My 2024 Watchlist Obsession!

[Stirchley]

So sometimes I let my cats have a midnight snack, and instead of putting it in each bowl I will sometimes just drop some kibble on the ground, and I always picture myself as Little Edie throwing the cat food to the raccoons.

That always horrified me, the thought of a raccoon in my house. :eek:

[PHOENIX74]

So sometimes I let my cats have a midnight snack, and instead of putting it in each bowl I will sometimes just drop some kibble on the ground, and I always picture myself as Little Edie throwing the cat food to the raccoons.

There's something so aesthetically satisfying in seeing (and hearing) a whole box of kibble poured onto a hard floor surface. I'm sure your cats would agree with me there.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/xdCqyRdG/jean-de-florette.webp

JEAN DE FLORETTE (1986)

Directed by : Claude Berri

It starts, innocently enough, as a dream. A dream to cultivate flowers, which is a good idea from Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) - even his old uncle César (Yves Montand) admits as much when he discovers how much florists will pay. But it would be best to grow them on a neighboring property which has the advantage of a spring that César and Ugolin know about. Their neighbour doesn't want to sell them the land, and in the heat of the moment their neighbour ends up dead - but even this terrible but fortuitous turn of events doesn't bring Ugolin's dream any closer to fruition. Jean Cadoret (Gérard Depardieu) inherits the land, and even though he's a city man (and a hunchback) he has dreams of his own for the place. In the meantime, César and Ugolin have staunched the spring with concrete and a plug - and this will lead to Ugolin, who seemingly befriends Jean, having to wrestle with his conscience. As Jean battles the harsh climate and topography he drives himself closer and closer to an early grave in his desperation to make his farming dream a reality, and he doesn't know that he's actually in competition with his faux-friend's own dream. The more Jean suffers, the more Ugolin looks the other way, as greed holds sway and it becomes obvious that the real cause of Jean and his family's hardship is this rat-faced, filthy, two-faced man who has extended a false hand of friendship, and his awful uncle, who urges him on in denying Jean the help he needs, in what seems the worst kind of theft imaginable.

You get to a certain stage in Jean de Florette where I think most of us will think, "Okay, by this stage I would have told Jean the truth, uncle be damned." For some good folks, that is an almost immediate reaction. To others it's when Jean starts really hurting, and his farm starts to die. But I doubt many of us can watch this entire film and think they could be as duplicitous, greedy and immoral as Ugolin and especially César. You can see that Ugolin at least wrestles with the dilemma in his mind, and I really loved Daniel Auteuil in this movie - if I were Jean, I would have totally thought this guy was my friend, and that he was looking out for my best interests. Claude Berri is economical but direct and powerful in how he shows Jean's status in the village as a city person and hunchback - how he's hated, and distrusted by those who don't know him, despite being a kind of loving guy. But all of that makes Ugolin's betrayal even worse - because Jean and his family are depending on him being true to them. Gérard Depardieu gives us a Jean that becomes blind to the dangers around him in his quest for success in this venture - in any other film, he'd kind of be the villain in that he loses track of what's important (his wife and daughter) by risking his own life, and his finances, by constantly gambling in a "double-or-nothing" kind of sense. He'll risk more and more (without knowing that he has the winning hand so nearby.) Depardieu is fantastic, and takes us to the edges of madness, while at the same time embodying the much more pure (and at first confident and right) person in this story.

This really was a superior and extraordinarily excellent French drama, anchored by a third great performance - that of legend Yves Montand as the cynically awful César Soubeyran. Played out on some of the most visually pleasing, hilly areas in Province (close to Marseille), it's easy to agree with Jean when he arrives and keeps noting the beauty of the surrounding landscape. It's not the kind of flat terrain we'd normally associate with farming activities, and I almost gasped when Ugolin came home from military service and had to climb such a steep, mountainous incline just to take his luggage to his living quarters (a dirty, run-down, cluttered shack.) We're put in no doubt throughout the movie - this life is a tough life, and it will simply kill the uninitiated, unwise or unprepared. Surprisingly, the film doesn't suffer at all from being the first half of a 'two-part' story, and stands alone as a self-contained, fulfilling movie. It's excellent in all departments, and I was drawn in and fully engaged by Jean's dream, and the battle he wages against the elements while being hamstrung by an unknown that he doesn't know is an unknown. His betrayal eats away at him like an undiagnosed cancer. It was so compelling, and such a great way to showcase the best and worst in all of us. As a period film it has a certain 'timeless' quality to it, and I simply can't wait to finish the story...

Glad to catch this one - it won 4 BAFTA Awards from 10 nominations, and 1 César Award from 8 nominations, along with being nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/HnYHjVqZ/jean-de-florette2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 436 (-14)

Next : Manon of the Spring (1986)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Jean de Florette

[Wooley]

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GREY GARDENS (1975)

Directed by : Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Muffie Meyer & Ellen Hovde


4.5

[CENTER]https://i.postimg.cc/nLSqQGrf/grey-gardens2.jpg



I have still never watched this because it seems very squirmy which is a feeling I do not care for one bit.

[Takoma11]

I have still never watched this because it seems very squirmy which is a feeling I do not care for one bit.

It's more weird than squirmy. For me, the relationship between the women and the various men who work for them was the most awkward part, mostly because I was like "The vibes here are off, but I genuinely can't tell who is taking advantage of whom."

[SpelingError]

Jean de Florette would make it pretty high on my list of favorite first time watches this year. It's one of the few films I can think of which finds beauty and darkness in the natural world, yet gets you to appreciate both at the same time.

[SpelingError]

Also, Grey Gardens is great, bu I should revisit it soon to refresh my memory. Everything I've seen so far from the Maysles brothers is pretty great.

[PHOENIX74]

I have still never watched this because it seems very squirmy which is a feeling I do not care for one bit.

You might find that it's not quite as much like that as you'd immediately guess at face value - I think the Maysles bros were conscious of not making this a complete squirm-fest, and were quite kind in how this was presented. That's not to say it's completely squirm-free, of course.

[PHOENIX74]

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MANON OF THE SPRING (1986)
(Manon des sources)

Directed by : Claude Berri

When summed up, Manon of the Spring makes for a very satisfying whole when coupled with Jean de Florette - all of the counterbalance that was needed organically sprouts from Marcel Pagnol's story (he originally wrote and directed the 1952 version, before writing a novel based on it.) Jean's daughter, Manon (Emmanuelle Béart) is now a goatherder, still living in the same countryside where César (Yves Montand) and Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) have set up their carnation-growing business. She's in her late teens, and becomes the target of an obsessive, overpowering love from Ugolin, while at the same time falling for the much more handsome, intelligent and age-appropriate Bernard Olivier (Hippolyte Girardot), who is a schoolteacher. She also resorts to drastic measures in her fight against the locals when she overhears townspeople talk about how everyone there knew there was a spring on her father's property, but they all kept silent. The pain she feels is revisited on them all, but in the meantime Ugolin suffers even more - his unhealthy, hysteric desire and fanatical devotion leads to one particular scene that had me squirming, and shouting, and almost beyond belief at what I was seeing. The final denouement felt perfect, with Greek tragedy levels of heartbreak and revelation mixed with a fitting closure to all that had come before.

Getting to this stage of Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring, I'm much more loathe to bring up too much more concerning the story. There was a certain inevitability to the first part, but here anything can happen - and all paths are open for us to see many possibilities eventuating. If Manon seeks revenge, will it consume her along with those she tries to get even with? If Ugolin is rejected, how will he react? What consequences will there be? Manon seems so vulnerable and alone out there - and by that, I'm not saying that she's not capable, or brave - she's both - but simply that she's such a lone figure. Her mother is off galivanting around Europe, making a career for herself in theater, leaving her with no family or even any friends (bar Bernard) to fight beside her. César, for his part, simply wants the Soubeyran name not to die out - and has high hopes for his comically hopeless, filthy, creepy and extremely unattractive nephew. I felt so much tension just because of the fact that I knew nothing would be beyond him. He could sink to any low imaginable. A trump card - and real power over the town - sits deep within a remote series of caves, down within the ancient rock the water that feeds the spring flows over. It all comes together in a way that's pleasing in a dramatic way, and the surrounds of Provence once again play their part as an awesome and majestic backdrop to what happens.

