/film/ - FILM

Pretty good, my only gripe is how they make a park such a big ideal, i mean if it had been a school or something of the sort then it would have felt more important, a bit sloppy at times but it's definately worth a watch.

>American Sniper

Meh, i just wanted to see what all the fuzz was about, it was entertaining but some visual and sound effects were painfully amateur for a movie that's supposed to be realistic dat baby it did get me kinda sad at the end, since i didn't know the guy was actually dead, the last "battle" had too much unrealistic action to be taken seriously, so i liked the concept but the execution wasn't really good.

>Patton

Besides some issues with historical accuracy it was pretty enjoyable, the start kinda comes out of nowhere Patton leading the assault at Casablanca would've made a better intro than the parade with the obviosly not moroccan moroccan king, also the they could have done a better job with the tanks, i'm really into ww2 so that kinda killed the "immersion" but all in all a pretty good film.

Good movie. Good story arcs, great characters, good biopic.

It got the twists and the irony

But for some reason the casting choice and acting was meh. It had so much potential but only got us so far. Its not bad tho, its was interesting to see this part of history and how it played out in hollywood.

Too bad that gommies are going to be fashionable now.

Last night I watched ABOUT ELLY from Asghar Farhadi

Very good, if not quite as powerful as some of Farhadi's other films. It still has distinctive characters and a layered story about familial relationships. When events takes a mysterious turn you're forced to overanalyze every detail of the preceding hour, searching for the truth. Maybe it's formulaic but I like this formula...

And half the fun is witnessing Persian culture. So if you guys have more suggestions of films from Iran I'd love to hear them. This list has nice candidates: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls059697550/

Going a little off-route with the usual high class shown in these threads i will comment on this flick i saw, seen plenty since the last time i posted but this one screams for a comment

Double Team from 1997, starring JCVD, Mickey Rourke and the talented yet bizarre B-Ball playa Dennis Rodman. The project was famous for being critically panned, bombed in western cinemas, placed Van Damme's career in a not-good position and had a considerable sport celebrity acting role (Dennis Rodman), your usual trashy action movie or is it

I remember watching it on TV way back in the day and thinking it was cool and flashy, checking the critics i saw it had a dirty reputation due to the aforementioned stuff and also being a Razzie winner, these days some channels place ratings from review websites so the once 3.9 rating from IMDB was pure poison (today 4.7, still not that cool)

The director was Hark Tsui, famous for his pretty good Once Upon a Time in China trilogy, Green Snake and Peking Opera Blues. He was given a good chunk of money and creative control, so this was supposedly a serious job, unlike the usual cash-ins from the cheap producers who did this (some Israelis, and even the script shows the jewry from time to time)

Going directly to the point i personally think i wasn't that wrong, this movie is very surprisingly entertaining and shows a very good amount of attention to details, along with OOZING style. But it very obviously shows it had 2 different moments, one can clearly see the half made by Tsui (the first one) and the one these guys mandated him to do.

The movie is about an elite special forces agent (JCVD) that hunts down for one last time his old nemesis, an ex-elite special forces turned mercenary/crime mogul (Rourke). The plan turned not as expected and JCVD was thrown in exile on an secret island for extremely dangerous ex-agents who are believed dead.

That one island part is what makes this movie memorable and frankly gives enough fuel for the average viewer to chug the second half of the movie expecting something like the first one.

The first half has a lot of the usual stylish Hong Kong action, catering more to style than substance but without overdoing it. The attention to detail with numerous reflections and sets gives plenty candy, there's a lot of dutch angles and "artsy" frames that don't go as far out to be annoying. All of this along with the soundtrack and the bizarre & modern setting gives this movie one of the strongest 90's vibe trips i've seen

Somewhere in production the israelis saw this stuff was not really getting anywhere they wanted (action) and decided to cut expenses and stripped Tsui from creative control (alon with redesigning the script), and it really shows, some set pieces and sce, hell, overall the whole pacing, was heavily rushed, practical effects were replaced with CGI in post-production (and not the good kind), dutch angles almost gone, lack of polish the first half had, everyone teletransports. Another movie by itself, no wonder i only remember the first half. It's almost 90 minutes long but it really feels like it was planned to be a 120 minute one, i think some precious scenes were stripped to check with the 90 minute mark

In the end i have to say IMHO that this movie isn't anywhere near as bad as critics made it out to be, it isn't the worst action flick with high budget by a walking mile easily. And the main grip for many, Dennis Rodman acting, is hilarious: He seems forced at times but he's decent in his role, he just acts as himself, and it feels natural for obvious reasons, it seems this part was heavily overblown by the media... he seriously isn't the worst actor by far, not even in the genre, Clive Owen pretends to act and goes to be way worse than Rodman's constant B-Ball references forced upon him.

It was a nice ride but the obnoxious rushed as all hell straight-2-DVD quality second half and action CGI takes down the whole thing by a notch, but not for a burial. I dare to say even (because it really, really feels like it) the first 45 minutes are worthy of being one of the best rides in its genre (that being the Schwarzenegger-Stallone action scene) and a notable example on how to do a stylish action film along with being a member of the department of wasted potential. Quite a comment for a film not even shown on late-night cheap film channels anymore

With jews, you lose

2artsy4me

Exodus(1960)

After watching Trumbo I had to watch one of his movies.

3 and a half hours of pure zionism.

The intro credits were gorgeous, one of the best ones Ive ever seen.

The plot of the movie is about some jews in a somewhat concentration camp in cyprus that wants to get out to Israel.

The movie is funny at times since it mocks of the jewish stereotype that british had at the time. It also touched on more real and delicate issues like the differences between jews on how to deal with that situation and how even most jews opposed to the extremism of Irgun.

The movie ends with a soft and preachy monologue about world peace that was a bit too forced. It was very similar of that at the end of Nuremberg Trial, but unlike that movie this was way way better and way way less preachy.

Good movie, the acting was somewhat off and overacted but I think that was to be expected since Preminger wanted fresh jews on the screen and some of them werent professional actors.

>>6694

The score was excellent IMO, the famous "This Land" piece is a great one, shame about the actual connotation of it all.

OK, sorry about the dirt entertainment and controversial opinions here, but i found something odd about these guys

Caddyshack, made in 1980 by Harold Ramis, starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight and Michael O'Keefe (speaking about semites)

This one is considered a comedy classic, sitting around in the olympus of the genre along with a friend from the very same year called Airplane!. But IMHO i think it's very contrasting, speaking strictly i found it to be somewhat trash, but not forgettable.

The plot was thin-air, many scenes are inconsequential in both basic plot and comedic value, there's basic sex scenes that add nothing to the thing other than a free bone, and if you had already taken the bad ideas from your head by hand this feature is not a cool thing to see.

The whole thing felt like a cheap and non-impressive vehicle for the apparently main dish, the individual performances. And talking serious, if the famed work of these actors in the movie is known for their improvisations and ad-libbed jokes, and the movie is just about that, then you have to wonder what in the world was happening to the director and the script.

Those are the only things that move this joint, Chevy Chase erratic but cold behaviour, Dangerfield's jew stereotype attitude and loud joke delivery, Murray's plain dumb dialogue and Ted Knight's neutrality passive/aggresive to mix all up with the teenage wasteland sub-plot (or was it the main one?)

Decent flick, i don't know what i missed to feel this is not a top dog in the comedy genre unlike the real classic of Airplane, maybe i didn't get enough enjoyment from the free dialogue windows or Cindy Morgan being hot as hail. But maybe it is not that good, after all the sequel would go to do the same but scrap some of these improv comedy commentary windows along with the gratious sex, and it bombed hard even with Rex Kramer inside.

And speaking of Airplane...

Top Secret!, made in 1984 by the Zucker bros. plus Jim Abrahams (seeing a pattern here) starring the debut of Val Kilmer supported by Lucy Gutteridge, Christopher Villiers, Michael Gough, Jim Carter and Omar Sharif.

Deemed as the spiritual sequel of Airplane!, this one is not really shaped in that closed behaviour, but rather a simple parody on a genre, this one about WWII films, it seems it even uses some tech from the 50's and 60's war scene and def some of the cinematography is inspired.

This is way more plot centric than the previously mentioned films, but still features the usual small plain dumb jokes, there's not that many memorable phrases like Caddyshack (supposedly) had but to be fair the comedy is different, it's visually focused instead of catchphrases and gibberish dialogue, but they are pulled as good as ever.

The thing that grabbed my attention more is Val Kilmer's performance, the guy was very good even in his early years, his role is somewhat calm but gives a lot of physical presence, and overall it seems he really put a lot of effort. Shame he wasn't picked more often for difficult movies due to his notorious behaviour, this guy is really good.

Also some set pieces and scene coordination are very cool, i enjoyed this one way more than Caddy, both are decent but this one pretends to feel like a classic a little more convincingly for me, still strange for a film that isn't namedropped as much as the other. Recommended for the Hot Shots!/Airplane! fans.

Also these last directors seem to like picking main actresses that look somewhat jewish, mock christians and place yiddish as a replacement for foreign languages. Very constant, just an observation thou, i-it's not like i want to g-gas them all or anything

Watched this yesterday. I enjoyed it, it's an easier watch than Dogtooth or The Alps. On the other hand, the overall metaphor feels a little shallow, it could have been subtler. Great deadpan humor, nonetheless.

It's decent, Letters is better though.

Any recommendations on ww2 films? i'm very interested in the period so i'd love to see more movies set in it, good movies of course.

>>6699

These are not really obscure but worth the post if you haven't checked them

Soldier of Orange or Los Comandos de la Reina in the spanish-speaking countries, a 150 minute ride about a bunch of dutch college students that are caught in the early WW2 years

It's not action-packed but it was very worth the time. Starring Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner villain) and Jeroen Krabbe (James Bond villain) and Paul Verhoeven (Hollywood villain) as the director

It's not overly dramatic as others, Verhoeven is a known lover of satire and there's no biased arguments, even with a lot of jew actors here

There's also The Train if you want the traditional movie aspect, it's about a nazi train with a lot of "stolen art" and a bunch of commandos trying to sabotage it

Starring the giant Paul Scofield as the SS colonel and Burt Lancaster as the team's lead, John Frankenheimer as the director and Franklin Coen as the writter

Just watched Court. Based on the trailer I was expecting it to be a movie that took place in only two locations, the performance and the courtroom. Luckily it had a lot more going on and was a lot more interesting than I was expecting.

I think the technique of branching off and focusing on each character's mundane lives outside of the court room made the movie for me, I've noticed that happening in several movies I've watched recently and it goes a long way towards a deeper connection and understanding of the world. I'm not sure if they used any documentary elements or non-actors but it felt like they might have, it all felt pretty authentic and cinema verite, albeit with a lot of very steady tripod shots. The formal qualities were noticeable but not overly so, and the political message was woven in seamlessly. The fact that it was this director's first film makes it even more impressive, I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

>gay cowboys movie

First time seeing it, pretty good, loved it to be honest, it really gave me feels, i'd recommend to anyone.

>La Bête Humaine

It was interesting, but i felt that it went nowhere, or was somewhat pointless.

>>6674

Just watched that, pretty damn good, definitely a must watch of persian cinema, Farahani's performance was heart breaking too.

>>6802

> Farahani's performance was heart breaking too.

Speaking of the actress, it's interesting to witness how a woman's beauty and identity shifts almost entirely to their face when they are bundled up so much

I can't go full burka though

>Persepolis

Loved the animation and its minimalistic art-style, pretty decent, would have liked it to be more serious, but after all is supposed to be understood by kids too so it's ok.

