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

[inva]

Les Diaboliques
Clouzot's dark 1955 suspense film of a revenge murder gone wrong. Brilliantly ludicrous plot which manages to just about keep on the rails and with nice gruesome and almost paranormal touches. Great performances by the three leads, and especially from Simone Signoret (wounded and steely) and Paul Meurisse (vindictive and sinister). Really enjoyed it, a perfect film for a Sunday afternoon! Thanks to Sue for the recommendation

Simone Signoret was in so many good films wasn't she? I've so far seen her in this, Casque d'Or, Death in the Garden, Deadly Affair and Army of Shadows and not a bad one yet.

 

[Sue]

Les Diaboliques
Clouzot's dark 1955 suspense film of a revenge murder gone wrong. Brilliantly ludicrous plot which manages to just about keep on the rails and with nice gruesome and almost paranormal touches. Great performances by the three leads, and especially from Simone Signoret (wounded and steely) and Paul Meurisse (vindictive and sinister). Really enjoyed it, a perfect film for a Sunday afternoon! Thanks to Sue for the recommendation

Simone Signoret was in so many good films wasn't she? I've so far seen her in this, Casque d'Or, Death in the Garden, Deadly Affair and Army of Shadows and not a bad one yet.

It was remade in the 90s with Sharon Stone. Haven't seen it but iirc, it got horrible reviews so...

They were doing a Simone Signoret centenary season at the Cine Lumiere recently.

 

[inva]

It was remade in the 90s with Sharon Stone. Haven't seen it but iirc, it got horrible reviews so...

They were doing a Simone Signoret centenary season at the Cine Lumiere recently.

Probably won't rush to see that then! Also I was thinking it's not a remake but until I saw Les Diaboliques I hadn't realised how much the great little Hammer film Taste of Fear owes to it.

 

[inva]

Payroll
Blunt and noirishly fatalistic 1961 heist film directed by Sidney Hayers. A slightly shambolic gang rob a payroll van and try to lie low with the money but even from before they commit the crime things are beginning to unravel. Some great location shooting in Newcastle I think it is and nice black and white cinematography. Well made and acted (lots of familiar faces) I particularly liked Billie Whitelaw as the wife of an unfortunate security guard out for revenge and Francoise Prevost as a sort of vaguely femme-fatale character who gives the gang an extra push or two off the cliff. Enjoyed it.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Finally got around to watching The Pianist (2002), since it's one of the very few top-rated films on IMDB I hadn't seen. It's hard for it not to suffer by comparison to Schindler's List - perhaps if I hadn't seen the latter, I would have liked it more.

 

[platinumsage]

The Scent of a Woman - Gave up less than half way through. Can hardly believe this sort of crap won awards in the 90s.

 

[Reno]

Finally got around to watching The Pianist (2002), since it's one of the very few top-rated films on IMDB I hadn't seen. It's hard for it not to suffer by comparison to Schindler's List - perhaps if I hadn't seen the latter, I would have liked it more.

I prefer The Pianist to Schindler's List and think they are two quite different films.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Being Elmo. Heartwarming.

Shame about the real life epilogue.

What's the real life epilogue?

 

[platinumsage]

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, although I gave up after one minute on discovering that was filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio for artistic reasons. Might try it again tomorrow when I’m in a different frame of mind.

 

[platinumsage]

Landscapers - crime drama with some surreal elements about a husband and wife in Nottinghamshire who killed the wife’s parents and buried them in their garden.

I’m not sure what number wall is broken when the actors walk off the set, past the production crew, cross the studio floor and start acting on another set, but I haven’t seen that before.

 

[Orang Utan]

What's the real life epilogue?

Multiple sexual assault allegations from young men who were underage at the time. He wasn’t charged though

 

[The39thStep]

Got back into series 2 of Godfather of Harlem , overall very entertaining with plenty of plot twists and a few sub plots . Can be it bit predictable in places but the setting , pace and detail is good .

 

[inva]

The Third Murder
The Japanese legal system and the death penalty come under scrutiny in a thoughtful 2017 crime/courtroom drama directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. A cynical lawyer is landed with the case of a man who's confessed to the murder of his factory owner boss and faces a death sentence but won't keep his story straight, and his efforts to find a way to mitigate his client's guilt leads to a quickly spiralling investigation of his client and the victim and a whole web of events and circumstances around them. Among a strong cast Kōji Yakusho delivers an excellent and subtle performance as the man awaiting trial and he is key to maintaining the film's delicately balanced ambiguity which continues right to the end without ever feeling like a cop out. A good watch.

The only thing I didn't really like was the music which sounded like a car ad off the tv or something.

 

[Elpenor]

Payroll
Blunt and noirishly fatalistic 1961 heist film directed by Sidney Hayers. A slightly shambolic gang rob a payroll van and try to lie low with the money but even from before they commit the crime things are beginning to unravel. Some great location shooting in Newcastle I think it is and nice black and white cinematography. Well made and acted (lots of familiar faces) I particularly liked Billie Whitelaw as the wife of an unfortunate security guard out for revenge and Francoise Prevost as a sort of vaguely femme-fatale character who gives the gang an extra push or two off the cliff. Enjoyed it.

I’ve recorded this on my BT box, mostly because I’ve spent my entire career working in payroll

 

[T & P]

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, although I gave up after one minute on discovering that was filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio for artistic reasons. Might try it again tomorrow when I’m in a different frame of mind.