Once all is said and done, Claude Berri and his cadre of actors manage to have their audience feeling sympathy for everyone and opens up the scope of this to make it a tale about generations. Think of it as karma, writ large on the rocky, sun-drenched hills, sand and desperation of those living off the land in the villages dotted around Provence - where the men leave on military service and come back with dreams ahead of them, or sometimes dreams shattered and lost. The dreams of César - for his family and his nephew - were enough for him to see morality as nothing more than a hindrance, but by the time we've seen this second film we understand all of the characters and can see why everyone was the way they were. The "if only" of everything tugs away like an ache, but at the same time there's such a satisfying feeling of having come full circle. It's a great story, told in such a wonderful way by these two films. I've really enjoyed engrossing myself in them, and figure that the same goes for many others. If you haven't seen either, or even if you've seen the first but not the second yet - you ought to catch both. Although the first stands alone just fine, the two films are the ying and yang that makes such a greater whole picture.

Glad to catch this one - Emmanuelle Béart won a César Award for playing Manon and this (coupled with Jean de Florette) was named the Best Foreign Language Film of 1986 by the National Board of Review.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/RZvr9bdx/manon.jpg

Watchlist Count : 435 (-15)

Next : Mommy (2014)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Manon of the Spring

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/D0Tsdj2r/mommy2.jpg

MOMMY (2014)

Directed by : Xavier Dolan

Expectations and first impressions can do funny things to your film-viewing experiences. With movies on my watchlist, I feel I've already done the work concerning reading reviews and making sure it's something I really, really want to see. So when it comes to eventually watching them, so much time has passed - I remember nothing, but don't feel the need to catch up on what they're about. I like being surprised. With Mommy, I didn't have much to go on except for the picture on the film's poster - which to me looks like some kind of abuse/hostage situation, with possible sexual assault added to the mix. (The situation in the film is extraordinary in how different it was to what I pictured.) Then comes a title card before the movie starts, with some information for us concerning a fictional new law introduced to the Canada of the near-future - S-14, which allows for parents to have their children committed to institutions if their behaviour becomes uncontrollable. You can imagine the trepidation with which we meet this film's tearaway teenage protagonist then, Steve Després (Antoine Olivier Pilon), who is being expelled from an institution for starting a fire which severely burned a fellow-inmate. After spending 10 to 15 minutes of film-time with Steve, my impression of him could be summed up easily with what was going through my mind - "This kid is Caligula." He's wild, prone to sudden and inexplicable violence, rude, sexually inappropriate, abusive, manipulative and completely unpredictable. Now I was afraid for every other character in this film...

The first character we do meet in Mommy is Steve's mother, Diane (Anne Dorval), or as we know her, "Die". Die is pretty confrontational herself, and quick to go on the attack in situations involving the exchange of differing views. She swears, smokes and doesn't shy away from telling Steve exactly what she thinks of him, despite loving her son with equal fervor. The pair together are a force of nature to flee from, and the first time they have a physical confrontation with each other it's ghastly and terrifying. In need of medical treatment, but with Die reluctant to take her hurt son to a hospital, Steve's mother begs her neighbour, Kyla (Suzanne Clément), for help. Kyla is a high school teacher on sabbatical, and as a relationship builds between her and Die, she's enlisted as a home-schooling teacher for her son. What follows involves these three characters principally, and goes into what I'd categorize as spoiler territory, but I wasn't only surprised by what happened, I was surprised by how amazing this movie is. It's the kind of movie that can perceptively change your views about people in general - it's a surprise masterpiece by a filmmaker who deserves to be the talk of the film world. Why did I not even hear about this film when it came out? Probably because I was relying on the likes of mainstream publications instead of word of mouth.

There's a reason for everything in Mommy, from it's unusual 1:1 aspect ratio to the fear I spent most of the film gripped in, and of course I have wild praise for Pilon, Dorval and Clément - three French-Canadian bundles of thespian talent who power this movie right into your solar plexus, where it stays long after the end credits are finished. This isn't some tawdry thriller like I at first expected - this is a very humanistic, emotionally-charged, sometimes (often) scary and delightfully written and directed exploration of something that's important for all of us to learn - at least in an emotional sense. There aren't any easy answers for us, or for Die, Kyla and Steve, but to feel some of the fear, pain, love, joy and disappointment in such stark, yet cinematically expert fashion (get a load of this film's soundtrack, and smooth cinematography) takes us to places that prove cinema's worth. I'm surprised myself by how I feel about Mommy's characters, who could at times be labeled "irredeemable", and certainly cross lines in shocking manners. Maybe I arrived at the point I did by fearing the worst, or judging by initial appearances, but regardless - it's the extraordinary highs and lows that unfold over Mommy's 138 minutes that create a concoction both complex and full of the kind of layered personality that touches on the real. I loved it.

Glad to catch this one - it competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2014, and ended up winning the Jury Prize. It also won a César for Best Foreign Film, along with dozens of other accolades.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/d1Q4mV4Q/mommy.jpg

Watchlist Count : 435 (-15)

Next : Decision Before Dawn (1951)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Mommy

[Takoma11]

https://i.postimg.cc/D0Tsdj2r/mommy2.jpg

It's a very strong film that takes seriously the question of what to do with young people who have serious mental/emotional problems, but who are right on the edge of being someone who could function out in society, yet who also seem obviously on a trajectory to harm others. I like that you see in Die echoes of the behaviors that her son cannot control.

The only other Dolan film I've seen is Tom at the Farm, which isn't as good as Mommy but is definitely worth a look. I started watching The Death and Life of John F Donovan and it just did not sustain my attention at all. I feel like at one point I heard good buzz about Laurence Anyways, but I have yet to check it out.

[PHOENIX74]

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DECISION BEFORE DAWN (1951)

Directed by : Anatole Litvak

I often feel a little bit of trepidation when it comes to watching war films made during or shortly after the Second World War - they're usually jingoistic, unrealistic and light on food for thought. Decision Before Dawn though, bucks all of these trends and not only heralds a German character as the hero of the piece, but takes us for a stunningly real-feeling tour of Nazi Germany's inner sanctum in late 1944, where unbridled destruction, paranoia and fear reign over a struggling population. There's a real sense of scale, as the film was shot in the cities of Würzburg, Nürnberg, and Mannheim, which were still the site of ruins and wreckage - and the assistance of the U.S. Military along with the German people living in these places made for really dynamic and believable imagery. Amongst the carnage walks Corporal Karl Maurer (Oskar Werner), known as "Happy" to his American military intelligence handlers. It's Happy's job to find out the position of the 11th Panzer Division once reinserted behind enemy lines - a great act of bravery when you consider what the Nazis would do to him if his status as a "traitor" is revealed. Another point of view might be that the Nazis themselves are traitors to Germany considering what they have done - but nevertheless, it's not easy to be fighting a war against your own former comrades.

Decision Before Dawn feels a little sluggish and slow in the build up to the mission portion of the film, with narrative strands (such as a French love interest for Happy - Monique, played by Dominique Blanchar) that end up going nowhere when all is said and done. We never return to headquarters and only briefly pick up on the characters we meet in this portion of the film, with the American commanding this venture, Lieutenant Dick Rennick (Richard Basehart), and the "is he telling the truth, or is he a double agent?" other German recruit, Sergeant Rudolf Barth (Hans Christian Blech) - otherwise known as "Tiger", not appearing again until close to the end of the film. The really strong portion of the movie - Happy's mission into Germany and the various situations he gets himself into - is basically a one-man-show, and Werner is an undeniably strong and compelling presence in the movie. His basic humanity comes across in the way he plays his part alone, but of course there are many instances where we see him stick his neck out for strangers - such as a man sentenced to death for desertion. I really admired the film for taking the course of realism, and having Happy not push his luck and be suicidally heroic. I can imagine so many poorly written war films making Happy that kind of person - but he's a realist, and understands futility. This film was all about realism.

It's mind-blowing finding a film released a mere six years after the war's end that's as meticulously balanced as Decision Before Dawn is, with the good and bad acknowledged with a documentary-like lack of bias. It's a kind of salute (and reminder) to/of all of the people who died defeating Nazism without their names ever being known - in other words, those people who were spies and waging a much less visible conflict than those on the front lines. I think it might have struck people as completely novel that there were Germans who ended up being heroes for the Allied cause during the Second World War, as they were reinserted into Germany and acted as sources of information or sabotage. This film is cognizant enough to not ignore potential arguments against it as well - so that when German P.O.W.s are being interrogated, there's many a piece of dialogue along the lines of "Oh, so now Germany is losing you're willing to work for us, but when you guys were winning you were a total Nazi!" Each German captured has to speak for himself, and explain their own personal circumstances regarding why they were fighting. For most, it was either that or death - and consequences were often visited upon the families of these people as well. For the most part this was really good - if the first 45 minutes or so had of been tighter and more focused, it would have been great.

Glad to catch this one - this was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award in 1952, surprisingly (for a Best Picture nom) only garnering one other nomination - for Editing. It was also nominated for a Best Cinematography Golden Globe.