>>6821

>I can't go full burka though

now i'm curious about saudi cinema

Hell's Highway (1932) - pre-code message movie about the brutality of a prison work crew. I'd call it a hidden gem because it's been overshadowed by the brilliant I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang released less than 2 months later.

With a running time of scarcely more than an hour this film moves quickly. I liked the playful comic relief and musical sequences with black cast members.

The harsh side of the story concerns the hot box, famously featured in Cool Hand Luke and The Bridge on the River Kwai. In Hell's Highway prisoners are restrained to the back wall so they must endure the heat on their feet. Another unique detail is the prison garb -- instead of stripes or blue shirts, prisoners have a white target painted on their backs.

bailed out after 15 minutes. good idea?

the visual style was interesting but it seemed to be going in a shock/torture direction. 4edgy2me and Austrian Angst is probably better

Saw these 2 "bad" movies recently for the necessary Brosnanmania fix, they get a lot of heat but i think people forget the objectives of these pieces

Live Wire (1992) is your typical late-night action flick, it receives a lot of criticism for being "bad" but honestly the movie isn't boring and it's actually mildly entertaining on many levels, but most importantly it's aware of its objective unlike many of its critics: The movie knows it is low-budget and doesn't pretend to be a blockbuster, and doesn't take itself seriously at any moment, changing the context considerably: it doesn't deserve to be compared with Terminator 2 or Rambo 3

It's a product of its time and works around it, filled with cliches like the stars themselves: Washinton D.C. and its afro-centric community, Pierce Brosnan as a really pissed-off drunk irishman who has a knack for bombs, Ben Cross as a really angry Libyan terrorist ripped-off in an arms deal, Brent Jennings as the Post-Civil Rights highly-skilled laboratorist and Ron Silver as a jewish congressman heading an investigation concerning fellow politicians getting attacked in mysterious bomb attacks, and who also has an affair with Brosnan character's wife

This last piece, the affair, is what in my opinion saves this movie from the Forgettable category, the entire thing is generic but the sub-plot regarding it moves the film more so than the main bombing plot, the erratic husband who has to work under his now-boss cold and ammoral attitude, and the movie exploits this, making fun of the protagonist very often implying every single character in the movie knows of this conflict and laughing at it without the movie changing from drama/action to comedy, just small dialogue quips that make the bomb expert angrier, until it's revealed he has to protect the man

Overall this is a forced low-budget project who works more as a bill-payer than a serious work, but with the crew still trying to make it work and have some fun. That was the objective (broadcasted on cable less than a year of its debut), it ends up feeling like it and overall it's a satisfying "action" flick that fills the void if you catch it on night TV, it even has a softcore sex scene but with the misfortune it shows more manass than real ass

Taffin (1988) is a unique experience as a film fan in the digital era. This movie gets way more heat than Live Wire due to self-hating irishmen/cheeky UK residents joking about the nature of the film which was shown consistently on TV and because it isn't very good

This one stars Pierce Brosnan as a loan shark, Ray McAnally as a worried citizen along with being Brosnan's friend and Alison Doody as a hot broad. The movie stars as the typical irish movie with really nice shots of the green fields, and goes to show the loan shark collecting money in his small town, but it takes a surprising turn when the shark goes to work on his self-interests, those being the safe-being of his town's public places

It all goes to the standard of the irish movie, the prominent fields, the people's daily life and the implied love the irish have for their land and Guiness.

But the reason i said unique digital experience is because of a notable scene starring Brosnan and Doody, in which the really pissed and beaten-up shark screams to his girlfriend she shouldn't live there if she doesn't want to help the town, this scene became a target for editings and "memes" due to the exagerated delivery (which was justified in the context) and many "Youtubers" started mocking and using the sound clip. The file i got was going well until that scene in which we can see it was heavily edited to make fun of this, a 54-minute setup for a 10 second joke. I got a laugh but the subtitles became a mess and while still not angry i checked to see another version, that is when the laughter stopped, YT didnt have the movie and the 3 versions i downloaded had an editing of sorts in this scene

I can understand english with almost no problems but the irish like to talk in ways i cannot understand some of the times. Downloading another version right now but this whole ordeal is surprising, the original file is quite rare among the tricked, memed-up versions and overall the movie at that point wasn't even bad, just kinda slow and too relaxed at times

I don't know stuff from the production to take a precise opinion (haven't even finished it yet) but the joint was very decent for a TV movie and it's no way near a ridicule to the irish film industry

But to be honest some movies do change dramatically after the first half, i remember one in particular

>>6841

Ah yeah, I heard about Taffin on Adam & Joe's BBC podcast in 2011. It looks like the scene was on youtube 2 years before that.

Are you saying that someone edited the video file to be funny? I've never encountered that before. You could try to time-shift the subtitles with your media player (or subtitle workshop) if it's not too far gone.

>>6716

That's a great new release. I believe there was no camera movement for 20+ minutes. I liked that. Stationary camera emphasizes image composition, and it's a throwback to classic film making. A lot of shots were taken from a distance which made the viewer detached from the situation. It often made court seem more inconsequential.

I wonder how India evolved to be a country of petty authoritarianism. Indians I've met were pretty laid back. I watched a Bollywood movie with a friend and he scoffed in disgust when I asked him about the censor certificate.

Court was much different from Bollywood of course, and sometimes it seemed to be jabbing at that aspect of their culture. The more I think about it, the more I want to read Indian reaction to this film.

>>6630

Played it in my cytu.be stream (khantube) trying to relive the nostalgia of 8chan from a year ago.

I liked the novel, but the storyline is a bit too convoluted to fit in a movie. There's a lot of stuff going on in the 3 hours, and someone who didn't read the novels will get confused what's going on easily. Also, the romance plot between Jan and Helen (which is what adds another dimension to the novel) is condensed a lot, while it is still there, someone who hasn't read the books won't notice it's importance to the plot as the movie spends too much time on presenting the Poles and Ukrainians before the final battle.

The setting (Ukraine during the rebellion of 1648) is very well presented though, costumography is most of the time very good (though on moments the moustaches look a bit silly), and acting isn't bad either. It's obvious that Poles really put some effort into this movie. Also unlike too many western movies where you maybe hear the "bad guys" speaking another language to each other, you actually hear characters speak different languages, besides Polish and Ukrainian the Crimeans speak (modern) Turkish.

Overall, the movie is a good adaptation of a great historical fiction novel, but it isn't anything special. If it wasn't for the fact that it's an adaptation of a novel of great importance, and the really good setting immersion, it would be just another movie with a historical setting. If you are here for the story, read the novels.

>Sicario

That was really really good, tense and dark, as everyone else have said yes, the plot is fairly simple, but again as everyone else have said, the talent of the people working on the movie made it really enoyable for me.

>The Wind Rises

Definitely one of the best animation movies i've seen, perhaps it's my huge faggotry, but that film made me cry like a bitch, deeply moving on all levels.

My only gripe is the animation, i can't help to compare the film to Shinkai's work, so i see ways the film could've looked better, mouth movements and synchronisation could've been better too.

That's pretty minor though, go watch it.

I'm probably the last person to see this 80s nostalgiasploitation but it was great fun. I appreciate the vision and determination needed to create a widely successful first-time project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5P_LAqiVg

To nitpick a couple aspects, the hypermasculine female characters seemed better suited for [Current Year] than any time in the 80s. One kickass chick was a roided-out bodybuilder. The other was a Xena knockoff with a massive black cock machine gun. These girls were the opposite of adorable 80s qt characters, so they undercut the effectiveness of the retro homage.

Secondly the use of Hitler as a villain was hacky and out of place. Danger 5 already ran the joke into the ground using the same anachronistic villain in a 60s spy spoof. There's fertile ground to write characters inspired by the crazy villains of 80s action and 60s spy movies, so why not try that? Missed opportunity.

>In the mood for love

Amazing, beautifully constructed film- Maggie Cheung is top tier communist waifu, I enjoyed it more than Ashes of time but now that I understand Kar-Wai a bit more I might look back into that

>Lost Highway

First Lynch film I've seen, I thought it was stellar I haven't seen a horror movie that could linger in my head for this long in a while. I've also never seen a film emulate a dream as well as this did

>A dangerous Method

Enjoyable, but lacking something, worth watching for the setting alone and Viggo

>Only yesterday

It's a kids film for sure but it fucking hit me close to home

>>6822

I only wish the soundtrack wasn't so trash- it distracted me the whole way through, otherwise it's fantastic

>>6895

I liked both of them too. Sicario, to me is what the standard of big budget film making should be if not better

The Wind Rises is great as well, you might like Only Yesterday

>Like Someone In Love

I enjoyed Certified Copy so I thought I'd try this as well, but I left partway through while whatshername was undressing in the translator's apartment and don't really feel like picking it back up again.

>Conan the Barbarian

Really loved the cinematography and how the film sold its ancient world through barren, untamed landscapes instead of constantly forcing antiquated buildings down the viewer's throat, along with how well the director integrated his far-right ideals into every aspect of the film's production without bogging it down in navel-gazing.

> Capitao Falcao

Solid comedy until the titular character is brainwashed into becoming a dirty commie and loses most of its steam.

>The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Great Art Style and tale wasted on a completely sterile film. Something you would expect Ghibli to hit out of the park but lacks the magic, vitality, and emotional strength of their best. gif related scene is fantastic though.

I live near the city this film takes place in and have to deal with the politics down here, so it's what makes movies with Clint Eastwood or John Wayne a real treat.

Contemporary critics such as the New Yorker's Pauline Kael were apparently shocked that the star of Rawhide would be in a cop action thriller written like a western. We're not supposed to be sympathetic to Scorpio, we're supposed to commiserate with Callahan's exasperation at SFPD's impotence. The message here, in case anyone happens to miss it, is that the law needs to be properly upheld. Not even a shitty 38-year-old laserdisc from a slapped-together pay-TV master can mask this wonderfully human story of modern day justice.

Þrestir (2015)

Watched this at my local cinema yesterday, how can one fuck up a movie so badly by the last third?

this coming of age icelandic film about a boy who moves from the city to his rural hometown starts off pretty good, with some good "postcard" visuals and takes and not much dialogue

the film felt real and pretty comfy

but after the climax of the film occurs, it goes downhill from there, all the comfy elements are taken away from the film

>inb4 dogma

this was not what made the film go to shit for me, it was the weird portrayal of already stablished character traits and unnecessary vulgar acts that make up for most of the last act

5.5/10

the soundtrack is nothing original and sounds like the average "sad piano mix 10 hours" youtube vid

also some dialogue scenes sound way too scripted

if you've watched this, what did you think of it?

>>7009

>Not even a shitty 38-year-old laserdisc from a slapped-together pay-TV master can mask this wonderfully human story of modern day justice.

cool, you have a laser disc player? what sort of collection do you have, do you get them from ebay?

I watched Black Narcissus the other day. If you aren't familiar, it's a Powell and Pressburger melodrama about repressed sexual fantasies inside an English nunnery in India.

Despite the juicy subtext, I thought the story was a bit of a slow burner, but the images and cinematography were very beautiful. I liked the absolutely gorgeous matte paintings and location photography, and the ending scene was completely electric. The colors were stunning, as was expected.

>>7016

>ebay

That's the source, yes. My collection is limited to what I could find for much cheaper than on DVD or BD or for movies that are just very close to my heart like Dirty Harry and The Searchers. I hope to get a copy of something nice and uncommon like The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, or Song of the South.

