/film/ - FILM

Finally, a well-made movie about genocide that isn't nagging us to remember muh 6 gorillion. The Killing Fields does well at portraying Pol Pot's rise to power from a street level perspective, Mike Oldfield's knack for distractingly good soundtracks, and horribly misusing John Lennon's "Imagine" in ways the production team never intended.

In the meantime, Mamoru Oshii reminds his audience that birds are very important in political intrigue plots for reasons you will never fully understand.

The Goat Horn is apparently one of the finest film offerings from Bulgaria. The title refers to a tool of death that doubles as a recurring symbol within the film's examination of gender - an examination occurring before that topic was so clumsily politicized.

I'm attracted to these sorts of films set in rural Europe because of the raw simplicity of the characters' behavior and of life in general. When survival is harder, everything becomes a little more honest.

Bottom line: Well-constructed story, compelling performances, a world cinema gem. Put this on your watchlist.

>>6206

teaser clip

This was the first movie I've watched and thought "wow, that was pretentious as fuck". Alonso obviously tried to channel Tarkovsky but failed hard, producing nothing but 2 hours of watching dull landscapes. I did like two scenes where Mortensen was allowed to show some emotion, but that's it.

This one really surprised me and could have really been great with a more ambitious editing. It has one of the most original aesthetics I've seen of a film released in the past 5 years, teetering on the precipice absurdity and authenticity with it's boisterously told narrative if a trannies revenge on Christmas eve and it's iphone cinematography of Los Angeles subculture and life.

Hearing there would be a new Bond movie i relived some of the old films and while i was also digging Hong Kong i decided to check 2 movies in preparation for the new film:

1/2

國產凌 凌漆 Gwok Chaan Ling Ling Chat aka From Beijing with Love, directed by the good ol' Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer) and Lik-Chi Lee

- A light-hearted comedy that uses untranslatable double-entedre, slapstick humour and the Chow trademark random moments to move its paper-thin plot, which comes decent enough and even goes to ruthless points that move its rating to M17, which the director uses to slip some naughty jokes too.

It takes a lot of shots at the Bond movies, the title and the Living Daylights parody poster would give that away in a second, but it does while also being respectful, with the loaned characters and icons being translated to the mainland and HK China, with Jaws being a modified fishermen, the gadgets being all skillfully hidden behind everyday objects but serve like other everyday objects (Get Smart jokes i believe), and even the main character who uses a pirated Bond anthology (with photo copied art book included) as his unreachable standard, even going as closely to seek a poor choice of tie, this making Bond a far away legend or just famous media, closing any intention of "replacing" these said images.

The intro gives a proper action segment famous in the 90's HK, giving a much needed and intended contrast to the Get Smart buffonery that will come into place, while also acting like real spies without forgetting it's a parody all along, giving a 2-edged meaning of the Woo-esque bullet rain, which makes it look like it's at home

The technical aspects are OK, i've seen far better from both directors, especially in God of Cookery and Kung Fu Hustle, but it doesn't fall into cheap C-tier chinese knock-off, it has its decent cinematography and framework, the music takes pieces from a lot of past Bond themes but still make it somewhat original and refreshing, if clown-like for the sake of the context.

Overall a very pleasant view if you are a Bond fan, especially for historical reasons because it shows a girl eerily similar to Elektra (5 years prior) and accentuates the joke that was that Die Another Day amateur fan-movie because a key role here was played by the North Korean General i believe (starting his 007 fame with a parody, like Madonna with Austin Powers), or if you like HK stuff or even Chow stuff, this already shows his trademark style.

2/2

SPECTRE, directed by Sam Mendes

- This is AAA big budget compared to the previous example mainly because it is, the biggest spy spoof since Goldmember and it shows in its vast research on the subject and sets, but this is a different kind of parody as it uses satire and obscure inside jokes, much in the like of Robocop and the perceived future of american media or Airplane with the use of stone-faced serious actors to deliver inane dialog.