3.5

https://i.ibb.co/B2hkH9K/Decision-before-dawn4.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : Mindwalk (1990)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Decision Before Dawn

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/ydrf9LP1/mindwalk.jpg

MINDWALK (1990)

Directed by : Bernt Amadeus Capra

Mindwalk is a reminder to me that it's all about timing. If I'd watched this when I'd been most idealistic, and least worldly and knowledgeable - say, 1997, then I'd have been endlessly haranguing everyone, insisting they watch this. I would have been excited about it. I'm sure that, for some, it's an eye-opener, and can set people on a path to discovery and enlightenment. For me, it's nothing new, and doesn't tell me much that I don't already know. The entire film consists of a philosophical discussion three people have - one a presidential candidate, Jack Edwards (Sam Waterston), the other a scientist, Sonia Hoffman (Liv Ullmann), and the last a poet, Thomas Harriman (John Heard) - giving us three different points of view once Sonia introduces the other two to a necessary paradigm shift needed from humanity as a whole if we're to confront the problems facing the modern world. It starts with science, and how our view of reality has been altered by scientific discovery from a Newtonian/Cartesian mechanistic view - thinking of life itself and reality as clockwork in nature - to a systems approach where cause and effect aren't so rigidly defined. She discusses the insane discoveries made concerning the structure of matter itself, where the stuff everything is made of behaves in fantastical, bizarre and counterintuitive ways. The claim is that humanity is still hung up on an expectation that the universe can be understood in a mechanical kind of way. Politics, especially, is lagging behind.

Once our mindset has been completely altered, the problems of the world get a thorough talking through - and who of us hasn't spent an evening with friends trying to solve all the world's problems or bemoaned the unnecessary suffering when it comes to starving children, greed, environmental damage, third world debt and the money wasted on a stupendously powerful military that lacks the sufficient threat to justify it's existence. Brazil owes money, and the only way it can keep it's economy from collapsing is to destroy it's treasured rainforests at the rate of 10,000 acres a day. A third world child dies at the rate of one every two seconds, chiefly because of foreign debt. The United States has a carrier force that could easily defeat the rest of the world combined, even if the rest of the world doubled their carrier might. America could halve it's military might, and still defend themselves from any conceivable threat that could be reasonably imagined at this stage in world history. In 2023 the U.S. spent $1 trillion making it stronger. In the meantime, social and economic problems are so great that American society is teetering on the brink, and the nation's leaders careen from one crisis to the next. The two sides of that equation don't make sense. Nobody has the power or influence to change this, because money buys you political influence and enough media control and power to convince voters that any change would spell disaster for them. When is the paradigm shift going to kick in? It seems like there has been one - only not the one the writers of this film were counting on.

Now and then, Thomas butts in with a little poetry, and Jack says just enough to prove that he's absolutely clueless - but he seems very impressed with Sonia's ideas and musings. Sonia became disillusioned when she found out her work on lasers was being utilized by "the military", and the subject of Oppenheimer comes up more than once. How responsible is science for the harm that has come from it's successes? This is why she's wandering around Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy - listless and in a funk. She explains that you can understand a tree by examining it's roots, leaves, photosynthesis and organic growth - but that's not enough. You have to include the way it provides a habitat for animals and insects, and how it's process of photosynthesis is part of a symbiotic relationship with life by way of the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Nothing can be defined (or should be) by removing it from the way it relates to the world around it, and this goes for the way we define anything. Humans have had a habit of ignoring the holistic when it comes to the way we view the world around us. If Sonia, Jack and Thomas saw the world we lived in today, they'd probably be pretty disappointed with some aspects, but since everything they said in this film felt like old news - stuff I already knew - then perhaps we have advanced in our thinking. In any case, apart from some lovely views of Mont Saint-Michel, I didn't find enough here to excite me much, and gained little insight from Mindwalk - but that's not to say it would be like that for everyone. It depends on where you're at in life's journey.

Glad to catch this one - it's writers, Floyd Byars and Fritjof Capra, received a nomination for Best Screenplay at the 7th Independent Spirit Awards..

3

https://i.postimg.cc/jS0jJdND/mindwalk2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : Bait (2019)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Mindwalk

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/9QSKRgQT/bait.jpg

BAIT (2019)

Directed by : Mark Jenkin

I don't want to pretend that I understand exactly how Bait works the way it does. On the one hand, it's not as esoteric and freeform as Mark Jenkin's follow-up feature Enys Men - but on the other hand, it's far from your regular, everyday fare. Visually, it seems that monochrome wasn't nearly enough for Jenkin, and as such the viewport we see the narrative unfold through is grainy and distorted enough to make us think we're either dreaming or watching a lost movie from the late 19th Century. He reinforces the style he wants further by decoupling the dubbing and sound looping, along with adding a dozen frames here and there that are out of place with the rest of the film, or else freezing the action altogether. What this all feels like to me is like I'm not seeing what I'm seeing directly, through my own eyes, but through the mind of somebody else. If there were a machine that could read minds and give us a visual representation of what's going on, this is what I imagine the effect might be. Because this seemed so esoteric at first, I really wasn't sure how clear the narrative might be - but this film presents us with a situation that becomes clearer as the film advances, and it's more a situation it's main character finds himself in rather than any kind of odyssey. It's one common to modern man - of displacement from one's traditional place in the world and the resentment bred from losing your heritage and economic security.

Martin Ward (Edward Rowe) is a fisherman in a seaside Cornish village without a boat, who catches a few mere fish each day with his nets while his brother, who has ended up with their father's fishing vessel, uses it to ferry tourists about. In the meantime his family home has been bought by the Leigh family - Sandra (Mary Woodvine) and Tim (Simon Shepherd) who often clash with Martin over local issues, giving him a sense that these newcomers to the area have taken over and are edging his family out of their traditional place. You can extrapolate Martin's story far and wide these days - and you feel the very special kind of hurt it must feel that the Leighs are in the meantime occupying and redecorating what was once the Ward's place of safety, security and heritage. Pretty much everything we see in this film touches on change, and the thoughtless actions of interlopers who have no appreciation for convention or history. Every action that directly affects Martin causes him to strike out in anger, ratcheting up the temperature another degree and bringing everyone closer to some kind of tragic outcome. People used to invade their neighbours with swords, arrows and fighting - but now it's done with weaponised money when economic uncertainty weakens places ripe for the plucking.

As is usual for me, it took me a little while to get fully onboard with Bait - at first my impression was, "well, this is going to be a headache to watch and decipher." Somehow though, the hazy style of the movie made my emotional reaction to what I saw more keen and clearly felt. It was as if everything had an enhanced realism to it, and perhaps that's because I really felt that I was peering in at someone's mind instead of looking through a window and seeing everything from my own perspective. I drifted in and out just a little, and I don't know if this was because of my general mood or else because it was the kind of film which allowed one to take a step back without losing your place or having an effect on your immersion. It's a very moody film, and works at you emotionally without being an intellectual exercise, but at the same time there's a cornucopia of experimental movie-making techniques that Jenkin plays with for one to analyse. It's very specific to this filmmaker's vision, and his connection with this particular corner of the world, so there's nothing particularly pretentious or overwhelming about it's design - just refreshing originality that in many respects makes this one I'll recall every time this artist's name comes up.

Glad to catch this one - Bait won a BAFTA for Outstanding debut from a British writer, director or producer and was nominated for Outstanding British Film of the Year at the 2020 awards. It also won a British Independent Film Award.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2gkFqbX/bait2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 434 (-16)

Next : Her Smell (2018)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Bait

[Takoma11]

Hmmmm. I didn't love Enys Men, which at times felt like it was trying to be oblique in a way that felt forced instead of natural. Haven't seen Bait.

Would you say you liked them equally, or did you like one more than the other?

[PHOENIX74]

Hmmmm. I didn't love Enys Men, which at times felt like it was trying to be oblique in a way that felt forced instead of natural. Haven't seen Bait.

Would you say you liked them equally, or did you like one more than the other?

They're both pretty extreme exercises in deliberate distortion, so if you didn't like Enys Men I'd beware, but whilst I didn't particularly feel any kind of connection with that latest film of his I was able to relate a lot more and actually feel a lot for the characters (and about what was going on) in Bait - which might make all the difference.