I'm still blown away how a player from 1989 can play back DTS discs with my receiver in the full bitrate.

Have you ever wanted to watch several ugly transsexual prostitutes walk around Hollywood while delivering lame comebacks with MLG-tier dubstep in the background? The closest things this film has to redeeming qualities are a nice graffiti mural seen in passing, a gay taxicab driver with passable acting, a disproportionally good ending, and a nice poster. Everything else is a mudslide of visual AIDS straight from the director's iPhone 5s with several layers of tacky filters slathered on top like a teenage girl's Instagram profile.

If you're still interested after all that, Tangerine is just the movie for you and you are most likely a flaming homosexual and tasteless hipster. Critics have praised the film primarily for its "bravery": the only bravery involved was leaving in several cuts where pedestrians visibly cringed at the awful acting and screenwriting.

>>7030

>The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm

Yeah that IS pretty uncommon. I had to check, but that's indeed the Cinerama movie. There's still no good release of it even though many other Cinerama films are out on bluray. I remember hearing about screenings of it a few years ago

http://www.in70mm.com/news/2012/grimm/index.htm

>>7035

>There's still no good release of it even though many other Cinerama films are out on bluray.

I saw one source that said it was something with the negatives. The 1950s were tough times for movies, which began the switch to the cheaper but less durable Eastmancolor prints, the majority of which were done by Fox's DeLuxe labs and by Metrocolor with MGM. Showings on television wouldn't become the expectation until the late '60s and early '70s, so anything that seemed of little value at the time could've been potentially destroyed.

I love George Pal, though, and will move the heavens and the earth to see this picture in theatres, even after I get the laserdisc. The letterbox one appears to be from a 35mm anamorphic reduction of a 70mm single-strip alignment of the original three-strip Cinerama picture, which adds up to quite a bit of information lost.

> The Ideon: A Contact

An incredibly foolish and clumsy attempt at compressing 38 episodes into 85 minutes, with such rushed pacing it somehow only felt 20 minutes long.

> The Ideon: Be Invoked

Like the series it concludes, Be Invoked is an influential but deeply flawed classic that nobody really likes. Tomino's imagination outpaces his questionable directorial skill, concluding Ideon's tale through bland, often nonexistent composition, a solid soundtrack which carries the more important scenes, and brutally killing off every single character in the film, including the women and children. Placed in the hands of a more competent director it could have been a genuine masterpiece of Siberian ivory carving: as it stands Be Invoked is just an interesting footnote on the road to the much better works it inspired such as Zeta Gundam and EoE.

>Cool World

Dumb and boring, simply bad.

I watched it because i had seen a few scenes years ago and wated to check it out, what a disappointment, waste of potential.

>Prisoners

Great film in my opinion, great performances and cinematography, interesting plot.

Really liking Denis' work, also i'm a big fan of Jake Gyllenhaal now.

Falling Down (1993)

A sad, relatable tale, and a very bittersweet jab at society as a whole; the things it means to tell us are still very much relevant, too, even in today's terms.

Really good, underrated stuff, at least from what I gather. I can't help but feel bad for D-Fens after all is said and done though. Really powerful movie, specially the ending

I watched Welcome to Leith last night. I thought it might be a documentary about a rural town of exclusively white nationalists. That doesn't actually exist. Instead it was a documentary about a rural town that white nationalists attempted to overtake democratically. So you have a story about a community resisting outsiders -- a story which usually reflects poorly on the community. But when the outsiders are white nationalists it's harder to decide who has the moral high ground. This situation showed how lofty concepts of anti-discrimination, egalitarianism, diversity, property rights, and equal protection don't always apply to a universally despised sector of society.

To its credit, the documentary seems fair and is not a hit piece (despite positioning the SPLC a voice of authority). But it's a little boring in that it mostly recounts surface level events. I think "Louis Theroux and the Nazis" was more revealing because Theroux delved deeper into the people themselves.

One weird aspect was the religion of "Creativity" espoused by the WN people. I had no idea this existed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity_%28religion%29

Rocco and His Brothers

Would be better if it was Rocco and His Brother, focusing more on his conflict with Simone. Not particularly fond of this brand of idealism Rocco espouses as well, but them's the breaks. What really bothered me though is the way Visconti went for additional DRAMA when the situation called for something else at least twice first the scene after the rape with crying Rocco and Simone standing with his back to him, second when he had a perfect shot of Simone coming with his knife to stab Nadia to end that scene and yet still showed the fakey looking murder afterwards. Pic related. The picture could really do with some more focus.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

Pretty much perfect for me: visually stylish, tightly edited, gripping.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

Most experimental out of the whole trilogy, it made me understand why I'm Cyborg but That's Ok came out like it did. It does work really well in establishing its themes of redemption and as a counterpoint to both Mr.Vengeance (revenge doesn't lead anywhere good for everyone involved) and Oldboy (revenge is the poison of the soul, but there's some hope) Too bad I didn't have the fading colors version.

>Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Meh, just meh.

The shock value of the film was greatly diminished for me considering i've seen my fair share of weird shit lurking in the internet, which is often not only "worse" but real too, other than that the film offers little else or at least not much that i could see, so it was rather boring.

>>7199

>Incendies

That was pretty damn good, i didn't like the brother, but i guess you're supposed not to.

Alsowincest is my fetish

last year at marienbad.

can someone tell me whether i wasted my time?

The seventh continent is 1989 film by Michael Haneke. This is my first Haneke film.

it's incredibly simplistic in its approach, will often hang on particular objects for sometimes a bit too long depending on the circumstance, and it's incredibly nihilistic and brutal.

Fantastic Lies

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5432446/

This TV documentary tells the personal side of the Duke lacrosse rape hoax though interviews with team members, parents, lawyers, and authors. The accused players were brutalized by a vicious national news media and the bottomless resources of the state prosecutor. They were eventually denounced by their own college administrators. And yet the underlying evidence against them was practically nonexistent.

While the documentary tells a compelling story, it sidesteps big-picture analysis of the hot topic of campus rape (and rape hoaxes). This situation is presented as a discreet event. I wish it had more to say on that front.

>>7218

The lead actor just died

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/giorgio-albertazzi-dead-italian-stage-898168

>can someone tell me whether i wasted my time?

Did you get bored?

>The Old Man and the Sea

I put off this short film for several years with fears that the painting or animation quality would suffer in favour of the other, and when I finally watched it the film somehow brought me to tears. As time-consuming as Petrov's animation technique must be, it's really a shame how little use it sees outside of his filmography.

>The Birds

It built tension nicely and had great sound design, but it felt as if a switch was flipped whenever the birds attacked or child actors showed up and the entire room started howling as the children limply flailed about. As much as I liked the film, those scenes completely killed it for me and as nice as some of its aspects were, I find it hard to take people seriously when they claim it's one of the most terrifying films they've ever watched.

>Perfect Blue

A standard psychological thriller elevated by some gloriously disorienting editing in the second half. The second half more than makes up for the first's questionable animation and several unconvincing shots early on, possibly screwed up intentionally to give later scenes more impact.

>>7401

>great sound design

...by Oskar Sala! He was an interesting German electronic music pioneer who created an instrument called the Mixtur-Trautonium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQQEChMq1A

I recommend a documentary called "The Former Future of Sound". The funny thing I remember learning about Oskar Sala is he wanted a monopoly on creating those weird sounds for films and whatnot. So he would not teach other people all of his methods, even as he got very old.

What, long time no posting

Finally saw the famed Balkan Spy, a 1984 serb-croat film and one of the shining examples of the obscure but somewhat fertile Yugoslav cinema

Touted as a comedy for all the family, this one is no storytelling masterpiece, kino gallery or no-breath thriller but what it wants to do, it does very well, and the marketing quote actually holds, this one does have the appeal for many demographics

And the things it wants to do are simple, a light-hearted comedy about a jaded and somewhat poor worker near retirement who gets highly paranoid when the Yugo state security (UDBA) asks about the tenant in his house

Fighting his own insecurities and the fear of losing it all, he embarks into a counter-intelligence operation to uncover what his tenant, a once-successful tailor visiting his home town, is about to pull out

Having its amount of slapstick humour and some simple over-exageration quirk dialogue, this movie actually pulls many social commentaries about the falling economy Yugoslavia was suffering in the mid-80's, the elitist political clique and the general animosity the population was having concerning their future, but without going overboard and returning quickly to the main character's spy antics

These factors actually add a very dense black comedy layer if one is familiar with what happened a couple of years later in the region, especially in the latter parts of the movie when it takes a more grim turn

This one got me close because i could relate with many of its traits due to my region, the "as it is" cinematography and low-budget execution we shared, but especially the simple but troubled working class men from towns/outskirt parts of the city looking too much at things, except in this case the enemies are subverting capitalist spies instead of cartel men scouting or federal agents crushing any seccesionism attempts

The main difference is that the cast in this production are trained theatre actors instead of random burnouts, and they do their job perfectly, especially the main character portrayed by Danilo Stojkovic, who even gives a not-so-comedic speech at the climax

Very satisfactory in my case, but be aware this isn't the tour de force many articles claim it is, it's more about THAT one movie everyone saw on TV and at some degree liked, still that isn't an easy feat

>>7516

To be fair and with no intention to diss balkans, most movies from that region are very grim looking due to the climate, dense constructions and the general population's stoic personality (at least in the movies)

And those who look happy and upbeat are because the director wants to focus on lunacy or decadence... or gypsies (happiness in misery, see gypsy-lover Kusturica)

It's like english movies, ATM i don't remember one that looks upbeat, it's always grey and humid plus brits are usually very sarcastic and stiff (Austin Powers was a canadian/american venture)

>Love & Pop

A peek into the empty lives of schoolgirls who enter the world of compensated dating, as seen through a digital camera's abused fisheye lens and disorienting shots from inside soup bowls or liquor glasses. By the end it develops its characters and themes well enough but the camerawork failed to grow on me and the opening act felt so stretched out that I can barely remember most of it maybe because I'm writing this several weeks after I watched it during a lengthy internet outage between short bouts of reading Kierkegaard.

I don't really know what I thought of it, maybe a rewatch is needed for something this dense.

>>7540

That's a good description for anything by Hideaki Anno that isn't Gunbuster or Nadia.

He's still a talented animator and surprisingly good director despite his reputation.

I watched The Petrified Forest (1936) directed by Archie Mayo

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028096/

Starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart

The film is adapted from a play about an isolated service station in the Arizona desert. The family operating the station is visited by a hitchhiking writer, a rich couple and their chauffeur, and finally by a gang of criminals.

Leslie Howard is the hitchhiking writer, a penniless man who continuously pontificates about the state of things. Eventually this character's aloof attitude becomes wearisome. However, along the way he makes a number of interesting observations—chiefly his commentary on T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" : https://allpoetry.com/The-Hollow-Men . Howard despairs that nature is killing off intellectuals while leaving brutes to take over in their place.

Humphrey Bogart is on tap for one of his most memorable supporting roles—the main heavy Duke Mantee. Here he demonstrates his competence to move beyond these smaller character parts and into the iconic lead actor that everyone recognizes. Bogart would play this gangster character again in 1955 when The Petrified Forest was produced for television: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394853/

One other aspect I liked was the interaction between the two black characters. One was a gangster, treated as a peer by his boss. The other was a chauffeur, treated as a servant by his boss. Unexpected for a 1930s film... I got a kick out of it anyway.

>Thirst

I was hyped but let down. The imagery was great though

>Inland Empire

Pretty annoying to watch, the cruddy digital footage didn't help convey much and came off as being pretentious and plain ugly. There were times when it delivered but overall not as good as lost highway. 40 minutes too long as well.

