours (2010) after it being in my want-to-watch list for a decade. It was worth the wait - I'd always been concerned that it might be a bit dull watching one person going nowhere for an hour-and-a-half, but it's actually really well paced, cleverly edited, and surprisingly stressful considering you already know how it ends.

 

[Part 2]

Episode 3 of Landscapers...which must be the best thing on telly atm. It's on NowTV for those who prefer not to watch by torrent etc

Also rewatching The Wire. Up to series 4 episode 10. It really is as good as I remember.

 

[platinumsage]

Matrix Resurrections - a very dull plot rationale meant that a couple of novel action scenes couldn’t lift it above mediocre.

 

[Petcha]

Don't Look Up. A satire on climate change/trump etc (although I'm sure that'll go over the rednecks' heads who will probably think it's just a disaster movie) with the most unbelievable cast. Beautifully done. And putting DiCaprio and Streep together, well it's clearly gonna win the Oscar.

 

[platinumsage]

Don't Look Up. Tediously worthy American satire, and Americans can be very good at doing satire badly.

 

[Petcha]

Well I quite enjoyed it. But then I've been drinking since 7am.

 

[Petcha]

Actually, I've just looked at the reviews and they are pretty good, so there!

 

[rubbershoes]

Actually, I've just looked at the reviews and they are pretty good, so there!

Fake news!

 

[Elpenor]

Allied - SOE romance / drama starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. Interesting premise though script a little wooden. Good music and costumes. Had fun spotting a few potential historical inaccuracies. Was on More 4.

 

[platinumsage]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - some wizarding shenanigans in a boarding school

 

[Reno]

Actually, I've just looked at the reviews and they are pretty good, so there!

If you look at review aggregators, reviews were middling at best if you want to be generous. I doubt this will win any Oscars.

Don't Look Up (2021) | Rotten Tomatoes

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem: it's on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to...

www.rottentomatoes.com

Don't Look Up

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to...

www.metacritic.com

I haven't seen the film and was looking forward to it as I liked The Big Short by McKay (not so much Vice). As I currently have so much I want to watch, it's not that high a priority anymore.

 

[Petcha]

If you look at review aggregators, reviews were middling at best if you want to be generous. I doubt this will win any Oscars.

Don't Look Up (2021) | Rotten Tomatoes

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem: it's on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to...

www.rottentomatoes.com

Don't Look Up

Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to...

www.metacritic.com

I haven't seen the film and was looking forward to it as I liked The Big Short by McKay (not so much Vice). As I currently have so much I want to watch, it's not that high a priority anymore.

I didnt know it was the guy who did the Big Short. I can kinda see it though - Ii was quite a subtle piece of satire. I also quite enjoyed Ariana Grande's turn at taking the piss out of herself and the bullshit music she produces.

 

[The39thStep]

I thought Don't Look Back was ok tbh , good bit of Xmas fun to watch whilst drinking wine. Funny in parts, hamfisted in others .

 

[DaveCinzano]

quite a subtle piece of satire

I mean, I enjoyed it, but still

 

[Gramsci]

Maeve.

Film from 1981 set in Northern Ireland of the time. Women returns to NI to visit her family. The film isn't a linear narrative. It jumps between her present day and past.

Reading up on it and the director Pat Murphy is being rediscovered.

I liked the film. Its a very political film. There are discussions of the relationship between Republicanism and Feminism. Which was very much sidelined during the Troubles.

Also growing up and living in the fraught history of NI. The women's Father for example ( a great performance) tries to keep out of it and finds tragically he can't.

Says a lot about the position of women at the time.

It could sound didactic. Its not. Presents the different views and doesn't give easy answers.

It was a mixture of professional actors and locals. There are great performaces. Despite it being political ( which could put some off) its got a lot of humour and real life scenes. Though its not Ken Loach in style. Mixes more formal speeching to the camera scenes with informal scenes in pubs and the street.

Shows the day to day little humiliations of what was a war zone.

I would recommend this. Particularly for the way its structured and made.

Bits I've read say its Brechtian and Godardian. I don't know enough to say. Its definitely different from a lot I've scene recently.