[Stirchley]

Hmmmm. I didn't love Enys Men

I hated it.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/NGVWNLs4/her-smell.webp

HER SMELL (2018)

Directed by : Alex Ross Perry

We meet lead singer of Something She, Becky Something (Elisabeth Moss), already in complete freefall at the start of Her Smell. Backstage at a concert, she partakes in bizarre cult-like pseudo-religious ceremonies, throws attractive offers of band-saving concert tours back in people's faces, puts her infant daughter in danger through her reckless actions and generally acts like a frenzied psychopath as her two fellow Something She members - bassist Marielle Hell (Agyness Deyn) and drummer Ali van der Wolff (Gayle Rankin) watch on in horror - the realization that their superstardom is under threat of crashing down in the very near future written on their faces. The heady mix of drugs and fame are something most of us would struggle with I'd expect - but some people more than others. Her Smell gives us a very intimate look at what it's like backstage and in the recording studio when the close sisterhood of a talented rock group begins to disintegrate, as their much vaunted Goddess lead singer becomes a loose cannon, secure in her own mind that it's everyone else around her at fault for the sliding fortunes of Something She. I really enjoyed this because of how real the "behind the curtain" peek at how the music industry functions feels, and how everyone who depends on the fortunes of one person on the rocks become like passengers in a crashing plane - powerless to do anything about it, but simply grimace as the ground rushes up to meet them.

Super secret shameful admission here - I often imagine myself a famous rock star and lead singer of a stupendously successful band. After high school my close-knit group of artistically minded friends and I formed "Sneezeweed", of which I was lead singer. We fought all the time, but I often wonder if we were really as bad as I thought we were. Probably. But that band is always the basis of my fantasies - my imagining of us being super talented and a revelation in music, going on to release albums considered the greatest of all time. Seeing behind the scenes of such stardom in Her Smell fed into my curiosity of what it would have been like, and in some cases reminded me of what it was like to jam, argue and hang out in a studio full of musical instruments and recording equipment. This film has a much firmer focus on Becky though, and her destructive, traumatized, manic mindset - set up via a troubled childhood, and set alight via fame, drug abuse, influence, pressure, adulation and success. She's a walking catastrophe, and tragic in that she was a star for a reason - she had talent, and was part of a group who combined to make great music. What would it take to make her appreciate that she's the cause of her own problems? Will she ever appreciate just how many people she's hurting, and how they depend on her? Can she be saved? She's in self-immolation mode despite the fact she's surrounded by people who love her, and pine for the version of her that was lost once she careened out of control.

I really enjoyed Her Smell - Elisabeth Moss absolutely shines in this film and it was criminal that she never received an Oscar nomination for her role. Come on. There are a whole bevy of young actresses showcased, and I was ever so pleased to see Eric Stoltz as a firm presence as Something She's manager, Howard Goodman. How he suffers in this - his finances directly tied to Becky, whereupon he loses big time as Something She's fortunes sink. Musically, it's always tough having your film be about an ultra-famous band or singer and yet when they perform they're pretty average, and we have to basically pretend that they're delivering one of their timeless, chart-topping hits. The singing - actually from Moss - is okay, but we still need to suspend disbelief. What I loved about this though, were all the behind the scenes moments of drama that mixed with the pros and cons of being superstar performers - the behaviour that would be completely unacceptable in any other workplace is the norm here, with the most inebriated person in the room actually in charge and the decider of everyone's fortunes. Working through the corridors, dressing rooms, toilets, mirrors, drug-laden tables and chairs made me think briefly of racing through a submarine in Das Boot - tight spaces where the only implosion will be that of a rock star - all the glamour, sparkle and shine turned to horror via fame and it's chemical attendees. This isn't how I imagine my own superstardom, but the ugly truth will always trump fantasy, and make for compelling watching.

Glad to catch this one - Elizabeth Moss was nominated for many awards, winning an International Online Cinema Award. Her Smell would win a "Most Underrated Film" award at the Internet Film Critic Society gongs.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/3xhBZhHx/her-smell2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : Aniara (2018)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Her Smell

[Stirchley]

https://i.postimg.cc/NGVWNLs4/her-smell.webp

HER SMELL (2018)

Directed by : Alex Ross Perry

We meet lead singer of Something She, Becky Something (Elisabeth Moss), already in complete freefall at the start of Her Smell. Backstage at a concert, she partakes in bizarre cult-like pseudo-religious ceremonies, throws attractive offers of band-saving concert tours back in people's faces, puts her infant daughter in danger through her reckless actions and generally acts like a frenzied psychopath as her two fellow Something She members - bassist Marielle Hell (Agyness Deyn) and drummer Ali van der Wolff (Gayle Rankin) watch on in horror - the realization that their superstardom is under threat of crashing down in the very near future written on their faces. The heady mix of drugs and fame are something most of us would struggle with I'd expect - but some people more than others. Her Smell gives us a very intimate look at what it's like backstage and in the recording studio when the close sisterhood of a talented rock group begins to disintegrate, as their much vaunted Goddess lead singer becomes a loose cannon, secure in her own mind that it's everyone else around her at fault for the sliding fortunes of Something She. I really enjoyed this because of how real the "behind the curtain" peek at how the music industry functions feels, and how everyone who depends on the fortunes of one person on the rocks become like passengers in a crashing plane - powerless to do anything about it, but simply grimace as the ground rushes up to meet them.

Super secret shameful admission here - I often imagine myself a famous rock star and lead singer of a stupendously successful band. After high school my close-knit group of artistically minded friends and I formed "Sneezeweed", of which I was lead singer. We fought all the time, but I often wonder if we were really as bad as I thought we were. Probably. But that band is always the basis of my fantasies - my imagining of us being super talented and a revelation in music, going on to release albums considered the greatest of all time. Seeing behind the scenes of such stardom in Her Smell fed into my curiosity of what it would have been like, and in some cases reminded me of what it was like to jam, argue and hang out in a studio full of musical instruments and recording equipment. This film has a much firmer focus on Becky though, and her destructive, traumatized, manic mindset - set up via a troubled childhood, and set alight via fame, drug abuse, influence, pressure, adulation and success. She's a walking catastrophe, and tragic in that she was a star for a reason - she had talent, and was part of a group who combined to make great music. What would it take to make her appreciate that she's the cause of her own problems? Will she ever appreciate just how many people she's hurting, and how they depend on her? Can she be saved? She's in self-immolation mode despite the fact she's surrounded by people who love her, and pine for the version of her that was lost once she careened out of control.

I really enjoyed Her Smell - Elisabeth Moss absolutely shines in this film and it was criminal that she never received an Oscar nomination for her role. Come on. There are a whole bevy of young actresses showcased, and I was ever so pleased to see Eric Stoltz as a firm presence as Something She's manager, Howard Goodman. How he suffers in this - his finances directly tied to Becky, whereupon he loses big time as Something She's fortunes sink. Musically, it's always tough having your film be about an ultra-famous band or singer and yet when they perform they're pretty average, and we have to basically pretend that they're delivering one of their timeless, chart-topping hits. The singing - actually from Moss - is okay, but we still need to suspend disbelief. What I loved about this though, were all the behind the scenes moments of drama that mixed with the pros and cons of being superstar performers - the behaviour that would be completely unacceptable in any other workplace is the norm here, with the most inebriated person in the room actually in charge and the decider of everyone's fortunes. Working through the corridors, dressing rooms, toilets, mirrors, drug-laden tables and chairs made me think briefly of racing through a submarine in Das Boot - tight spaces where the only implosion will be that of a rock star - all the glamour, sparkle and shine turned to horror via fame and it's chemical attendees. This isn't how I imagine my own superstardom, but the ugly truth will always trump fantasy, and make for compelling watching.

Glad to catch this one - Elizabeth Moss was nominated for many awards, winning an International Online Cinema Award. Her Smell would win a "Most Underrated Film" award at the Internet Film Critic Society gongs.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/3xhBZhHx/her-smell2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : Aniara (2018)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Her Smell

Ugh, fan of Moss, but I hated this movie.

[Takoma11]

After high school my close-knit group of artistically minded friends and I formed "Sneezeweed", of which I was lead singer.

This is a fantastic personal tidbit.

[PHOENIX74]

Ugh, fan of Moss, but I hated this movie.

I'd reckon that you're probably not the one who inspired me to watch Her Smell - I like Moss as well though. It's really fun to watch "The Evolution of Elisabeth Moss - Her entire TV and Film Career in short clips" (below) - since she started at such a young age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlXOoHjTAq8

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/Hnp6kbxB/aniara.webp

ANIARA (2018)

Directed by : Pella Kågerman & Hugo Lilja

The universe beckons, but it's size is beyond human comprehension. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, but even at that incomprehensible speed, it would take four and a half years to reach the closest star to Earth (discounting our sun.) But Alpha Centauri (one of a triple-star system) is only one of 100 billion stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy. The Aniara isn't heading there - it's simply a gigantic space liner transporting passengers from a dying Earth to a colony on Mars, a journey that takes only three weeks thanks to great leaps forward in technology. This ship has a Mimarobe (Emelie Garbers), who takes care of the ship's Mima - an artificial intelligence who can help humans cope with space travel by entering their consciousness, recalling specific memories, and in turn giving them the impression they're back on an unspoiled, idyllic Earth. It's something most passengers seem bored with, and there's not much demand on the Mimarobe's services until disaster strikes, and the Aniara is knocked off course. The estimated time of arrival has been pushed out from 3 weeks to 2 years, and the sudden influx of unhappy, worried passengers begins to overwhelm the Mima's own consciousness - but that's only the beginning of a gradual collapse that will spread through the ship as conditions deteriorate and discipline breaks down. The Aniara is about to become a distant outpost of humanity - travelling further into the black void of space than we have ever gone before.