>Outrage

First modern Japanese movie I've seen. It was nothing special, the pacing felt really slow and it introduced plot points that served no purpose, all the characters zre boring and lack motivation especially the head honcho Yakuza boss who wants all his underlings to kill themselves for no apparent reason.

>>7755

That one looked interesting to me but every version I could find had a Russian overdub. Is this torrent the same? I thought the spoken language was Mari.

THE OUTSIDER: THE CINEMA OF ANTONIO MARGHERITI

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2853118/

I've seen this man's name but I've never seen any of his movies. Margheriti began his career directing space movies in Italy, building up a reputation for special effects. Kubrick considered hiring him for 2001.

Margheriti worked in just about every popular genre of his day - gothic horror, spaghetti western, cannibal, peplum, giallo, war, fantasy. Hollywood tapped him to direct films like Yor, the Hunter from the Future. Washed up American actors traveled abroad to appear in his projects. He often followed Roger Corman's model of directing blockbuster knockoffs, and the clips in this documentary brought to mind the freewheeling spectacle of Cannon Films.

This documentary was directed by Margheriti's son who wants to promote his father's legacy. Unfortunately the editing undermines this project, starting the documentary with a dull recitation of background information instead of grabbing the viewer by the lapels with some excitement. As the film continued, certain interview anecdotes were totally irrelevant to anything I could see. However I admit to gaining appreciation for Margheriti's hustle by the end of it all.

http://sensesofcinema.com/2004/great-directors/margheriti/

Next time I'll review something better

My first Herzog film. I knew of him, but i'd never actually sat down and watched one of his movies before.

VERY good.

After reading up on it, it seems extremely accurate to the real events that it is based on.

Pretty good. The cinematography did a good job for shooting almost completely at night-time. After a certain point it became more predictable, and I think they could've made the main character's plan come together in a more fragile, edge-of-your-seat fashion rather than having the stars align.

If anyone ever wanted to make documentaries, this movie does a good job telling you why you shouldn't.

The Stepford Wives

I watched this because, well, the title is part of the cultural vocabulary. I wanted gauge the quality of the movie that made that impact.

The story comes from the author of Rosemary's Baby and it uses a similar narrative framework: a couple's move into a new residence leads to conflict, duplicity, paranoia, conspiracy. Director Bryan Forbes is not operating at Polanski's level with this adaptation -- the film lies somewhere between a downmarket thriller and a TV movie of the week. The suspense is often lukewarm.

The film's driving political aspects are entirely informed by second-wave feminism and urban snobbery. So it's hard to sympathize with the main character, but it's still interesting to see how these views are presented. Fortunately the movie isn't too preachy. The social commentary doesn't distract from a very engaging climax.

>The Devils

I liked it a lot, but I need to watch it again I missed a lot of details, Has anyone seen the uncut version? I enjoyed watching the exorcism acted out as if it was some insane rock concert

>The Decalogue

I've only seen the first two, I liked the first one a lot more though- it's theme was a lot clearer. It is pretty slow though

>Chunking Express

Left me feeling pretty lonely, maybe it was because i watched it over a couple of days but it seemed like the story was unevenly balanced between the 4 characters. I didn't like the ending much either, especially because the first two characters disappear while the other two get a happy ending- it seemed kind of cynical

>Perfect Blue

I thought this was brilliant, my feelings are similar to >>7401

but I thought it fell short at the final twist- the answer to her disenfranchisement was too simple

The editing of the film was quite amazing but the montage at the end of the film deserves a special mention.

I had been meaning to watch this for a while, as I am interested in George Lucas, but it took me years to get around to it.

I should have watched it sooner.

I'm pretty floored.

It's a not a complex film per se, but it's one of the greatest ever made.

If film is about emotional response, than this is an impossible achievement in filmmaking.

Again long time no posting, glad some people still post here

After several sprees i got the Charles Bronson one, the guy was a terrific actor even when he's known currently only for vigilantism and 80's Cannon fodder movies, highly underrated these days

Last movie in Bronsonmania was 1973's The Stone Killer, directed by Bronson's nemesis-friend Michael Winner.

This movie is pure early-70's stuff, a silly buffet composed of a sarcastic tough-as-nails detective in California AND New York, a bunch of tripping hippies, violent Vietnam vets, scheming Italian mobsters, perpetually-butthurt jive afro community, along with car chases in big cars, funk orchestra soundtrack, psychedelic/self-reflective scene, mafia hits and the groovy crazy blond hitman

This all looks like a rip-off from a bunch of movies and series, and somehow it is, but nonetheless the overall experience is an entertaining one, typical 70's saturday night enternatinment before disco

Bronson did a decent job in his regular "superman detective" typecast, all supports managed well, especially Paul Koslo and Stuart Margolin

The movie is standard procedure, a one-time sit for quick fun, but it is well-worth noting the car chase, which easily outmatches the supposed best chase of '73 (Man with the Golden Gun), and the ending, a trademark cut-throat Micky Winner, but on the bad/bizarre side

I really need to stop watching this stuff

>>7241

Kilmer is a keeper, complete no homo intended. And he's going the Swayze route, dude is more dead than his career, really non-jokingly i feel bad for the lad, he was one of the most promising actors in his day and top dogs like him have revived their careers even after their 50's. But if he wanted it that way then who am i to judge

>>8503

Hey your reviews are fun to read. You probably already watched The Mechanic?

> The film is noted for its opening, which features no dialogue for the first 16 minutes, as the hit man (Bronson) prepares to kill his current target.

I got a kick out of that scene. Bronson is focused and methodical while doing random things that don't really make sense, and it feels like it might keep going and going forever

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4l8qma_the-mechanic-1972-part-i_shortfilms

>>8505

The Mechanic was actually one of the first movies i saw when i tried to get into film (2007 or so), saw the intro on Youtube and i downloaded it inmediatly

Later on i found he was the same guy who did the Death Wish movies (famous in my turf) and Harmonica (one of the few native protags in westerns that looked the part). Quite a contrast in quality and image for someone mocked for doing the same role all the time

I only have a few movies left from Bronsonmania, but no doubt The Mechanic is one of his strongest roles and one of my favorites in the genre, a unique role with a great opening AND ending

Jason Statham's version is another exercise in creative bankrupcy from Hollywood the last 10 years or so. And here comes the Death Wish remake with Bruce Willis, the man in bad remakes and spiritual sequels (The Day of the Jackal, Yojimbo, Bladerunner, modern Die Hard)

Talking of The Day of the Jackal, very highly recommended if you liked The Mechanic (same year too), or if you want a continuation of The Battle of Algiers

Also Bronson's french movies, the ones who pushed him into being a protag in the US, both are very similar roles but unique in that production house, Silberman, the one who mandated movies to be shot twice, once in English and in local (French).

And for some reasons both very popular in Japan, perhaps for their local niches with Alain Delon and Marlene Jobert. If you somehow stepped in the anime hobby, you will see the strong influence both of these guy's personalities had in 70's cartoon characters, which still carry, heck the french in general gave a lot of influence, with comics and fashion aspects too.

Some scenes in both movies also collaborate to the Jap's french stereotype that portrays them as a bunch of psycho perverts, and you know that's a statement coming from the japs, other than Bronson and Delon shirtless, sweaty and alone in a cell for 2 days, and Bronson psychological torturing a cute girl for 3 days

There's not much to be said about this than what has already been said.

Something about the cut to black and then the cut back to Thomasin making a pact with Black Philip felt a bit unnecessary story wise.

I've seen the doorman from that Jap ad in a black and white movie. I wonder what his name is, and why he's giggling to himself about everything. Maybe he knows Chuck likes to shower with cologne rather than water?

By the way Nobuhiko Ôbayashi directed that ad and every lurker should watch Hausu ASAP

After seeing recent news on Val Kilmer's health, i did the hipster move and checked some of his past work as a pre-emptive action if he decided to take the journey early. This one scratched several itches regarding him and the topic at point, the U.S. natives. This work is actually a good example of the early 90's trends: Michael Douglas' blunt roles (especially in 92's Basic Instinct), Kilmer's fame and the somewhat popular theme of native americans

1992's Thunderheart, directed by Michael Apted, starring Val, between his roles in The Doors and Tombstone, as a yuppie FBI agent with indian ancestry, Sam Shepard as an experimented Michael Douglas FBI investigator and Graham Greene, fresh from Dances with Wolves, as a renegade tribal justice man in his iron horse, all investigating the murder of a traditionalist rebel in a Sioux reservation. Ghostly similar to Hillerman's tribal cop movies.

This one is somewhat tough to comment due to its themes hitting very, very close to home. Rather than ranting at the barely-human southern mexicans wrecking this area for 150 years in similar fashion (guess i just did), let's go with the cinematography and the acting.

Almost all the cast pulled themselves, with Kilmer and Greene being the top dogs. Graham's stock indian biker cop gave the film healthy cynic doses to contrast with Val's deadpan role, one that didn't request a crazy characterization, in fact it's plain on paper (generic FBI agent), but his control on details in the nervousness, mad antics and gazes gave place to a pretty good performance, but a little rushed in a certain part regarding his side.

Apted's work was pretty classy other than camera crew appearing all the time in the cops' sunglasses. He captured the scenery perfectly: from the rock formations to the typical rez trailer park hellhole. Maybe he abused a little too much with the landscape shots, but at least they were previews from the area the next scene was taking place, not non-contextual filler artsy shots like Refn in a bad week.

With my bias i have to go safe and say it was a nice ride, no world destroyer but recommended for those who want a native american subject to burn 2 free hours. But beware nu/pol/ american users, this film does show flaws with its bias against white characters at certain times (although indians aren't good here either).

Strange that this isn't mentioned often with Apted's other work, and i can now say with 3 other movies seen from him that The World is not Enough was butchered, it had too few glimpses of his trademarks to be an integral director work, and appaling cast choices in some places that smell like producers fucked his shit up.

Last of the Mohicans on TV tonight - the 1920 silent in a nice crisp HD version. I like what I saw but I missed part of it. So I go online to discover that all versions look like shit! This needs a bluray or some better web release. I can't watch people running around a blurry forest.

>>8613

Wow I didn't expect some action/Bond director to be the guy behind the 7 UP documentary series. Must be an interesting bloke.

excellent concept and use of music. great acting. ending was kinda boring tho

Preston Sturges takes on politics, specifically the corrupt style of Chicago politics well understand in 1940 when the film was made. We see voter fraud, graft, make-work projects, and other underhanded schemes whereby crooks become politicians and politicians use their office to benefit themselves and their crooked friends.

With Sturges it's of course presented in a humorous rather than cynical manner. And while it's not as funny as some of Sturges' other films, The Great McGiney is still an enjoyable political satire with surprising relevance today.

>>9177

>Does anyone know of similar animated films?

I've often wondered that myself. The other projects from Eiichi Yamamoto are similar, if a bit less impressive. There's a great Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics who's definitely worth a look too.

>>8518

>>8518

>Something about the cut to black and then the cut back to Thomasin making a pact with Black Philip felt a bit unnecessary story wise.

Yeah that scene was a strange and unexpected turn. Maybe it makes perfect sense on a second viewing but I don't expect to try.

I thought the abrupt cut to black happened too frequently. It even ended that way .... It almost seemed like the writer wasn't sure how conclude certain scenes so he just cut away (again and again).

Robert Eggers is remaking Nosfertu next. Maybe it will be better

>>9177

>>The Lobster

>I loved it.