The hilarity starts from the very intro, with a gigantic Day of the Dead public party with hundreds of Baron Samedi costumes instead of the traditional Parka or Huesuda attire/makeup, the dirty little inside joke with the Bond-esque main character using laser sights (which is also a joke itself as he is completely miscasted to resemble 007's old ongoing nemesis, Red Grant and his "sons", and Bond claims laser is for "new cats" in a book time ago)

It continues with the apparent spoof of A-Ha's theme for The Living Daylights, but more affeminated and with sudden tone changes, this fills a glass i will talk later on

Our hairless white-head hero (an old joke too) mumbles his name as "Bend, Jaymes Bend", a very suspicious shot at double O, and goes to report to his nervous superior Uhm (M), MuhniePennay (Moneypenny) and Coo (Q), this degrading the small chuckle grin one could develop already 20 minutes into the movie, it also takes lowkicks at Coo being a joker (which itself is a joke at the no nonsense laboral nature Q has when being serious about Bond's cars)

Places also get no mercy here, with the Living Daylights' Tangier couple-escape-gone-sour get a shot here, along with the famous train rides with Jaws & Red Grant, the cozy alpine clinic from OHMSS, Bond's apartment, Bond's sidekick apparence (hilarious skin color changes, terrific age changes) and even an unashamed M16's dilapidated HQ having a cameo, this also goes with the henchman not-Sandor, a mexican Oddjob and a Bond's wife look-alike (with the ending being a parody too), plus a Bellucci cameo as a joke on Olga's infamous fame and role in another spoof made time ago, the stuff even gets into the mysterious and cringeworthy internet inside jokes with Bend being repeatedly called a cuck/cuckold and a Bert/Arthur parody scene, all involving the tech-savvy main villain

Not trying to spoil things but this movie has a shot, reference or joke towards the Bond franchise or its spillovers (MGS video game series, or the unrelated Usual Suspects' famous dialogue) in almost every scene, it rarely stops and can get you a crack when you dont suspect, it goes into every detail to spoof the 00 agent even to the cinematography aspect making it look like Bourne antics or Nolan's Batman movies with the long shots, inhuman superhero set pieces and low-bumper camera, which Nolan himself said where over-exagerated Bond exploits and the 007 series should not go in that route, absolutely hilarious if you are a tough fan, but it also comes as being unashamedly disrespectful to the franchise, unlike Austin Powers or Chow's Beijing, this constant hitting and doing straight-forward references fills a unsettling glass that at some point spills and everything becomes tiring much like Operation Kid Brother (which even includes previous Bond actors), especially with the reveal of the main villain, and very especially taking into account this was a british production. At least Johnny English used the argument it was a spoof at Atkinson's experience and work in the non-official Never Say Never Again, not at Bond himself.

A dangerous must-see for a fan that wants to test his knowledge in the series and have fun at the same time with the hidden gems all around the place along with the obvious balls-to-the-wall jokes.

While the 2 movies go on their way to make fun of their target one does so far more tastefully than the other even if it comes at the cost of too innocuous or friendly, but respectful at the source material, which is sometimes forgotten in the realm of pioneers and trendsetters in cinema

The wait has been long, last Bond movie was in 1999, so here's hoping this next film will break the thrist for more super agent exploits!

>>6264

Saw it on TV a while ago, it was bad and distasteful (literal Connery brother being the MC, Largo, Russian girl, M and Moneypenny being here ALMOST reprising their roles, straight in our face references STOP READING FLEMING'S NOVELS, DOCTOR) but i feel it doesn't deserve the heat it gets, it was hilariously bad no doubt, but at many times it tried to do its own thing, casting something away from 007, unlike that Spectre movie which i can also seriously compare to Meet the Spartans, trying to do something original but falling into cheap spoof jokes time and time again for 90+ minutes, it's like watching a bird nest fall from a very tall tree, you get shocked, then cringe and move in your sit in horror then you will eventually laugh and finally just stare at it like one does after ordering a large order of food and realizing you didnt like it since the first bite

No kidding, 2 and half hours of cringe & laughs

A little off-topic, so here's some letters of a film i watched a week ago but i still "feel" it, something that honestly only happens with good movies (or trainwrecks):

Ogro, released in 1979 by Gillo Pontecorvo (Battle of Algiers, Queimada, Kapo)

- A dramatization of the kidnapping and assassination attempt at Carrero Blanco, Franco's successor in late 60's/early 70's Spain, by Basque separatists aka ETA

A classic example on how the official poster spoils the whole thing if you dont know anything about the background (poster not pictured), this movie retakes the previous well-known docudrama style from Battle of Algiers (but with official actors, which makes it somewhat less real due to their more pronounced line delivery), the director gives a simple but interesting look at the lives and procedures of several ETA members in Madrid. The movie drags a little, it shuffles between present time (1978 in this case) and the past events, someone without patience will surely quit after 30 minutes if not for the intro segment in present time that actually sparks interest, it makes you wonder what really happened, and when it dries off there's another scene that refuels the spark (if you actually reach to care about the characters), it's all a slow build-up for the ending sequence (IMHO)