If we don't destroy ourselves within the next one or two centuries, then our future is out there amongst the stars. Of course, I don't think humans will physically travel out there in the sense we generally assume - our bodies kept alive in ships that recreate and preserve Earth's environment. It's much more probable our minds will be free from our delicate physical form by then, and it will be possible for probes to sleep during journeys through interstellar space - what's 100,000 years for our self-replicating, galaxy-exploring probe will seem but a moment to our consciousness. In the meantime, we'll intercept messages from our other probes. It'll be a network that is us - a journey that began on Earth as life evolved. This film is set at a time when we're quite advanced, but not beyond the scope of troubles (the environmental collapse of Earth - which the film shows us in many inventive ways, such as the number of passengers suffering from serious burns) and vulnerability. Space disasters will occur, and Aniara constructs a real Titanic-level calamity which comes about simply because of some space debris instead of an iceberg. Although this is only a €2 million Swedish film, the effects are fine and the production design was good enough to make this a pretty worthwhile watch. I was fascinated.

Aniara's biggest win though, is in regards to how it explores our psyche, and the way the passengers of the Aniara react to their new circumstances. The ship has around 2 months of decent food aboard, after which everyone can survive pretty much indefinitely on the algae being farmed - but it doesn't taste too great. As parts of the ship break down, so does the order and morale - something which could have easily become tiresome to watch if it weren't for Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja's ability to focus on what's really interesting. The ship's captain (Arvin Kananian) maintains control, but in doing so during such discontent he becomes something of a dictator - dishing out draconian punishments at his own whim. Sex and sexuality mutate, as does belief when various cults start to spring up. Madness becomes contagious. Suicides skyrocket. The Aniara itself becomes a petri dish full of people and as such the movie gives us a glimpse of the limits society faces when you strip various needs away, and as such I found this a very interesting exploration of us. I love science fiction related to space travel/exploration when done well, and this was. What I also liked was the fact that Aniara was so far removed from the Hollywood version of this (seen in the likes of Passengers), getting it's hands dirty and acknowledging how messy we are - in every way. It's limited by it's budget, but I liked it very much all the same.

Glad to catch this one - it won the Asteroid Prize for Best International Film at the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival in 2019, and four other awards at the Swedish Guldbagge awards, which is like their Oscars.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/kGR04b7t/aniara2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : The Wailing (2016)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Aniara - I specifically remember someone recommending it to me, but I forget who that was (sorry!)

[Takoma11]

I know that Thief really likes it, so he may have recommended it. (He's the one who got me to watch it).

I liked it maybe a smidge more than you. (Thoughts HERE (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2166497-aniara.html))

What was your reaction to (MAJOR SPOILERS) the infamous "one million years later" time jump?

Have you seen High Life? It tackles some similar themes, and it's one of those movies where the more I think about it, the more I love it. I really owe it a rewatch, because I think about it A LOT, and I imagine my originally split feelings about it might change on a second viewing.

[SpelingError]

I was really mixed on Aniara, but another viewing may get me to like it more.

[PHOENIX74]

I know that Thief really likes it, so he may have recommended it. (He's the one who got me to watch it).

I liked it maybe a smidge more than you. (Thoughts HERE (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2166497-aniara.html))

What was your reaction to (MAJOR SPOILERS) the infamous "one million years later" time jump?

I loved it! It was completely mind-bending - but it also sadly highlighted the hopelessness and lack of future the inhabitants of the craft had. But one of the reasons I really loved geology was the fact that you're dealing with timescales that defy any conscious attempt at appreciation. So emotionally, it was a real punch to the solar plexus, only with an added element of awe.

Have you seen High Life? It tackles some similar themes, and it's one of those movies where the more I think about it, the more I love it. I really owe it a rewatch, because I think about it A LOT, and I imagine my originally split feelings about it might change on a second viewing.

I looked it up and I can't recall ever having seen that, so it's on my watchlist now and I eagerly await seeing it. Hopefully it won't take 6 million years..

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/NGph5rvF/the-wailing.webp

THE WAILING (2016)

Directed by : Na Hong-jin

Keeping it simple - The Wailing is an excellent and very rewarding excursion into the supernatural that is as much a thriller as it is a horror film. What's surprising is the fact that it's 156-minute run-time feels like a positive instead of a negative. We're given so much by the detail-focused (obsessed perhaps) director Na Hong-jin and personally, my feeling is that this is a film I'm going to be returning to multiple times so I can explore all of the nuances, details and everything else that I probably missed the first time around. It has everything - possession, religion, mythology, zombies, demons - but it somehow manages to integrate all of that into such a grounded bed of reasonableness that the end result is unnerving. The only lightness comes from the familiar way South Korean filmmakers portray law enforcement officers as incompetent boobs - but don't take the fact that we get so many wonderfully easy moments of comedy to mean this is a light hearted romp. This is as dark as it gets - and I'd say that's also a trait I've come to see a lot of from the likes of Bong Joon-ho - comedy amidst the darkest of subject matters and situations. The Wailing's director, having attracted attention with his 2008 film The Chaser, cemented his place amongst that cadre of talented visionaries from this part of the world with this film.

Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won) is a policeman in a sleepy village (Gokseong) amongst the mountains in South Korea, not exactly used to the scene he's greeted by one morning when he's called to the death of a local that happens to be a gruesome murder scene. It's replete with the murderer in handcuffs - obviously ill, covered in pustules, red-eyed and consumed by madness. As more cases start springing up in the area he keeps coming up against rumours that a Japanese man (Jun Kunimura) who arrived in the village recently is behind the spate of murderous contagion. When his daughter falls ill and seems to be heading in the direction all of the other victims have gone, the desperate Jong-goo turns to a Shaman, Il-gwang (Hwang Jung-min), whose mystic rituals he doesn't completely trust, and has to decide if the mysterious woman in white, Moo-myung (Chun Woo-hee), has something to do with the evil encroaching on his home, and his family. Personally, I changed my mind a half dozen times regarding who could be trusted and who couldn't - instead of pulling a twist out of it's hat, The Wailing is in constant flux, and the most frightening thing about it is the fact that you have no idea what or whom Jong-goo should be wary of, and who he should trust. Is the suspicion of the Japanese man simple xenophobia? Is the shaman a simple charlatan? Is the woman in white a ghost, a demon or on Jong-goo's side?

As a film lover, I appreciate the fact that The Wailing is meticulous, and is rewarding in a cinematographic sense along with having been edited via the guidance of this perfectionist movie maker. There are several sequences that absolutely pound you into the dust and they occur during rituals which almost seem to duel with each other in frightening and energetic ways. This is Asian folk horror, with an added element of the police procedural as if this ghost/demon/presence/evil is a serial killer in itself. A delirious mix of comedy, horror, thriller, and mystery made by a filmmaker inspired by the likes of The Exorcist, The Shining and Rosemary's Baby - and it has that dreadful kind of dream-like atmosphere of dread that you wish every horror movie had infused into it's structure. Visually, the landscape itself becomes as much a part of how we feel about everything as the characters, narrative and make-up effects - and in some instances it makes for as much danger itself as any demon, zombie or monster. Rarely does a longer run-time mean you're getting more for your money, but it really is the case here. Also - how good is contemporary South Korean cinema? I mean, if you were to rate a country on it's ratio of quality output, this nation might easily top the rankings. I'm so happy to be acquainted with The Wailing, and it's another film I look forward to watching again pretty soon.

Glad to catch this one - - it was shown out of competition at Cannes and ended up winning various Fantasia, Grand Bell, Korean, Asian and Fangoria awards.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/nhRVmDpT/the-wailing2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 436 (-14)

Next : Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Wailing

[SpelingError]

I know that Thief really likes it, so he may have recommended it. (He's the one who got me to watch it).

I liked it maybe a smidge more than you. (Thoughts HERE (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2166497-aniara.html))

What was your reaction to (MAJOR SPOILERS) the infamous "one million years later" time jump?