It was great. Better than Dogtooth I think. It's interminably dry until a blind turn would send my sides into cislunar space. I love how the director devised so many twisted details for this alternate reality.

What I did not like was a plot synopsis that claimed the film took place in the near future...

>In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel...

I don't see how those specific details can be deduced from the film. It seems like an invented explanation for idiot viewers, unless I'm the idiot.

Blue Velvet

Not my favorite Lynch film, but I liked it. It was surprisingly less bizarre and surreal than I figured it would be, given Lynch and the general theme.

Has probably one of my favorite (albeit quick) dream sequences, though.

Frank was also lovely.

>>9183

Thank you, I'll definitely dive into Jankovics' filmography.

>>9282

>Better than Dogtooth

I agree, I think the film is easier to digest and is simply stronger in almost every aspect. I can't compare the subtexts of the two because I have not seen Dogtooth in so long but I think the ideas presented in The Lobster created a deeper impression on me. I also agree, although did not think about, your comments pertaining to the time period of the film. It absolutely seems more like an alternate reality rather than a near-future dystopia; although with that said, certain ambiguous elements of the film could possibly suggest a not too distant time period, no?

>>9286

The dream sequence is fantastic. I like Blue Velvet mainly for the atmosphere and characters. I have to list Lost Highway and Eraserhead as my favorites though, and I also really like The Elephant Man.

>>9287

> It absutely seems more like an alternate reality rather than a near-future dystopia; although with that said, certain ambiguous elements of the film could possibly suggest a not too distant time period, no?

Oh I didn't mean to imply I had a definitive answer. It could probably be either the future or an alternate reality. I admit the latter makes more sense to me because it allows more narrative freedom. I just thought the synopsis jumped to conclusions, unless that explanation is based on statements from Yorgos Lanthimos.

I never worried much about "Where is this happening anyway?" because that did not seem to be vitally important. I wasn't expecting it to be explained.

I saw two 21st century Nordic-themed films

Bølgen AKA The Wave (2015)

...is a disaster movie that performed well at the box office in its native Norway. It showcases some of the country's most stunning scenery, taking place near crystal blue fjords that cut through towering mountain ranges. But behind this natural beauty is an impending natural disaster. Geologists predict the unstable mountainside will collapse into the fjord, generating a tsunami that demolishes nearby towns in a matter of minutes. I was more impressed by this precarious reality than than the movie's boilerplate (though exciting) story.

Kukushka AKA The Cuckoo (2002)

In the later stages of WWII, circumstances bring two soldiers -- one Finn, one Soviet -- to the domicile of a Lapp widow. The soldiers feud with each other mirroring the contentious relationship between Finland and Russia. The Lapp acts as a mediating force. Her native roots are an implicit reminder of the trio's common history. The story progresses even though none of the characters can understand the others' languages.

Most viewers like this film more than I did. I think watching on a laptop hindered my enjoyment of the outdoor cinematography. However I liked learning a bit about Lapps, as I'd never known much about hwite "indigenous" people.

>>9471

>The Goddess Bunny

Damn that looks horrific. I've seen this Bougas video from 1992 about Hollywood murders.

I wonder why no one has made a documentary about Bougas yet. Has he done any interviews lately? He's quite a strange character. He dresses like a roadie for Poison, he made a bunch of these macabre videos in the 80s and 90s about serial killers and celebrities, and now of course his infamous "caricatures" are all over the internet.

I remember reading some of his posts on Jim Goad's forum but then Goad made it all private.

Minority Report.

Better than I remember it being. Spielberg has actually grown on me since I moved into the world of film as art.

>>9628

I think his films are visually great but often suffer from his own annoying quirks and tropes. For what reasons have you gravitated towards his films?

>>9489

>Has he done any interviews lately?

Haven't seen any, he seems to keep to himself mostly.

>I remember reading some of his posts on Jim Goad's forum

That's cool.

>pic semi-related

>>9629

>I think his films are visually great but often suffer from his own annoying quirks and tropes. For what reasons have you gravitated towards his films?

I think because he's just so exemplary at what he does.

He's not making the most art films (usually), but he's making blockbusters in a much more artful way than most.

For example-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHPjVgYDL6Y

Also him and Lucas are friends and i'm a Lucas fanboy.

All the Colors of the Dark (1972)

Another giallo set in London. I'm always surprised to learn that most people in London are Italian.

The movie's erratic plot involves a woman's constant dream terrors and general hysterical behavior. In search of a cure, she turns to a local chapter of occult crazies. That move only exacerbates her problems when the occult crazies begin to stalk her with sharp objects.

I wasn't too fond of this movie. Now I've seen three from Sergio Martino but all of them come up a bit short. I might watch Torso and be done with him.

Faust (1926)

I don't have much insightful commentary but it was incredible. There are so many gorgeous shots in it and it hits so many different notes right.

Just saw i never clicked reply in previous months-old posts, so in short i highly recommend Wake In Fright, and Maltin & Ebert are a bunch of fags for completely and utterly destroying ok stuff like Ghost & The Darkness and Seraphim Falls

This one is a reel injun movie to satiate the red film folder, it's in the very same place as Thunderheart and with one of the actors, just 10 years later.

Skins is a 2002 rez-budgeted drama about 2 brothers in the poorest reservation around, fictional but might as well be the real one. Stars Eric Schweig as the frustrated sober tribal cop and Graham Greene as the perpetually drunk 'nam vet, directed by perhaps the most famous of the 2 or 3 native directors out there, Chris Eyre.

Not a lot to say about this one, i read it was one of the most famous works in american aboriginal cinematography, and honestly it doesn't bring any hopes with that. Painfully average, it's a clearcut 5/10, but brought there almost exclusively by the actually pretty good acting of both Schweig and Greene, the latter pulling the drunken indian role with an unnerving naturality.

The cinematography just did its job and the script is simply there, this honestly looks and smells of a TV movie, but not so much to laugh at it in its low points because the high ones do grab your attention for a while. Missed potential all around.

Having stroll around real reservations, the film portrays this hellhole with exceeded benevolence, and generally the director feels like he needs to remind the viewer it's a native movie by hamfisting good ol geronimo photos, out of place chants and native pop, along with preachy dialog that will make even some liberals sick. Still it does get right most of the social unrest, composed of drunks, passive anti-american sentiment and winos.

An unbalanced 5/10, just a few things done very well take it there. Only die-hard fans of Greene should check it, and you can catch it in any native american channel on sundays, or in PBS once in a while.

>>9880

> half of the amazon girls in the island being as black as the scorched houses in Gaza.

>>6630

>old wizardchan filename

"More American Graffiti".

It's the sequel to American Graffiti by George Lucas.

B.W.L. Norton directed it, and Lucas produced it. Lucas came up with the four stories having different visual presentations.

It's a stylistically interesting movie, but the script isn't anything amazing (it's not bad though), and you won't care about the characters that much unless you've seen the first movie.

>>9628

>>9900

>/film/ appreciates more than film

>>9957

>>7999

>My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

I am a big fan of Herzog and I usually stream his movies from my site http://original.livestream.com/hueythelastnacho. That being said, this movie is most definitely his worse. What drew me to this movie was the cast, but sadly, it seems as if they all knew this was a made for tv movie. The acting from everyone seems wooden and as if they are all doing this for a check. Mediocre story doesn't help this as well.

Saw this one again, surprisingly in TV the first time, and it was pretty decent.

1998's Blues Harp made by the madman himself, Takashi Miike, starring back-then newcomers Hiroyuki Ikeuchi and Seiichi Tanabe, the former portraying a son of a whore half-negro okinawan (no insults there) who pushes drinks, dope and licks on the titular instrument, and the latter acting an overly ambitious and aggressive yakuza kyodai enforcer who secretly has a shameful lifestyle choice along with his underling, but do not share it together or so it seems. Both of these colorful youths meet at a hellish backalley and the story unfolds from there with their mostly-professional struggles.

Made in the Yokosuka area i think, the ominous U.S. Army base sets the landscape along with industrial areas and somewhat dilapidated urban sectors, which give a lot of texture to contrast with the main scenes, made in flashy nightlife spots, trademark of early 00's Miike. Quite an interesting and easy digestible eye candy if it wasn't for the low quality rip, but it's infinitely better than nothing. The composition and camera work are usual Miike, he rarely stops moving and gives plenty of variety with his angles and light, along with stylish movements akin to his action-oriented prowess.

Have to mention the quirk around this movie that somewhat mirrors 90's indie movies, controversial personal tastes from a main character and liberal use of "alternative" music. Unlike the majority of western films who use those traits, here they are placed softly most of the time even when they are important parts of the plot or crucial backgrounds for these characters, the music is presented as the blues bar's main acts (where our boys revolve mostly) and the mark of the damned being brought out only when necessary and not explicitly.

Cast was pretty good, nothing outstanding but they rarely if ever feel odd together, other than our blues brother love interest's teen personality which isn't really strange in a Japanese movie. While i haven't said anything bad about the movie, this flicker is no big punch, but it just simply seems to not fail in most things it tries, well worth the watch for a Miike fan or for anyone interested in maybe the last days of jap cinema before men in women's make-up and trendy haircuts, even when we literally have here a dude with (an underplayed) lust for brown rice.

>>10112

My impression was that Miike made violent nihilistic films but I didn't realize he was so prolific. Yeah, Audition. That one sounded pretty sadistic when I heard about it, so I avoided it. I lumped it in with the torture porn type of movies. But maybe it's time to finally check this guy out (no homo).

>>10114

>(no homo)

You will end up seeing tons of homo content in his movies, i thought he used it like Verhoeven did, a drastic ingredient to cast horror and shock from men who are used to gore. But recently i've seen another movie of his and realized he changes his hair very often, his hand movements also don't speak well of his rectal integrity, i could be wrong thou.

Mandatory watch for jap cinema fans, at least one movie. Along with Kitano one the most emblematic directors of the 90's. And speaking of the devil:

The much-reviled 1995's cyberpunk Johnny Mnemonic made by the painter Robert Longo, i ran from this for a decade but due to very specific circumstances, namely complex coincidences in my recent habits, i got very interested in seeing it.

This one sports an eclectic cast composed of Keanu Reeves, Takeshi Kitano, Dolph Lundgren, Ice T, Henry Rollings and Udo Kier. It surprised me due to watching Lundgren (and Van Damme's) movies in the last weeks, and Kitano's Violent Cop last month, along with playing Def Jam FFNY at a friend's house recently. Knew about this movie and saw it on the spot, the original U.S. release that is.

And it wasn't good, there's a lot of factors at play, and reading about the creators' ideas, i believe this movie was an accident of various benevolent intentions gone wrong. Both the author and the director initially planned an "art movie", lingo for a somewhat minimalistic, low-budget movie. I see this difficult as the source material demands high amounts of visual details, although some of the casting reflect their taste in the almost-extinct foreign VHS collecting hobby. 1 million bucks was their objective, they couldn't find it and some suits offered them 30, but with the condition of partial creative control. You can imagine what happened, twist here is that they were canadians. Didn't help that a month before release the distributors re-edited the thing.

The majority of interior sets can be seen to be decently crafted, along with the existing ones being well suited, really dig that late 80's interior design. Sadly the same cannot be said about the majority of exterior sets, especially the skyline and distance shots, which are among the worst i've seen from the 90's, this is Un Flic-tier. Cannot see how could they've managed something coherent with one million, other than using paintings.