The acting is good enough, even when the movie promotes the excellent Gian Maria Volonte as the main man or Saverio Marconi as support, the actual MC is Eusebio Poncela as one of his cold but rebellious henchman. I think nobody does a bad job here, and even if that happened it would be easily confused with fear and nervousness, something natural with their roles in context. Unintentional humour at times if one has a sick sense of it (or if you are a football fan), it gives a good contrast for the expected and somewhat cliched but still poignant ending and its very well-known future context

The technical aspects are OK, good cinematography, tasteful frames from time to time and good audio (tough gunshots, realistic urban atmosphere, Ennio Morricone soundtrack)

An enjoyable look, a must-see for those fans of docudramas or slow, natural situations that don't reach on the mundane, also a prime example on how confusing vital things, in this case PE4 with TNT, can lead to highly amusing results

No offense intended at all to any Spaniard fellas around here but it's funny how this movie, surely the best i've seen from Spain, comes from Basque investors, characters and a full Italian production team. And even so the well-made Spanish edit gets some content chopped

Someday i will look into Spain's cinema to wipe a little that poor fame they have because this movie shows talent in the actor's sector

I haven't seen OK Connery but I need to give that a shot. It looks like it could be a hard one to finish though...

My favorite Bond ripoff is Deadlier Than the Male. Maybe it's the best one? It has the perfect tone for a silly spy story IMO. I tried the sequel Some Girls Do which pales in comparison. It's disappointingly uninspired and not even widescreen.

>>6270

>It looks like it could be a hard one to finish though...

You are in for a ride, it needs extra motivation, if you are a MST3K fan then there's a version in it if you want company

Best i've seen is a flip between the silly Goldmember or the serious In the Interest of the Nation (a mainstream adaptation of a Hamilton book, which is heavily inspired/ripped from Bond books)

Any Austin Powers is more memorable thou, and the rip-offs aren't that good because James Bond actually isn't THAT good either, they are very charming but almost all of them are flawed at some point, if you watch them more than a couple of times you will realize most of them could have been way better if taken seriously and not rushed

It's also funny how if you skip/ignore some movies there's a very consistent timeline with many layers, my guess is that it was accidental but the result is good enough even with all the creative media problems (Blofeld), like an improvisational paint fest/epilepsy attack can lead to good results

>>6276

> You are in for a ride, it needs extra motivation, if you are a MST3K fan then there's a version in it if you want company

Ha ha, I might try that. Cheap Italian movies from 1967 can be pretty fun, and I especially enjoy early Morricone. It has to be one of the lowest-rated movies that he scored though.

Yeah Bond movies aren't consistently great and I haven't even seen very many of them. They can be formulaic to the point of self-parody. The 60s spy genre is basically adolescent male fantasy fulfillment. But that's not so bad and I'd watch more given time — the (original) French "0SS 117" series for example.

I felt like watching something other than 70s/80s chinese cartoons and remembered >>2648 recommending The Gospel According to St. Matthew, to whom I now owe my undying gratitude.

Because I'm awful at writing reviews or anything in general, have a webm of >>6193 instead.

Diamonds of the night - This one grew on me the more i thought about it afterwards, and i would like to rewatch it sometime. It used an effective stream-of-consciousness editing which blends memories of the past with visions of the future ....and it's not always clear which is which. I also liked the visceral handheld tracking shots through the forest. Cinematographer was Jaroslav Kucera who shot Daises among other things.

>>6300

>just garbage, Besson's films deserve no praise

Very controversial opinion that i fully share, i can see some talent behind the film but for one Leon is always sold as a hitman movie with something extra. But it ends up being just a drama about the "interesting" relation of an old man and a girl (interesting in the Hollywood sense, with its implied morbid and romantic buttsex links) with a "tragic" yet "feel-good" ending, and it just turns out the old man was a hitman by mere coincidence (and not a very good one)

It's very overrated in that sense (hitman genre) and also falls flat in the action and morbid relation departments

Who knows why it got so much praise, and why nobody in the damn building heard Oldman's screams and a dude inside the vents, still not really a bad film like his newer stuff

Nikita is a little better but falls short due to a lot of decisions and scene/idea focus that aren't supposed to be the focus

5th Element had a lot of moments but it always felt like a silly journey with underused (Oldman) and overworked (Leopard Dress Tucker, Willis) actors, and a Bladerunner universe blantant rip-off

That's Luc Besson's works for me, lots of potential that don't deliver and then take another road one really doesn't expect nor want

And talking about french hitman movies, saw Le Deuxième Souffle (Second Breath) by Jean-Pierre Melville