Have you seen High Life? It tackles some similar themes, and it's one of those movies where the more I think about it, the more I love it. I really owe it a rewatch, because I think about it A LOT, and I imagine my originally split feelings about it might change on a second viewing.
I liked it a lot, but it made me curious about what was going on inside the spaceship. Though unlikely, I'm curious if humanity still continued on. And if so, what the state of living was like in there.

[Takoma11]

I liked The Wailing, but given the reputation it had, I was surprised I didn't click with it more.

[PHOENIX74]

AUGUST RUN-THROUGH

I'm running late! Feels like someone is messing with time, and speeding it up so there's not enough of it to do all of the things I want - but that's not going to stop me going through the best of August, which all-up delivered another 16 films wiped off from my watchlist. That brings the total up to 192 movies watched and reviewed - and that's a lot. Lets see if I can crank up my output again for the rest of the year so I can get up to 300!

BEST OF THE BUNCH

I was kind of expecting Grey Gardens to be great, but Mommy came up roses completely unexpectedly, and was one of the biggest surprises I've had while doing this thread. I don't think I've ever been as scared, then delighted, then sad to such an extreme. Anyway, two movies there that for me win last month's 'Best of the Best' consideration.

https://i.postimg.cc/Cx3nqffV/grey.webphttps://i.postimg.cc/PfbGsGMb/mommy.webp

BEST OF THE REST

Below are five excellent, excellent films that are now absolute favourites. When will I get the time to watch all of these films repeatedly? I used to watch all of my favourite films many times over, always finding new things to be excited about - but I've now happened upon an era of my life where I discover new great movies at a rate that leaves little time to sit back and rewatch them. I'm both excited and kind of frustrated that I can't simply pause time - but at least I don't suffer from boredom (except when I'm dealing with a movie in the Hall of Infamy.)

https://i.postimg.cc/tC66k5dM/blue.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/c4qygRsm/I-don-t-feel-at-home.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/qvDd79gt/when-a-woman.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/d1jFJDCF/jean.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/KjmMYKsD/manon.jpg

I'm getting close to the 200 mark - it's going to be so interesting at the end of the year to compile a list of the Best 25/50 movies from this thread in order of greatness - there's going to be some fantastic candidates that won't even make it, and I guess that means it's going to be tough choosing. I've probably said this six or seven times already, but I never expected this high a ratio of great movies when I started this - I don't think I really believed there were that many movies out there for me to discover and love, and by the rate new films are going on to my watchlist it seems the source is never-ending. It's been a lot of fun!

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/rs8DTKhX/jeremiah-johnson.jpg

JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972)

Directed by : Sydney Pollack

There was all kinds of psychological resistance going on inside of me when it came time to watch Jeremiah Johnson - my internal monologue was of the sort : "So, this guy is going to go into the American wilderness and live off the land? This movie is going to be so boring!" I couldn't imagine much happening. He goes fishing? He shoots a bear? He builds a cabin? Well, he actually does do all three of those things, but Johnson's story, as told in this film, was a lot more interesting than a simple shopping list of "things you do when you go off the grid" being ticked off. I'd assumed that this character would be alone for most of the film, but as it so happens, Jeremiah is rarely alone - and it's his relationship with fellow homesteaders, soldiers and Native Americans that forms the core of Jeremiah Johnson. All of this reaches dramatic peaks that grip you tightly when he has to deal with death - whether it's coping with the grief of a crazed settler whose children have been brutally murdered, or else the murder of people he's personally close to. Not only is the harsh wilderness a tough place to survive just on your own - other human beings double the danger in a fight for resources and territorial rights. So Robert Redford, as Johnson, has a distinctly defined character arc from hopeless newbie to experienced survivor to grizzled, hardened maniac. I was definitely disabused of the notion that this would be a dull, lonely slog - it's high drama.

Johnson was a veteran of the Mexican War that decided to try his hand at being a "mountain man" in the Rocky Mountains. We watch him absolutely struggle at first, until he finds a mentor in "Bear Claw" Chris Lapp (Will Geer) - but the film doesn't go overboard as far as the killing of animals is concerned, except for one scene later on in the film where Johnson has to fight off a pack of wolves, most of which he bludgeons to death - one part for animal lovers to skip. Johnson finds other friends to hook up with, including Del Gue (Stefan Gierasch), and has high ideals when it comes to the Native Americans he comes across. Johnson respects the fact that this is their territory, and at one stage makes the mistake of offering a tribe way too much gift-wise. He ends up with a Native American wife through no choosing of his own, and in a similar manner a young mute boy - a kind of ad-hoc family. Interactions with Native American culture, where it's so easy to cross lines as far as both sides are concerned, make Johnson's journey both really interesting and absolutely full of tension and fear. The U.S. Army cavalry and much feared Crows complicate matters a great deal, and end up turning Johnson into the famous, somewhat 'massacre-happy' figure he became. The movie is more about this clash of cultures than it is surviving in the wilderness, although both form the core of this epic 1972 film.

So, this was anything but boring, with a pace that surprised me in it's nimble forward progression from start to finish. Whether it be difficulty or calamity, there's one event after the other or else the characters in this film are facing challenges that keep a viewer very much invested all the way through. You have to wonder from time to time - "could I have survived out there?" Imagine living with the terrible fear of being beaten by either the environment or hostile people. Where life is simply a constant all-out effort to just survive and provide basic needs for yourself. I'm not an American, so maybe Jeremiah "liver-eating" Johnson is more of a famous figure than I initially realised, but despite this being based on a real-life figure I approached it as a kind of fiction - or at least only loosely based on fact. That said, it's brutal depiction of life in the wilderness felt authentic and true-to-life, and that's what I really liked about this film. I also liked the fact that the Native Americans weren't tarred with the same brush, and that instead some were shown to be wise and measured, others more combative. There's some great photography and editing, and all-up Jeremiah Johnson ended up really surprising me - it's a firm recommendation to those who haven't seen it.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1973, it was also a critical and box office success.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/fLHYzn02/jeremiah-johnson-2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 438 (-12)

Next : Fallen Angels (1995)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Jeremiah Johnson

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/prRhpyvF/fallen-angels2.jpg

FALLEN ANGELS (1995)

Directed by : Wong Kar-wai

If you want to luxuriate yourself with images it seems Wong Kar-wai and Fallen Angels is the way to go - every shot looks achingly beautiful, even though the editing (which is also magnificent) keeps us on our toes, and never lets the eye linger on the neon jungle that's the streets of Hong Kong. Every scene is absolutely bathed in one specific colour, and the kinetic energy is out of this world. It's been a while since I've been able to sit back and admire a movie for it's transcendent beauty, which in this case gave me that super-enjoyable inner hum that I suppose was the release of some kind of endorphins in my brain. I was literally loving this movie. That makes sense also in regard to the fact that love dominates the film - the kind of young love that makes people crazy, and the kind of love that binds us together. A couple of inner monologues guide us through the thoughts and feelings of two characters that have stories that intertwine - hitman Wong Chi-ming (Leon Lai) and petty crook Ho Chi-mo (Takeshi Kaneshiro), who is mute and a little crazy. The hits and crimes aren't important - instead we focus on their inner feelings and everyday musings, especially concerning Wong Chi-ming's partner (Michelle Reis), who deeply loves him, and Charlie (Charlie Yeung), who forms a firm bond with Ho Chi-mo - someone who can lean on him and cry on his shoulder, but not love as he does her.

Music is also a big component of Fallen Angels, with the likes of "Si Mu De Ren" performed by Chin Chyi an absolutely unforgettable part of the magical world within this film, and a beautiful accompaniment to it's imagery. A powerful pre-2000 pop ballad that plays on your heart so heavily once you see the events it's paired with. It's rare for me to immediately take to non-English language songs, but I did here and it seemed that no translation was necessary. Wong Kar-wai also uses the likes of old Flying Pickets hit "Only You" at the exact moment the bittersweet sentimental power of it can cause the most emotional activity in your mind. It's a sublime mixture of masterpiece-level cinematography and sound, and it's enchanting in the extreme. The likes of Laurie Anderson's "Speak My Language", and Marianne Faithfull performing "Go Away From My World" mix with Massive Attack's "Karmacoma" and Cantonese songs to provide periods when the film has a sharp edge, and periods where we're spiritually uplifted and carried along in constant high-speed motion - at a speed that's bound to break hearts, while all we can do is watch on and see them bleed unrequited love and loss. It's such a pleasure to be a witness to though - gloriously so.