CGI-wise, dated as VHS, like the technology talk from this era, but it can be pardoned for unpredictability reasons, but it does get in the nerves often, like the literal meaning of the Internet being a series of tubes, and browsing the web with a full contact virtual reality kit. Gun props were also questionable.

The acting is predicable. At first i was in deep distrust regarding Reeves' bizarre modus operandus, in this movie portraying the side-character turned protagonist Johnny, a courier who stashes highly sensitive data in his modified brain. My thoughts wouldn't be corrected, as Reeves here acted in his special kind of way, which personally i would deem as terrible, but he did pull out comedic gold from the dialogue, intention unknown. The original character turned sideshow, played by Dina Meyer, is serviceable enough, the script certainly didn't help her, nice eye candy.

Kitano did a yakuza boss akin to Sonatine, and didn't disappoint, but we couldn't see much as the U.S. version cuts several of his scenes, rendering his character almost irrelevant until the end. Lundgren got the techno-priest who gets to play hitman by night, and did his job in all its 80's action glory, short but good. Ice T appears as a paramilitary underground cult leader in search of sticking it to the man, so another day of his life in the ghetto, decent enough. Henry Rollins was the big surprise, playing a jaded but sensitive surgeon, the thick frame glasses screamed of a cheap personification, but he actually pulled the job well. Kier was portrayed in a friday night.

All in all, an ambitious dark humor project gone the cheesy action way pretending to be dramatic, with plenty of visuals and screenplay capsizing with its original author inside. This managed to make those 30 million back and more, but suitcases weren't happy about it for some reasons, doubt it was critical reception.

This project stalled many careers, almost killed them literally in the case of Kitano. It was bad, but it had its few moments, it's not that far away from other sci-fi movies like Demolition Man or The Lawnmower Man, although the creeping pretension to be taken serious at times seemed to spoil the party.

Watch only if you want to see Kitano as a yakuza boss send Lundgren as a preacher-themed assassin to kill Keanu Reeves. Also for hearing Kitano say "Ghost in the Shell" 27 years before due. Or if you want a third-grade Blade Runner bootleg.

I wanted to try Shôhei Imamura for the first time so I watched his 1983 version of The Ballad of Narayama. I wonder how it compares to the 1958 version by Keisuke киноshita, anyone know?

This film showcases exquisite outdoor photography as a family struggles for survival in a remote mountain village. With limited resources to go around, village tradition demands that old people be taken up a mountain to die when they reach the age of 70. But what happens when someone is still very healthy at that age?

The story has well-defined characters and just the right amount of comic relief. The endearing performance by Sumiko Sakamoto carries the film. In fact her dedication to this role to the detriment of her own body is genuinely disturbing.

Imamura uses an interesting technique of inserting footage of snakes, owls, frogs, etc. to amplify certain ideas within the human drama. For example, a couple having sex is intercut with a snake giving birth to highlight the raw, bestial nature of the act.

So, any recommendations on what to see next from Imamura?

Great movie. Wasn't as neat and relied a lot on luck and coincidence, but the force of the acting, the color and the themes make it a 9/10.

>>10265

>1984

Dry misery porn.

The House of Small Cubes is pretty comfy and has nice art direction, would recommend.

Normally I would write more about it, but I've been feeling like shit for the last few weeks and I don't remember much about the film's cinematography.

>Control

It didn't fully encapsulate Ian's life, the black and white filter was too clean and would've looked better with muted colors, it progresses without any indication of what year it is, and it didn't explain much of what was going on with him just his surroundings, watch 24-hour Party People instead if you had to choose one because it portrayed him more accurately with a snappier pace despite the movie being meh.

>The Elephant Man

It was good and simple not much to say.

>shot caller

This movie doesn't fuck around. The transition of the protagonist from a money broker into a fake-moustached prison gangster requires some suspension of belief. But the story itself was captivating enough to keep me entertained from start to finish.

Being a sucker for the neon aesthetic, I had to give this film a shot.

It features a new, and rather unusual take on the daemonic possession film, with the protagonist having a parasitic twin growing inside her that is struggling for dominance. The relationship between the protagonist and her best friend was nice, and treated better than what most modern horror films do, but some of the dialogue felt stilted and should have been dropped or reworked.

The music was good, especially the end credits track. I would have liked to see them go more ‘all in’, and maybe use something like ‘Sidewalks and Skeletons’ though. The effects were very nice – great-looking practical effects.

After a good beginning (after the ‘prologue’), it could have been trimmed down or changed somewhat – certain aspects didn’t work, and some characters should’ve been rewritten quite a bit. The climax was very satisfying though – it picks up again, and ends on a high note.

Certain aspects reminded me of the very underrated ‘Starry Eyes’, a film that I think is stronger. Still, if you enjoyed ‘Starry Eyes’, & a slow-burn horror film without the clichés (jumpscares in particular) found in modern horror films I would recommend it.

THE EAGLE HUNTRESS (2016)

At first glance this looks like a nice documentary about a Kazakh father teaching his daughter the skill of hunting with a golden eagle. But there's more to this story. The girlpower angle is not merely a marketing angle that taps into trendy social issues, it's the beginning and end of the filmmakers' interest in this project. They are preaching a heavy handed message in every scene, turning a sweet young girl into a mythic superhuman figure. The manipulative approach takes the air out of what could have been something great.

That said, I'd still recommend watching it. Why? THE EAGLE HUNTRESS can be a set of training wheels to ramp up your interest in Mongolian nomads. The pristine mountains and wilderness are shown with breathtaking drone photography - a tourism board's dream come true. But the story is shallow and contrived. You'll crave substance worthy of these beautiful images.

And that's when you can begin watching Ulrike Ottinger's ethnographic epic TAIGA. It's one of the longest films ever made; viewers may be wary of the 8.5 hour running time. But it's something you should watch, something that will stick with you for a long time, something that explores many universal truths about humanity and its enduring drive for survival.

This was painfully mediocre, it was a mix of what Tarkovsky would be remember for and trying to be a normal drama movie the whole thing is a monotonous drag, Kholin and Mashs in the woods and the memory of Ivan getting executed without a flashback was nice though. Easily his worst movie.

>>10114

>My impression was that Miike made violent nihilistic films

>nihilistic

No, just Japanese. These two at least were boss

Read a really strong analysis of 13, and he poured a fair amount of meaning into every slice of the sword.

>violent

Yeah, not for the weak-of-stomach, me thinks

Wow I liked this crazy one.

The "Hour of the Wolf" is the time before sunrise, the time of of deepest sleep, the time when most people die and most babies are born. This film is nightmarish, and watching it late at night added to the woozy disconnected atmosphere. I'd just like to understand more of what happened toward the end.

There are many memorable lines in this film. The whole discussion of The Magic Flute was devastating - "The loveliest, and perhaps the most disturbing music that has ever been written." It was immediately followed by this commentary about being an artist. I'd like to think these are Bergman's own thoughts:

Baron von Merkens: Does our artist not agree?

Johan Borg: Forgive me. I call myself an artist for lack of a better name. In my creative work there is nothing implicit except compulsion. Through no fault of mine, I've been pointed out as something quite extraordinary, a calf with five legs, a monster. I have never fought to attain that position and I shall not fight to keep it. Megalomania? Yes I've felt it waft about my brow at times, but I think I'm immune . I have only to think of the utter unimportance of art in the world we live in to bring it down to earth , although the compulsion is there all the same.

Corinne von Merkens: There speaks an artist!

>>10393

There's something about 13 assassins. I love that film so much.

Ai no Yokan (Rebirth) 2007

From IMDB: "A man's middle-school daughter has been murdered. His wife is already deceased. He tells a counselor he wants to live in anonymity, working with his hands. He moves away and gets a job in a factory. The woman who is the mother of the killer wants to apologize to the father, although she knows it would change nothing. He refuses to meet. She moves back to her hometown. She works in the kitchen at an inn where the man now lives. No one speaks. He eats alone. He reads in his apartment. She walks to her home and has a sandwich. She keeps her eyes lowered. He drives to work. Does either want to connect? What bond can they establish?"

I don't know what to say about this one. Wonder anyone here has watched it? During the middle part of the movie since there's so little development of story/character, I found myself imaging all kinds of possible scenarios to accommodate what I'm seeing. I almost forgot the main, albeit simple, plot. I saw it as the life of a lonely man, a lonely woman and a very strange relationship.

It was nice seeing Clint Eastwood play a different role which makes him stronger as an actor than playing definitely masculine roles than he usually does and was good for a directorial debut, nothing about the movie was special.

>>10367

It was his first film after all. This and Voyage in Time are his only films that I have not seen.

>>10395

I liked it until the cgi in the latter half. And then even after that disappeared I liked it again.

I watched Mystics in Bali and have to admit that it was incredibly disappointing. I like cult and trash films but this one proved to be boring and even annoying. It didn't even have a "so bad it's good" appeal. I would recommend Lady Terminator instead. This one is far more enjoyable.

I proceeded to view Goodbye Uncle Tom and wow, this one did not disappoint. Incredible in almost every way. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I love Jacopetti and Prosperi.

Alexander Nevsky tells the story of a Russian prince who fought off invading Germans in 1242, a story with obvious parallels to the tense relations between the two countries when the film premiered in 1938. Eisenstein's first sound film is also my first exposure to the director. I agree with the common criticism about him: the propaganda elements are too blatant to be very effective.

Still this film his full of fantastic images, especially the scenes with the German army. Their Catholicism is portrayed as a menacing death cult seeking to destroy the Russian people. German knights are outfitted as Crusaders, clad in bright white robes adorned with black crosses. The horned helmet of the German general makes him look like a Frank Frazetta warlord.

I assume subsequent medieval war films took inspiration from the battle scenes in Alexander Nevsky, which comprise most of the second half of the film. To be honest the battle scenes are weakened by the generous use of studio shots. One moment we see horsemen dashing across a real field in front of huge billowing clouds, but the next we see a man with fake backdrop pretending to fight off a horde by frantically swinging an axe through off-camera air. I wonder if the juxtaposition of very real with very fake is this common in other Eisenstein films.

>tfw kid who grew up in 11x11 ft room is better at living in the world than you

In terms of plot there was a lot of things that surprised me in the movie. There's some really good writing at times, but as a whole the movie is honestly pretty forgettable. It's pretty narrow in terms of thematic significance because so much of the movie has to take place from the eyes of the boy. Just about maternal love and shit, that's boring.

Frederick Wiseman's ASPEN (1991)

The IMDb rating of 6.5/10 puts it on the low end of the director's filmography. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with it, but it does not have as many amazing real-life moments found in Wiseman's other films.

ASPEN begins and ends with scenes of church services - not what you'd expect from a documentary about the Colorado skiing town. In fact quite a lot of screentime is devoted to religion: a men's bible study, a new age discussion group, a seminar on Christian economics. Late in the film a pastor observes how easy it is to find God when you cross country ski into the mountains. I have to assume that Wiseman agrees with this sentiment, and he includes so much religious content to demonstrate how the area's natural beauty has inspired the local population to seek spirituality.

As you'd expect, the documentary also focuses a lot on Aspen's wealthy population, the sorts of people live who in every resort town. I made a clip of an early scene where a Gary Busey lookalike teaches painting to fellow yuppies in a multi-million dollar home.

My first Sokurov film and I thought it was absolutely fantastic.

Reminded me of Malick's Thin Red Line in how it portrayed people existing on the fine line between life and death. I could watch the first part for hours, it's incredibly soothing and meditative. Only Tark has given me a similarly powerful, quasi-religious experience watching a film.

Another movie/series I should've watched before I turned 14, there's nothing very special to it if you don't watch it at an impressionable age.