In line with Le Cercle Rouge, this one is about the post-prison exploits and coincidential moments of a criminal who just went out from prison. They share many aspects, but this one focuses a little more on the relation between the ex-con and his old partner in crime and supposedly in love who is now a night club and racket owner plus his old friends (without overblowing it like Besson), this instead of the focus on procedures and planning talk Cercle Rouge had

It's one of the lesser-known titles from Melville but i found it to be one of his best, IMO better executed than Army of Shadows (who both share lead actors and locations), it doesn't have the slow tension or cold atmosphere of it but repays with interesting set pieces and dialogue dynamics, and it doesn't hide cool images from time to time

>>6322

> It's one of the lesser-known titles from Melville but i found it to be one of his best

Agreed. In fact I like it more than Le cercle rouge which seemed a bit average by comparison. It must be one of the first heist movies to feature dual / dueling police and criminal protagonists. Michael Mann lifted that idea in Heat of course.

Has anyone seen the remake? I kind of wanted to watch the remake of Bob le flambeur with Nick Nolte too. I don't think that either of those are especially great.

Funeral Parade of Roses. Pretty good.

>>6328

i could have sworn criterion released it by now

but no, it's not even on bluray except in Japan!

http://www.kingrecords.co.jp/cs/g/gKIXF-197/

you'll probably have to download it to see it

I have never seen a movie start out so promising and then shit itself that hard until now.

>>6323

>Michael Mann lifted that idea in Heat of course

And funny thing is, Heat is the remake of of one of his lesser known low-budget TV movies L.A. Takedown

That's why i rarely skip TV movies from well-known directors when making lists, there's some who have big potential or quirky something-something if one can ignore the lack of funds or talent in some parts (if there's is)

Haven't seen the remake of Deuxieme but i heard bad rap in terms of looking fakey and trying too hard, or at least that's what the TV guide said. Also Eric Cantona as an actor

Nick Nolte has a strange thing going on, a good bunch of his films are regarded as trash but have a cult following or so to say, like Mulholland Falls, it even landed the director the 007 job (which was a disaster). Kinda like Nicholas Cage but less overblown and from what i have seen not about his acting either, so i wouldn't be surprised one of those niche films was Bob the Gambler (or Good Thief)

>>6329

>What would you say is Pasolini's best work?

Well i'm kinda ashamed to say i haven't seen all Paso's work other than the obligatory Salo viewing, Accatone and Arabian Nights. From those 3 i will say the one i liked the most was Accatone, but i heard around here Vangelo Secondo San Matteo (Gospel of Matthew) and Cantebury Tales are his peaks. Cantebury is seen as a Caligula-esque film, it has its chops but people see it for the skin

But the guy is one of those who had respectable prizes in most of his films, my bet is that you would most probably find his job interesting if not good

About Grey Garden i'm kinda ignorant on that

Pretty damn epic, the last battle was a bit of a letdown, also i think a prologue of sorts showing the actions Hidetori took against Sue and Kaede's families would have been nice.

One of my all time favourites

If there's supposed to be an underlying message to El Topo as a whole, I'll freely admit that I didn't pick up on it but still enjoyed the film and its dream logic. Maybe I'll rewatch it someday when I'm less of a plebian and understand it a bit better, in the meantime I'm just grateful to have seen it at all.

As for Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, it was essentially just a more traditional Mamoru Oshii movie with too many philosophy quotes that just happened to share some characters with the original movie. It's not a bad film by any means, it's just that the director has made much better films in the past and I'm surprised that this competed for the Palme d'Or at all.

There's not much of a point in saying anything about Vertigo at all, since so much has already been said on the film and there's no reason for me to write an entire essay praising it when I can barely manage two or three sentence posts on what movies I've watched.

Fuck, I really need to learn how to write properly or else there's not much of a point in participating in these threads.

>>6387

Yeah plenty of film theory comes off as overwrought mental masturbation so the critic can justify their own existence.

Beyond the Black Rainbow. It was okay, I guess. A bit too masturbatory at times.

>>6390

I see this sentiment expressed often, towards criticism in general, not just film theory.

It took me some time to understand its popularity considering its so staunchly anti-intellectual but I've come to realize it's usually shared in the interest of someone protecting their ego because they were accidentally exposed to something that went over their head (the horror!) and can't accept the off chance they might not know everything (or are simply stupid). It's a lot more likely that you simply don't have the background (or IQ) to understand a piece than an entire professional community is deceived by an "emperor's new clothes". Tough shit.