It's about time I watched some more stuff from Wong Kar-wai - I'd only ever seen In the Mood For Love before this, and I absolutely love that movie. Now he's 2 for 2 with me - a perfect record, because for me this was another perfect film. I felt a little like I was watching a work of art, with just enough narrative to situate ourselves as far as the emotions of the characters are concerned - I felt what I think they felt to what seemed like an exact degree. Guided by inner monologues, day-to-day rituals, the wild body-language of Karen Mok, who plays the lively love interest Blondie, the coordination of colour, neon light, music, unusual perspectives, Hong Kong culture, all mixed together with seeming precision, but more pointedly a filmmaker working with their subconscious - as so many of the greats do. Mood-setting is an artform here, and personally it felt more like I was reading poetry than watching a feature film - watching on as Fallen Angels' characters wrestle with the spectre of fading connections, rejection, love, the warmth of chemistry and magic of dreaming away your loneliness. Never has murder felt more peripheral, or neon felt more like sunlight glowing on the cheeks of young men and women who are right in the moment, and alive. This is a desert island movie, for I reckon it's one I could watch over, and over, and over.

Glad to catch this one - a numberless Criterion release on their World of Wong Kar Wai boxed set, and winner of 3 Hong Kong Film Awards - along with being a cult classic.

5

https://i.postimg.cc/wvT62KBR/fallen-angels3.jpg

Watchlist Count : 437 (-13)

Next : Arrebato (1979)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Fallen Angels

[Wooley]

https://i.postimg.cc/rs8DTKhX/jeremiah-johnson.jpg

JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1972)

Directed by : Sydney Pollack

There was all kinds of psychological resistance going on inside of me when it came time to watch Jeremiah Johnson - my internal monologue was of the sort : "So, this guy is going to go into the American wilderness and live off the land? This movie is going to be so boring!" I couldn't imagine much happening. He goes fishing? He shoots a bear? He builds a cabin? Well, he actually does do all three of those things, but Johnson's story, as told in this film, was a lot more interesting than a simple shopping list of "things you do when you go off the grid" being ticked off. I'd assumed that this character would be alone for most of the film, but as it so happens, Jeremiah is rarely alone - and it's his relationship with fellow homesteaders, soldiers and Native Americans that forms the core of Jeremiah Johnson. All of this reaches dramatic peaks that grip you tightly when he has to deal with death - whether it's coping with the grief of a crazed settler whose children have been brutally murdered, or else the murder of people he's personally close to. Not only is the harsh wilderness a tough place to survive just on your own - other human beings double the danger in a fight for resources and territorial rights. So Robert Redford, as Johnson, has a distinctly defined character arc from hopeless newbie to experienced survivor to grizzled, hardened maniac. I was definitely disabused of the notion that this would be a dull, lonely slog - it's high drama.

Johnson was a veteran of the Mexican War that decided to try his hand at being a "mountain man" in the Rocky Mountains. We watch him absolutely struggle at first, until he finds a mentor in "Bear Claw" Chris Lapp (Will Geer) - but the film doesn't go overboard as far as the killing of animals is concerned, except for one scene later on in the film where Johnson has to fight off a pack of wolves, most of which he bludgeons to death - one part for animal lovers to skip. Johnson finds other friends to hook up with, including Del Gue (Stefan Gierasch), and has high ideals when it comes to the Native Americans he comes across. Johnson respects the fact that this is their territory, and at one stage makes the mistake of offering a tribe way too much gift-wise. He ends up with a Native American wife through no choosing of his own, and in a similar manner a young mute boy - a kind of ad-hoc family. Interactions with Native American culture, where it's so easy to cross lines as far as both sides are concerned, make Johnson's journey both really interesting and absolutely full of tension and fear. The U.S. Army cavalry and much feared Crows complicate matters a great deal, and end up turning Johnson into the famous, somewhat 'massacre-happy' figure he became. The movie is more about this clash of cultures than it is surviving in the wilderness, although both form the core of this epic 1972 film.

So, this was anything but boring, with a pace that surprised me in it's nimble forward progression from start to finish. Whether it be difficulty or calamity, there's one event after the other or else the characters in this film are facing challenges that keep a viewer very much invested all the way through. You have to wonder from time to time - "could I have survived out there?" Imagine living with the terrible fear of being beaten by either the environment or hostile people. Where life is simply a constant all-out effort to just survive and provide basic needs for yourself. I'm not an American, so maybe Jeremiah "liver-eating" Johnson is more of a famous figure than I initially realised, but despite this being based on a real-life figure I approached it as a kind of fiction - or at least only loosely based on fact. That said, it's brutal depiction of life in the wilderness felt authentic and true-to-life, and that's what I really liked about this film. I also liked the fact that the Native Americans weren't tarred with the same brush, and that instead some were shown to be wise and measured, others more combative. There's some great photography and editing, and all-up Jeremiah Johnson ended up really surprising me - it's a firm recommendation to those who haven't seen it.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1973, it was also a critical and box office success.

4

[CENTER]https://i.postimg.cc/fLHYzn02/jeremiah-johnson-2.jpg



I used to watch this all the time on HBO when I was a kid back in the 80s. Loved it. I was like 11 years old and was somehow like, "Yeah, this is my jam."

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/Kz2SjnJb/arrebato.jpg

ARREBATO (1979)
(Rapture)

Directed by : Iván Zulueta

There's a lot to unpack regarding Arrebato - a film that explicitly mirrors what it's maker was going through at the time he made it. Iván Zulueta was addicted to heroin, and obsessively making his one and only feature film, but this movie doesn't go down the route of exploring drug addiction and/or movie-making, instead using both as a means to explore connections between cinema, vampirism and obsession - and I think also death, or at least the relationship our minds have with the concept of death. It does lots of interesting little things, wrapping them all up in a narrative that is almost nonsensical and surreal - and in it's final act becomes a horror film that will leave you feeling terribly haunted and uneasy. Films within the film use time-lapse photography, and the speeding up or stopping of time also comes into play during certain segments. It went so far as to affect my dreams once I'd settled down for the night and slept - my subconscious still trying to deal with the matters it digs up and plays around with. For all those who feel there's not enough equality in cinema when it comes to full frontal nudity, I recall seeing at least three different male members, but the sex and sexuality, though very much part of the movie, is mostly implied or plays at the very edge of our awareness.

Filmmaker José Sirgado (Eusebio Poncela) meets the nephew of a friend, Pedro (Will More) - who makes his own amateur movies. Pedro is an otherworldly presence in the movie, and while most of the other characters are more or less straightforward and what we'd consider normal, Pedro speaks in riddles and behaves in an unusual manner - claiming to be over a century old. Is he cinema itself? Despite having a girlfriend in Ana Turner (Cecilia Roth), José becomes intimate with Pedro after sharing movie knowledge and drugs with the young man. Later, as an introduction to Pedro's world and view of cinema, he does something really interesting which pretty much involves an almost magical ability to produce a cherished childhood relic for José, and later Ana, to basically 'blow their minds' and kind of open them up to his wavelength. He's already introduced José to his abilities by speeding up time itself from his perspective, and the movie-man gives Pedro the ability to record time-lapse photography - to lengthen the pauses between recorded frames of film. When Pedro accidentally records himself sleeping however, he discovers something disturbing that becomes both an addiction and obsession in itself which threatens the very existence of both Pedro and José.

Our relationship with the screen, and via that connective tissue the camera, is a complex one when it comes to the human mind and recorded images - and swirling through all of that, becoming part of the puzzle in Arrebato, is the constant presence of drug use and addiction. Being filmed while asleep becomes that very thing for Pedro - a physical addiction - as does his need to see what his camera is purposely withholding from him by turning an ever-expanding series of frames bright red. In my search for the meaning behind all of this I thought of the strange way we try to halt time by recording it and being able to replay it - and I thought of how those onscreen pursue a kind of immortality through it, even though it's an immortality that won't save them personally from death and non-existence. I thought about what's exchanged between what's filmed, what's doing the filming, and who's watching - the ebb and flow of energy, emotion, need and the material. Is cinema a drug? Has it changed the way we relate to death? Arrebato propelled so many thoughts, and it's intimate, purposeful visual style stuck with me - even scaring me in the end. What am I to think about a film that thinks about films? Freaky, and unusual. Catharsis for cinema addicts.

Glad to catch this one - it won numerous awards at the inaugural Fantasporto Awards in Portugal, and has become a Spanish cult classic - part of the La Movida Madrileña art movement.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/5NrwK9rC/arrebato2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 437 (-13)

Next : Sherman’s March (1985)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Arrebato

[Takoma11]

I really loved Arrebato. HERE (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2371115-rapture.html) is what I wrote about it when I watched it. I thought that it walked a fantastic line between dark humor and actual horror.