TODO MODO'

Italian corporate and political elites gather at an underground facility for a religious retreat. The whole affair has sinister undertones of paranoia, surveillance, conspiracy, and murder ... all the ingredients of an engrossing political thriller. Ennio Morricone sets the creepy mood with a subdued, dissonant score.

I really like how Catholicism is used in this film. On the most basic level it confronts the powerful men with scathing words of conscience. Secondly we see the relationship between Church and State in Italy. Each props up the other, while both wane in influence. Finally the dark grey rooms feature bright white religious statues - an effective aesthetic contrast. These statues are surprisingly unsettling, often showing weeping and torment.

I assume TODO MODO remains under the radar because it focuses on a specific time in Italy's history. Many international viewers will miss certain references. But it's well-made and memorable with striking production design. Worth watching.

Raw (2016)

Meh. Pretty weak all around.

< The Old Dark House

Meh.

I saw it right before the BD came out so I had an old dark print. The story is nothing special, but not too predictable either. All the scary stuff is packed into the last ten minutes.

The "young" Charles laughton looks just like the old Charles Laughton

Reminded by the inane mix that was Mnemonic, i finally found and got to see the enigmatic comedy by Kitano's Beat character himself.

1995's Getting Any? gives light to rumors that Takeshi's accident was an underworld punishment for this kind of public poison: Showcasing themes such as rampant criminal libido, moral degeneracy including promiscuity of christians, male stripping, S&M, scat, zoophilia, child slapping, heavy yakuza mockery and liberal use of Karoshi and Hikikomori situations for comedy in the middle of the economic and social crisis following the 1992 Bubble, this movie is a classic stereotypical product which becomes a little else due to being done in such a way that it seems to cross at times the line between absurdism and hard social critique.

Starring Minoru Iizuka "Dankan" as our man Asao, an actual well-capable hikikomori with a newfound life objective of doing it in a car like in a flashy porno, the film sports a wide array of other identifiable actors from previous Kitano and pop-culture movies, ironically without famous comic reliefs, leaving most of the menacing and hard edged faces parodying themselves into faraway levels, going into extremely questionable instances such as The Pilot. The Sonatine, Boiling Point and Violent Cop cameos (along with the Fireworks' bank staff) are what makes this comedy, in my opinion, the main selling ticket (yes, one that depends on others) because there's a couple of details that might hurt this work.

The story is composed from 2 concepts with 4 phases: The first 30 minutes revolve around /ourguy/ incompetently scheming plans, that often fall in criminal grounds, to get laid via objects or status signals, the "original" part of the story, but then this goes into the direct spoof/parody territory of the 60's/70's where Asao stumbles blindly into inane environments, going into Chanbara with Kurosawa and, ironically in plenty of levels, Zatoichi. Then proceeds to the psychedelic and duelistic nature of The Yakuza and finally goes into the Sci-Fi ending, spoofing the Kaiju and Mad Scientist genre.

The first part is the main beef here, where the fast-paced and Cromartie-tier highly absurdist comedy meets the slow-paced Kitano, kinda like the last part of Kikujiro, but this succumbs into non-stop madness, peaking at the Yakuza Graveyard. Immediately after this, the movie shows clear signs of running out of gas, and goes for another 25 minutes. Plenty have mentioned, or searched too deeply for meaningful ideas, a social critique on Japan by Kitano, pointing us the confused and highly materialistic amoral youth, usury by the government staff and their irrational contingency activities, salarymen's lack of mental preservation to the point of selling their own integrity, along with the eternal jokes on the Japanese's overly friendly and serviceable behavior.

Personally i can say this is a mind window from a wild and irreverent individual into the so-called Lost Decade. A half-baked (or overly cooked) but must-have film to complete the viewing on Kitano's 8-movie Golden Decade.

What do you guys think of Jon Jost? I just saw Bell Diamond, my first from him.

I assume Jost is known as a competent director who works with very low budgets. He favors amateur actors and informal, improvised dialogue. Bell Diamond demonstrates the great upside of this approach -- at times the film feels very real, like an observational documentary. The downside to amateur actors is (of course) the amateur "acting" when Jost pushes the drama beyond the cast's abilities. As a viewer you have to be charitable.

I wouldn't say I liked Bell Diamond too much. The basis of the movie is a dull story about dull people. But it was still interesting to see a bare bones production that was not a student film.

One of my favorite parts was the images of huge white clouds rolling through the azure Montana sky. I think I'm ready to watch the "cloud movie" that someone requested here a while ago.

TRIBUTES - Pulse

Most of the first half of this Bill Morrison project is decomposed nitrate. In other words, he chooses footage where the images that have already been lost to time. The images have been replaced by random patterns of natural disintegration. These analogue visuals are one-of-a-kind, beautiful and ominous, confronting the viewer with harsh realities about the impermanence of people, places, memories, existence.

Later in this brief film it becomes easier to see what was originally photographed. As with Decasia, here are moments of serendipitous interplay between the images and the decaying media itself. For example a biplane and parachutist appear to be buffeted and engulfed by cloudlike artifacts on the film surface.

I won't "spoil" the end, but I was surprised (and you'd be too if I hadn't said this).

First movie of 2017 that I tried to watch was Blade Runner 2049. I couldn't do it. I made it an hour in. I might try it again from the start on a much later date but until then I don't have interest in it.

Not a good start, but look out for Shape of Water, Mother, and Killing of a Sacred Deer; I'll be watching those in the next couple days.

>Lady Bird

Being a guy I dont think i understood some of the girly feels. I have no idea why the rotten tomatoes score is as high as it was 7/10

>Mother!

What a piece of shit. 15 minutes in and I backed out. I hate Jennifer Lawrence and Bardem. Aronofsky while not perfect can deliver but this was a huge misstep.

>The Killing of a Sacred Deer

I actually commented on The Lobster in this thread a little while back. I preferred that one. KOASD is intriguing and the tension and atmosphere are the highlights of the film. Not as beautiful as The Lobster and not as hard hitting as Dogtooth but still worth a viewing, and possibly a couple after that. I just finished watching it so I'll let it digest further but there is much to take from this one. Unfortunately my brain doesn't work so well in heavy symbols and I suspect that this film possessed a number of them. I have no idea what the overarching metaphor was, nor do I understand many of the character interactions.

>>6688

Sometimes, after getting shit on, some men take their trade and make something that seems to send a final, personal message. Artistically suicidal at times like Pat Metheny's Zero Tolerance for Silence, or well-constructed but just as dangerous like Paul Verhoeven's De Vierde Man, works that try to say to the opponent that he can shove it and

1998's Knock Off, the hyperkinetic action-genre burlesque, directed by an angry Tsui Hark and interestingly written by Steven Souza, co-writer of 48 Hrs, Die Hard, Commando, Running Man and a certain Street Fighter. Starring none other than previous protagonist, JCVD, this time being an Indochina war-time orphan turned flamboyant triad contraband master in Hong Kong about to go full legit, and for those who disliked Dennis Rodman's acting here we have Rob Schneider as the action sidekick portraying a somewhat neurotic jewish fashion designer with an obscure secret and legal business partner, along with Lela Rochon as the token executive investigator overseeing a phony shipment from these guys' "jurisdiction".

The script regarding most of its main characters undergo at least one plot twist, and the plot itself at least 3 times, but initially it's about 2 shady executives from a clothing company planning to go big in the 1997 Handover Day, but days before they are invited to a charity event race, a front for an illegal bet race and a symbolic ritual to decide departure orders in the port. We are led to believe, thanks to the appearance of several sport cars and colorful individuals, that it's going to be fast, only for it to be revealed as a Kowloon City District R-R-Rickshaw race, and to top it, at the finish line something wrong happens that will send our heroes into non-stop trouble involving every single armed faction in the island.

By this moment it looks like a kick in the head direct-2-dvd action stew, and it's because it somewhat is, but "ironically" of course. Double Team's production mayhem seemingly wrecked Hark's western-sensitive ambitions, trying to mix HK action in a serious tone with contrasting lighthearted moments, which was meddled a lot by executives and got completely butchered by the critic community, sparking in my distant opinion a certain disdain in the director's psyche, seen a couple of times in the DVD extras, making him to go dick first in his lust for redemption, serving a highly over the top product as a joke to past detractors, which, not surprisingly, was used to support their agenda with malicious intends, or just plain destroy.

The body and soul of the film is basically Double Team's stylistic ideal taken to a comedic extreme, along with a heavy catalogue of action cliches parodies, either from the West or HK itself, like teleporting behind someone, 007's Germany parking lot car chase, dykes intimidating the tough guy, notable physical inconsistencies between scenes, protagonist ending an extensive fight by slapping a henchwoman, among others, and all this comes easy due to the well-prepared crew and Hark's style of action that merges goofy sequences with fights and explosions. It might sound like i am poking fun at the production, but honestly the quality and intention are notable for a western film, if the script wasn't already enough the editing and cinematography is proof this was an action as comedy (instead of action with comedy tones) like in a couple of Jackie Chan projects, with the end result itself being a challenge towards an industry sector that Hark would ultimately ditch to never return.

Some producers leaving this mid-way in anger, Jet Li perceiving box office poison and Tsui Hark's theoretical hateboner grant this comedy action flick a certain status that cannot be ignored, and with Van Damme going back to Kowloon, snorting 6 to 10 grams a day (his own words) this becomes entertainment; it's not a "greatest hits" joint nor an action essential, it isn't horrible to be direct, but i brought it here due to its highly rumored case in point status as a suicidal statement work, and mainly, mainly because Hark used an extensive range of techniques filmed all over the place to parody peers (John Woo and Kar-Wai Wong come to mind) and to add the special brand of "over the top" into the movie, dedicated special cinematography for small things. An interesting, "not THAT bad" movie that showcases serious camera work, maybe pretentious to say but i think also highly misunderstood for what it is, a deadpan comedy, even without any context.

Last Watched: An episode of Mindhunter with the fam on Christmas Eve

My Impression: It was rather dull. Pretty boy FBI agent and his old partner jet around to study serial killers. It's all based on a nonfiction book about "The Bureau", but this series has too many crimeshow character tropes to feel authentic. There was nothing to make me want to watch more. So I leave Netflix for the familiar comfort of my stash of weird rare shit that will never be on Netflix.

Recently watched Hands Over the City (1963), an Italian movie about how corrupt politicians are.

Basically Italians argue at each other. There is really nothing more to it then "politicians are out to profit off everyone else". Can't say I liked the movie because it seems too much like communist propaganda. Out of the 3 parties, right-center-left, only the communists in the film avoid being corrupt and keep fighting for "morality". The movie even shows a communist rally when the next scene shows how the center party wins the majority votes and does not even mention how the communusts did in the election.

>>11455

That sounds like Todo Modo (made 13 years later) with similar subject matter and theme. The author of that novel later became a communist politician - as a viewer you just can't escape it sometimes. But Todo Modo doesn't beat you too hard with leftist ideology, as I mentioned above it's mostly a harsh indictment of the political class.

I found out later about the eerie connections between the film's characters and real Italian politicians. Crazy.

>This movie was intended to satirize Italy's ruling political party, the Democrazia Cristiana. Gian Maria Volontè's character was a caricature of one of DC leader's, statesman Aldo Moro. Two years later, Moro was kidnapped and murdered by communist terrorists.

‘The Whisperer in Darkness’ from 2011, based on H. P. Lovecraft’s story of the same name.

I had watched it some time earlier, but now I got the DVD and watched it twice more – the second time with the audio commentary track.