If I were rich enough to be able to spend five-figure amounts on artworks, my first choice would probably be one his later-career cat paintings, when his mind was alleged to be in a somewhat altered state

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, although I gave up after one minute on discovering that was filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio for artistic reasons. Might try it again tomorrow when I’m in a different frame of mind.

I thought that was on at the cinema?

 

[platinumsage]

I thought that was on at the cinema?

I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.

Then I mean, "I didn't think it was available to stream yet is is? "

 

[krtek a houby]

Watched an ITV ep of Sherlock Holmes on the television last night. Eric Sykes was in it. He was great on the wireless, back in the day. He's been in the pictures, too. One of those charming racing movies, iirc.

 

[Reno]

Then I mean, "I didn't think it was available to stream yet is is? "

Like a lot of films during the pandemic it got released soon after its theatrical release. It’s been available to stream for a couple of months.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Like a lot of films during the pandemic it got released soon after its theatrical release. It’s been available to stream for a couple of months.

Oh really? It's on at quite a few semi local cinemas. I was toying with going as I am currently 'between jobs'. I have to say that it being available to stream makes me far less likely to go. I of course know that loads of big films have been showing at cinemas and streaming at the same time, but I thought as this was 'smaller' and still showing in smaller cinemas that it had yet to make it into streaming. Mind you I suppose its a non subscription thing, I don't think I have ever considered paying for a film as a one off (a la blockbuster video).

 

[Chz]

I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.

I treat it as "that which isn't Netflix, Prime, or iPlayer". Though I do actually still subscribe to a DVD rental service (Cinema Paradiso).

 

[Sue]

I don't go to the cinema, or own a DVD player. I think the thread titles are a bit outdated.

Surely this is for anything people watch at home, no matter by which means? (There's a separate thread for films people have seen at the cinema which can obviously include old stuff as well as new.)

 

[Part 2]

Borgman...Borgman, who looks down and out, and his two friends, flee their underground hideouts in the woods being chased by religious folk with dogs. After he calls at a house asking for a shower the owner assaults him but his wife takes pity, allowing Borgman and his friends to execute their plan. I enjoy a home invasion film and this was a good one I thought.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane... Jodie Foster's film after Bugsy Malone. She stars as Rhynn, a 13 year old living alone although pretending her father is busy with his writing or resting in bed when anyone calls at the house. The house is rented to them by the mother of Frank Hallet, the village paedophile, played to good effect by Martin Sheen. Rhynn is hounded by them but finds allies in the local cop and his magician nephew...gradually her secrets are exposed. A good film and Sheen's performance from a minute in is stomach turning.

 

[Reno]

Borgman...Borgman, who looks down and out, and his two friends, flee their underground hideouts in the woods being chased by religious folk with dogs. After he calls at a house asking for a shower the owner assaults him but his wife takes pity, allowing Borgman and his friends to execute their plan. I enjoy a home invasion film and this was a good one I thought.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane... Jodie Foster's film after Bugsy Malone. She stars as Rhynn, a 13 year old living alone although pretending her father is busy with his writing or resting in bed when anyone calls at the house. The house is rented to them by the mother of Frank Hallet, the village paedophile, played to good effect by Martin Sheen. Rhynn is hounded by them but finds allies in the local cop and his magician nephew...gradually her secrets are exposed. A good film and Sheen's performance from a minute in is stomach turning.

I love The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, a film I watched several times in my teens and related to strongly and which I can't see being made that way today. At the time it was promoted as a horror film to jump on the "evil kid" bandwagon, which it really isn't, it's more of a dark coming of age drama with thriller elements.



Borgman on the other hand is a film which I saw a few years ago and can't remember a single thing about, not even whether I liked it or not.

 

[May Kasahara]

Red Notice. Fine Saturday night fare with the Rock, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot chasing a string of Macguffins all over the world.

 

[Sue]

Fracture. Not v good courtroom drama despite a pretty stellar cast (Anthony Hopkins, a v young Ryan Gosling, Rosamund Pike, David Strathearn and even Fiona Shaw in a v small role).

 

[Part 2]

Satantango. My lad had to watch this for an essay he needs to write and at 7h20m it's the longest film I've ever watched. It's spaced into chapters with intervals though so quite possible to get through on a rainy day like today. In fact the weather fits the film just right. I've previously seen The Werckmeister Harmonies by Bela Tarr and liked that anyway.

Film follows the inhabitants of a small village after the closure of the local factory... the main occupation now seems to be drinking. A man thought to be dead returns with his sidekick, bringing fear to some among the villagers.

It's very slow but that's a bad thing at all. It's so beautifully shot and the chapters aren't in chronological order so there's a lot of time to think about what you're watching, where it fits into the narrative and what it might mean. It has some really funny moments, a few 10 minute long shots including some great music, dancing and drunken behaviour. Cat lovers may wish to avoid it as there's a scene that involves a girl swinging a cat around that's not easy to watch.

Well worth seeing though, and it's on Youtube in 1080p

 

[flypanam]

Letterkenny - a Canadian show about a small rural community. Well written, well acted and stupidly funny. Well worth tracking down.

 

[redsquirrel]

Breakout - One of those Charles Bronson action flicks. not one of the better ones. Terrible sexual and national politics but also just tedious and badly written.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room - Documentary about the Enron scandal. Decent enough but all very standard, lots of talking heads and at some points I wanted to have the film stop and explain more things in details. Some plot lines just did not really seem to go anywhere.

The Big Short - Seen it before but decided to have a financial failures double bill. Entertaining (though could lose ten or so minutes), and competent even too much of a acting is showy for my tastes.