Pat Murphy went on to make a few films. Not many unfortunately. Worked as artist/ installation artist. From the NI but left like in the film.

More on here:

Maeve review: a startlingly radical Irish experiment

At a time when films set in Northern Ireland invariably offered grim realism, Pat Murphy’s Belfast-based drama challenged with its daring form and ideological exchanges.

www.bfi.org.uk

Look back with candour

Pioneering Irish feminist film-maker Pat Murphy is being feted with an IFI retrospective

www.irishtimes.com

BTW. Saw this on MUBI. Googling it and it says its on Prime. I've seen this a lot. Its not on Prime unless you get MUBI on Prime.

My MUBI is separate from Prime. I feel its unfair on small sites like MUBI. MUBI comes up down the page.

Its also on BFI player for 2.50

 

[Chz]

Ninjababy. Norwegian film about an aspiring graphic artist who finds out she's pregnant. And thought it was from 8 weeks ago, but it turns out to be six and a half months along (thus Ninjababy).
It's sweet, it's cute, and I mean that in a nice way because I'm the first person to puke at overly cutesy stuff. I would recommend.

 

[Petcha]

I mean, I enjoyed it, but still

Yes, on reflection, you're quite correct. As I said, I was pretty blasted when I watched it. I still think it's gonna win best picture though - you can't put together a cast like that without expecting honours. Everyone in Hollywood seemed to pop up at some point. Must have cost a fortune.

 

[Part 2]

Maeve.

Film from 1981 set in Northern Ireland of the time. Women returns to NI to visit her family. The film isn't a linear narrative. It jumps between her present day and past.

Reading up on it and the director Pat Murphy is being rediscovered.

I liked the film. Its a very political film. There are discussions of the relationship between Republicanism and Feminism. Which was very much sidelined during the Troubles.

Also growing up and living in the fraught history of NI. The women's Father for example ( a great performance) tries to keep out of it and finds tragically he can't.

Says a lot about the position of women at the time.

It could sound didactic. Its not. Presents the different views and doesn't give easy answers.

It was a mixture of professional actors and locals. There are great performaces. Despite it being political ( which could put some off) its got a lot of humour and real life scenes. Though its not Ken Loach in style. Mixes more formal speeching to the camera scenes with informal scenes in pubs and the street.

Shows the day to day little humiliations of what was a war zone.

I would recommend this. Particularly for the way its structured and made.

Bits I've read say its Brechtian and Godardian. I don't know enough to say. Its definitely different from a lot I've scene recently.

Pat Murphy went on to make a few films. Not many unfortunately. Worked as artist/ installation artist. From the NI but left like in the film.

More on here:

Maeve review: a startlingly radical Irish experiment

At a time when films set in Northern Ireland invariably offered grim realism, Pat Murphy’s Belfast-based drama challenged with its daring form and ideological exchanges.

www.bfi.org.uk

Look back with candour

Pioneering Irish feminist film-maker Pat Murphy is being feted with an IFI retrospective

www.irishtimes.com

BTW. Saw this on MUBI. Googling it and it says its on Prime. I've seen this a lot. Its not on Prime unless you get MUBI on Prime.

My MUBI is separate from Prime. I feel its unfair on small sites like MUBI. MUBI comes up down the page.

Its also on BFI player for 2.50

Thanks...been planning to watch it since it's been on Mubi

 

[ska invita]

Master and Commander: Far Side of the Earth
have seen this a couple of times before, always enjoyed watching it, great yarn and well realised. I wish there were more films in this 'realistic' wooden-boat naval style

sadly there was never a sequel, but just saw on wiki" In June 2021, it was reported that a second film is in development by 20th Century Studios, a prequel based on the first novel only, with Patrick Ness penning the script.[43] "

New ‘Master And Commander’ Movie In Works At 20th Century; Patrick Ness Penning Prequel

EXCLUSIVE: 20th Century is looking to head back to the high seas as sources tell Deadline the studio is developing a new Master and Commander pic with A Monster Calls scribe Patrick Ness adapting t…

deadline.com

developing means nothing of course, but you never know

recommendations for similiar films welcome.
ive always enjoyed Polanski's Pirates