There's a good anecdote about the reception of Malevich's utopian art with the working class. They refused to believe such radical abstract art could be a sincere attempt to bring art out of the hands of the rich to the people through a universal aesthetics. So, like you, the working class assumed it was another pretentious, indulgent prank of the upper classes trying to make a fool of the people as much as they seem to make a fool of themselves. Emperor in new clothes! Art that had long been kept out of their reach was now handed straight to them, but in their fear, they chose to preclude themselves from the prize. Tough shit.

>>6407

Actually, I would argue that your first paragraph describes the community you're attempting to defend.

The world of critics who interpret movies primarily through their ideology of choice, whether it be feminism, marxism, christianity, or another flavor of the month, quite often stumble across films that were not created with these frameworks in mind and as you stated, "can't accept the off chance they might not know everything (or are simply stupid)." Their professional communities are often not infallible either, built up on social networking and knowing the right things to say to please their teachers and peers who grant their positions. Many philosophical movements and critical opinions of the past have since been found faulty and abandoned entirely, making it foolish to assert that modern critics and academics are incapable of being mistaken as well simply because of their positions, numbers, and agreement (see the gender studies community, for instance).

That's not to say that good critics do not exist, mind you, they generally have a broad background of knowledge and experience to refer to rather than one or two constantly fluctuating movements which rise and fall from favour. I would not consider myself to be one of these people yet either, which is why I don't write at length on most of the films I watch in the same manner as Mexico anon and some of the others will.

I watched locke. Didn't know anything about it going in. I enjoyed it, but wasn't too attached to the characters. Really liked the visuals though.

That was pretty damn good.

>The forbidden Fortress

It was ok, definitely not my favourite Kurosawa pic, the interplay between the two peasants was funny and touching at the end, I found the entire 'hiding gold in wood' plot point distracting they carried tons of that shit on their backs

>The quiet duel- Kurosawa

Pretty good, but felt awkwardly paced

>Scandal- Kurosawa

I loved this one, based Takashi Shimura at it again, couldn't figure out why he wasn't the main character or at least why he showed up so late he was far more interesting than Mifune's character was this just Kurosawa frothing over him again or because they just needed a handsome incorruptible leading man? Pacing seemed a bit imbalanced again with the actual 'scandal' that the title suggests not happening until 3 quarters through the movie. That seen where he's offering presents to his daughter had me close to tears.

>The assassination of Jesse James by some Cassey Afflek looking kid- Andrew Dominik

Pretty good but fucking long, it might as well have been a book with all that narration

>The merchant of four seasons

Pretty depressing, didn't seem like a black comedy to me, but it could just be German humour.

Slow West ... I like that westerns are still getting made but this was fairly unremarkable. Quite nice music and landscapes though. The color saturation was often too high, nearing Skittles commercial levels. The familiar character types made me interested to read the westerns section of tvtropes.

There were several lines expressing regret for the widespread killing of Indians, which made me wonder how many people of the time actually held that viewpoint.

>Sicario

Not much I liked in here, despite eagerly waiting it.

Some of the aerial shots looked pretty as did the landscapes were dark blue sky mixed to setting sun. Aerial shots mixed with the heavy bass OST managed to muster up some scary atmosphere.

The op. of extracting the cartel head over the border was the final time I was thrilled. Even the conclusion to that, raise guns get shot boo you are supposed to condemn the operators? What.

I felt like I had seen the movie before seeing it and I guess this little thought kept nagging and nagging inside my head.

I think I'd have liked it more if was completely from the POV of Brolin's organization. Felt it lacked the scope to pull the final conclusion.

I can't hate on Jean Dujardin because Oscar voters are stupid. Even if he's not a great actor I think he can be pretty funny under the right circumstances. So I gave this a chance...

It's a French comedy with an interesting spin on an old concept about trying to outwit death (who appears at your house in the form of a man), but it's all executed so limply you wonder why it was ever made. It sets up for black comedy but doesn't pay off. Writer/director Bertrand Blier might be getting too old?

This has to be one of Franco Nero's best roles and one of the best Italian cop movies. The genre is often pulpy and violent but Confessions of a Police Captain is less action and more brooding. The film gives a cynical critique of Italian society and the complex web of corruption that dominates it.

Saw this last night, a rare and long forgotten piece of American independent cinema. It's main value is ethnographic, providing a realistic depiction of impoverished rural American, and is really the only thing that kept me awake through the amateurish editing and pacing, as well as some rare moments of solid cinematography.

A new thread exists!

>>6630

>>6630

This one is now locked.