The film strives to imitate the look and feel of 1930s horror films – shot in black & white, using a mix of old and new techniques. The opening shot of the hills of Vermont during a downpour is fantastic, and really nails the 1930s horror film look and tone. Sadly the film-makers decided to tone down the horror atmosphere in favour of a more thriller/sci-fi tone, with the justification that the old ’30s films aren’t scary either by today’s standard.

To make matters worse the makers decided to add a whole new act to the story, shoehorning in their OC – a young girl who just happens to be a better pilot than the protagonist to help the contrived final act, that feels completely out of place in a film adaptation of ‘The Whisperer in Darkness’. I think the film would have fared much better if they had gone for a shorter runtime, similar to the 1930s films they wanted to imitate. The modern runtime makes some parts drag on, and come up with their own final act. I would also have liked to see them go all in on the 1930s style when it comes to film-making, mixed with modern-day horror tone.

That said it is remarkable how good the film looks given the budget they had to work with – the miniatures look fantastic, the CGI – made to look like old-style stop-motion animation puppets – looks good. There is a lot of location work here, and for the most part it looks great – especially the scenes taking place at Miskatonic University. The acting is decent – nothing groundbreaking, though, again, the 1930s style of acting would have been preferable.

>>11466

I remember liking their ‘Call of Cthulhu’ adaptation better – done as a 1920s black & white silent film. CoC is not my favoruite HPL story, but I think it worked better than the TWiD adaptation.

>>11469

This is great, I just watched it. The competent low-budget silent style reminded me of Guy Maddin. This one started off a bit bland. I think the lighting was too flat and contemporary at first, which undercut the pretense of a 1920s film. Its eventual change to expressionist lighting made the film much better.

I think it's cool that a "historical society" for HP Lovecraft is making films. I'd never seen a Cthulhu adaptation before, but it looks like this is the only one that's been made!

>>6930

>>6989

Just when you thought it was rightfully over, Michael Fassbinder is set to star in a "feature length version" of Kung Fury

http://variety.com/2018/film/news/michael-fassbender-action-comedy-kung-fury-1202695496/

>>11676

>>11688

>The purpose: not to tell a story but to involve the viewer "in the moments of a person".

Οh it involved me but not in the intended way. I got angry that the stupid roastie is chain smoking while gestating. How can someone be so egotistic and careless is beyond me.

>consider them more closely and to "think with her"

Think what? "I'm a stupid roastie who dun goofed" is literally all there is to it.

Just recently watched Like Me. Very disappointed. Not much here for me, some interesting visuals but the trailer is better.

2nd year of uni kicked off so I went on a bit of a beginners patrician-mission and watched a whole bunch of 'must see' classics

>Soalris:

Amazing, opening, boring 1st act as a whole though because of all the exposition, but absolutely amazing 2nd half that blew my socks off. Not as good as 2001 though.

>Ivan's Childhood: Wasn't as taken back by this one, I thought Tarkovsky created dream sequences better than Fellini though.

>Nanook of the North: This was fun look into the life of an Inuit family but clearly Flaherty wasn't very good at structuring a story together. From what I understand he was filming a documentary on the Inuk people but then dropped a ciggy on his film burning all of it. So he went back and refocused the story on one Inuk family. It get's bogged down in inter titles and focusing on the slow death of the animals that were hunted (Obviously that's how it is out there but watching a walrus get harpooned for 15 minutes is pretty painful watching).

>Tampopo:

Easily one of my favourite movies of all time. Charming, funny, beautiful vignettes. 9/10.

>Apocalypse now:

I went into this thinking, yeah it'll probably be as great if not better than everyone says and then I watched it and I was left speechless. This is my favourite film of all time hands down. Didn't think it would that fucking cooked.

I'm glad /film/ is still around

>>11835

>2nd year of uni

Do you mind me asking what school you go to? Are you majoring in film? I want to major in film very much but mental illness is fucking my life up.

>>10394

> The whole discussion of The Magic Flute was devastating - "The loveliest, and perhaps the most disturbing music that has ever been written."

Don't forget Bergman made a film version of The Magic Flute too

I saw this a month ago and I liked the ending rather than the whole thing which is a cruddy thing to do. The two plotlines weren't captivating but I understood that the focus of the movie was on character progression but we were just dropped into the middle of their lives without any "slope" and for that I felt the ending was just a new beginning and the real movie's start of where they go together afterwards but that won't happen as with the bitch's monologue riding on the bike which is a good example on how movies are more than movies and that its an art like photography or painting whether the still is in the context of the film (I didn't actualize/acknowledge this yet I'm not a movie person), this sounds basic but I don't get the buzz of films like this unless films of this tier are just plain artsy. Wong's life as a hitman and his escapades in it aren't fleshed out and Ho's story was decent enough compared to Wong. What was the poetry of the characters longing for a lover get together at the end while their counterparts die in one way or another, what was the poetry of the last puff of smoke, it's probably a basic linear digit of an answer.

>>12138

Funny, i liked the whole thing except the ending, which i found very crude and conceptually redundant after the highly stylish exploits from before (and even more so when i rewatched it after seeing Chungking)

But part of this enjoyment was because i somehow confused characters, i thought the fixer girl was also the schizo girl, until i saw the ramen & cigar scene close up in my small kitchen TV, and in the middle of this realization the movie ends with that silly song (in the context at least)

The focus/concept of the film and almost every K.W. Wong movie is like you said, longing for nostalgic, unfulfilled love, either of what has been or what could have been. I feel the background of the characters is just a stylistic choice from the director, either to communicate "even bad guys cry" or because he wanted an excuse to film some chinaman going akimbo on a bunch of indies, because at the end of the day, IIRC, every single character was suffering from that feel almost in the same way.

I don't think the appeal was "just plain artsy", it's just like any other movie, except it doesn't focus on a narrative or a specific display of power, it just wants to layout a simple concept, sometimes in a very reiterative manner, but also displaying many different examples (and distinctive visuals)

And the ending, i feel, was simply a very short ride, a comfortable moment from characters knowing deep inside that it would be just that instant, being represented by a good puff of smoke in the sunrise.

Looking back, i don't know how i confused schizochan with fixertan

Ming Green is an experimental short consisting of strobing and superimposed static shots of the inside of an apartment. I was not impressed. The technique has potential, but the images are bland and repetitive.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) - I love the gritty vibe of this crime film, it's rough and "real". The crooks are not the slick hotshots you find in other such films. They're down-and-out, barely scraping by, breaking the law not for glory or greed but to try to survive.

THE WAY I SPENT THE END OF THE WORLD (2006)

Selected at random from my voluminous collection of mkvs, this Romanian coming-of-age film takes place during the end of the country's socialist dictatorship. The story is about a family grappling with the question of whether to conform to society or rebel against it, further illustrated by the young daughter's romantic involvement alternating between the son of a policeman and the son of a revolutionary. The girl dreams of escape to see the world, but that would entail a hard lonely journey and a swim across the Danube River.

While the film's setting is interesting and unfamiliar to me, the story is told in a pretty conventional manner. It's essentially a well-made, well-acted drama -- but that alone is not enough for me to recommend it here.

I've been making bite-sized reviews of films I've watched, usually the threads die pretty fast though. I haven't tried posting here yet so I'm curious how it'll go.

_

Dreyer's depiction of Joan's trial and the emotions she went through were exhausting. Similar to German's Hard to Be God, I unconsciously kept putting myself in her shoes, a thing I rarely do, so good was Falconetti's portrayal. Though she was standout, I should mention that the work others put in their characters was superb as well, the raving deacon foaming from his mouth and spitting on Joan's face is a testament of this. Though the camera tends to prefer breaking personal barriers, its lingering shots of people around the key scenes sets the atmosphere perfectly. As Joan is ready to be burned at the stake, we see jesters and other entertainers have come to see the spectacle and profit from Joan's suffering, something very macabre yet fitting for its time. Haven't seen a film in a while that has raised such strong emotions as this, I admit I got teary eyed. During the climax as she was being tied to the pole, I kept thinking could I choose her path. The gift of life at the cost of denouncing your faith is tempting, as seen when she writes the abjuration, but her going back on the decision after she has been guaranteed safe life makes it even more powerful than if she had made the decision during writing. One of the very few films I've given a 10/10, what did you think of it?

Let’s get a cyclical analysis thread going. Talk about your most recent movie you have watched, and a short analysis on it. If it was good or bad, overhyped, aesthetically shot, plot quality, etc. I’ll sage and start in first post.

The Machinist. Mediocre. Kept thinking about NightCrawler when I was watching it. Ok twist. Made me want to go to bed, more than me feeling like the MC was losing his mind. Needed more reality altering hallucinations. Intellectually average, but better than mainstream shit.

since the board is a little sleepy

Nocturnal Animals. Visually nice. Very, very uncomfortable movie. It made me feel like I want to reach out and push the characters in the right way. Felt like no country for old men. The detective character made that movie. A little too dark for me. and I HATE AMY ADAMS.

Imaginäre Architektur - Der Baumeister Hans Scharoun

directed by Hartmut Bitomsky

I instantly loved the phrase "imaginary architecture" as it implies unbound creativity applied to structural design. German architect Hans Scharoun's imaginary architecture can be seen in the thousands of conceptual illustrations he made during WWII, a period when there was little work for him. He envisioned fantastical structures, enormous in size and unfeasible to construct. These structures resembled something you'd see in animated science fiction. Later in life he used these conceptual designs as a source of inspiration for his real-world projects.

Throughout his life, Scharoun designed many distinctive buildings -- private residences, apartment complexes, a school, a library, and ultimately the Berlin Philharmonic Concert Hall. Each of his designs was unique and inventive. My impression is that Scharoun was primarily concerned with how a building would be used by its inhabitants. He developed floorplans with specific and sometimes unconventional intentions. He preferred large open spaces where people would necessarily mingle, such as the Berlin Philharmonic foyer or the single long walkway in his apartment complex. He contrasted the open public space with areas for individuals and small groups to withdraw, for example Scharoun's classrooms were hexagonal and arranged like a honeycomb. Scharoun also devised a complex logistical system for his library, where books move from the stacks to the patrons by traversing a complicated network of conveyor belts.

I like to learn about these ideas for organization of people and things; it seems like architects always want to try something novel in that regard. For the most part Scharoun's ideas seemed to be successful in practice, but I was curious if any of his ideas did not work so well for the public. The documentary was only an hour long, and it did not really say.

I also wonder how many of Scharoun's unconventional ideas were imitated by others. I see these kinds of documentaries about architects with radical design ideas, yet few of their radical ideas seem to go mainstream. Why is that?

>>13540

>Pom Poko

I went into this with really low expectations. The premise sounds like a bad environmentalist movie and as good as Only Yesterday was, I didn't think Isao Takhata could salvage a comedy about shapeshifting raccoon dogs with large testicles.

What followed really wasn't what I expected. It builds on themes from Only Yesterday and examines the various ways people respond to globalism and loss of cultural identity, including terrorism and the blackpill. I got the impression the director was upset Only Yesterday didn't affect normalfags as much as he hoped and this was his second, less subtle attempt at getting his message across.

This is a difficult film to write about without sounding hyperbolic or miserable. It affected me way more than it should have. I also can't tell whether it lacked subtlety or whether browsing pre-2016 /pol/ made its themes more obvious: I looked up a bunch of reviews while writing this and only one reviewer caught on.

Most of /film/ won't watch this and I understand why. However, if you appreciated Only Yesterday or hung around 8/pol/ in its glory days, you may appreciate this too.