[FilmBuff]

I was very surprised to find out about Pedro Almodovar's involvement with Arrebato. :eek:

[SpelingError]

Next : Sherman’s March (1985)

I'm a huge fan of this one. I'm curious what you'll think of it.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/QNKfMWSx/sherman-s-march.png

SHERMAN'S MARCH (1985)

Directed by : Ross McElwee

Oh the irony of looking forward to watching Sherman's March because you're interested in Civil War history - not that this documentary isn't more fulfilling and humanistic by being famously sidetracked by one man and his personal crisis of confidence. Approaching 40, Ross McElwee is experiencing the dread of never finding that special, perfect person who wants to spend the rest of their life with him. That breeds desperation, and desperation just happens to be one of the biggest turn-offs known to humankind - beginning a sad cycle of rejection, false-starts and brief flings. Travelling through the American South, intending to make a documentary about General Sherman's "March to the Sea" as he follows in the famous figure's footsteps, he soon starts to realise that the real movie is about McElwee's own personal life, and the various women he briefly becomes infatuated with. It does feel like a path of destruction, but there's a really natural, breezy feel to the conversations he has, despite the fact that he obviously has a large camera hoisted onto his shoulder. These ladies might not be falling madly in love with him, but they do seem disarmed, open, at ease and comfortable with being recorded in such intimate circumstances - as if the camera is invisible.

Ross McElwee is obviously aware of how compelling his own emasculation will be to audiences - there's an urge to cheer the hidden protagonist, mixed with an overwhelming urge to reach out and tell him to please stop - the impulsive reaching itself sometimes excruciating. One of the targets he's fallen for dreams of meeting Burt Reynolds when she goes to audition for a film, and Reynolds becomes something of a rival in McElwee's eyes, and almost a Macguffin for the movie. At the time this actor was the very symbol of American masculinity, and the filmmaker's antithesis - so there's a natural progression here once we seek out the man himself - leading to a hilarious confrontation and the perfect climax to this extraordinarily long documentary. In the meantime we meet a variety of interesting women with infectious personalities, high aspirational goals, winsome manners, plentiful energy and natural beauty. Their obvious attractiveness makes it easy to understand why McElwee swoons over each one, and as such the camera also follows his male gaze - now and then almost comically. He's not offering them much, and instead, like a vampire, kind of sucks up all of their vitality with his camera - great for his movie, but not for his love life. He's almost a victim of his own passion.

I find history really interesting, but have to admit that every time McElwee tries to get this documentary back on track by visiting a historical site where Sherman fought, the emptiness and lifeless silence of a battlefield long since forgotten only reminds me how much love and life are more vibrant. It's a keen distinction, and I think the filmmaker himself understood the the real colour lay with his disastrous love life, and his attempts to understand why he was in such a rut. There's not much of a connection between the two, other than the fact that love is something of a combat zone, and furthermore that McElwee leaves a metaphorical of trail of destruction behind him as he follows Sherman's path. The destruction is made up of McElwee's tattered confidence and the feeling that whatever phase he's going through, it's relationship poison - one broken heart after the other stretchered off the battlefield. To me it seemed like he was married to making movies, and every time he started up with this lady or that they instantly came a distant second to his primary passion in life - his camera and his current big project, which fed back into an obsessive focus on them. Once amorous emotion was doused to dying embers, along comes his favourite subject : "why don't you like me enough to be my lover?" - the bucket of cold water that puts the fire out forever. Then, just like a general, it's on to the next target and the next town - echoing Sherman, and cursing Burt Reynolds.

Glad to catch this one - it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize (documentary section) at the Sundance Film Festival in 1987, and it gained preservation status by the Library of Congress in 2000. It's also in Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/zDMgbZsN/sherman.jpg

Watchlist Count : 436 (-14)

Next : The Killer (1989)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Sherman's March

[SpelingError]

Glad you enjoyed it! I was really taken in by how McElwee was simultaneously pathetic and tragic at the same time. It made the ending hurt so much. I imagine it would make for a great double feature with La Dolce Vita.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/90HgQ7SM/the-killer.png

THE KILLER (1989)

Directed by : John Woo

Watching The Killer is a kind of heavy experience, because it's a painful reminder of how action films in the late 1980s were so, so much better than the action films of today. It's an over the top, pyrotechnic ballet with grand melodramatic flourishes that is self aware enough to not take itself too seriously, but it's also a highly polished work of art posing as a pure genre outing. That makes sense, considering that Woo was influenced by the likes of Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese specifically. It's Le Samouraï with a very Hong Kong slant, and has clearly been made with a great amount of love for the artform - everything carefully considered. One thing I really enjoy doing when watching a good action movie is taking note of all the editing choices - you find choice after choice is quite inspired. It's something about The Killer that I found absolutely sublime - and also a painful reminder of how lazy and shoddy the artform has become for the most part. The story won't tax your brain either - we're here to watch a choreographed dance of death and get a taste of a stock element I have a particular weakness for : the unlikely friendship and team-up of two deadly enemies.

Ah Jong (the eminently recognizable "can't be all that bad really, just look at him" baby-faced Chow Yun-fat) is a deadly assassin, and if you think you're in for gritty realism here take note - Ah Jong won't make a small target of himself or hide in the shadows. He'll instead stand in the middle of the room dealing death with his pistols as chaos reigns, dispatching the dozens of deadly enemies around him one at a time with casual ease and great style. Everything in the room is going get broken (if it's glass, smashed into smithereens) and new threats are going to pour in from every entrance and exit - or else surprise him by popping out of nowhere. Detective Li Ying (Danny Lee) is the die hard, never give up, handsome pursuer of Ah Jong who keeps getting into one Mexican standoff after another with our intrepid "nicest guy - he only kills bad guys really" killer. Jennie (Sally Yeh) is the sweet nightclub singer who becomes Ah Jong's love interest after he accidentally blinds her during one of his massacres, running into her a second time but not divulging the terrible truth that he's the one responsible for her newfound vulnerability. This Hong Kong diva ends up singing all of the songs on The Killer's soundtrack - quite nicely. There are partners for both (played by Kenneth Tsang and Chu Kong) killer and cop, along with various betrayals, sacrifices and the ultimate enemy - triad boss Wong Hoi (Shing Fui-on).

As soon as the film reveals that it's first indoor set is a church filled with literally thousands of lit candles - a dazzling meeting place which sets up our first shoot-out planning stage (and equally dazzling, book-ended final location of carnage) - you know that this will be a visual treat - and the cinematography rises up to meet the set-decoration and art direction. Hong Kong is always going to offer up a fantastic mix of bright lights, wonderfully mountainous topography, and mystifying cultural events which happen alongside the delirious action. It's a place made for the genre, whose culture also allows martial arts to be added to an already heady mix. The Killer has all of that, but what makes it really special is the fact that it's treated with virtuoso cinematic gloves, introducing the best of European and American contemporary style and method to transform this uniquely Asian action film into a movie that has international currency. There's a wonderfully perfect mix of the familiar with the exotic, and that makes the film all the more inviting right from the get-go. It's silly, a load of fun, way, way over the top and as far as violent action goes pure poetry.

Glad to catch this one - it's in Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, was nominated for Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards (at which it won Best Director and Best Editing), and has been endlessly imitated. A very influential action classic, remade in 2024. Criterion #8.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/bJhDW2bS/the-killer2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 437 (-13)

Next : Godland (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Killer

[Stirchley]

AUGUST RUN-THROUGH

I'm running late! Feels like someone is messing with time, and speeding it up so there's not enough of it to do all of the things I want - but that's not going to stop me going through the best of August, which all-up delivered another 16 films wiped off from my watchlist. That brings the total up to 192 movies watched and reviewed - and that's a lot. Lets see if I can crank up my output again for the rest of the year so I can get up to 300!

BEST OF THE BUNCH

I was kind of expecting Grey Gardens to be great, but Mommy came up roses completely unexpectedly, and was one of the biggest surprises I've had while doing this thread. I don't think I've ever been as scared, then delighted, then sad to such an extreme. Anyway, two movies there that for me win last month's 'Best of the Best' consideration.

https://i.postimg.cc/Cx3nqffV/grey.webphttps://i.postimg.cc/PfbGsGMb/mommy.webp

BEST OF THE REST

Below are five excellent, excellent films that are now absolute favourites. When will I get the time to watch all of these films repeatedly? I used to watch all of my favourite films many times over, always finding new things to be excited about - but I've now happened upon an era of my life where I discover new great movies at a rate that leaves little time to sit back and rewatch them. I'm both excited and kind of frustrated that I can't simply pause time - but at least I don't suffer from boredom (except when I'm dealing with a movie in the Hall of Infamy.)

https://i.postimg.cc/tC66k5dM/blue.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/c4qygRsm/I-don-t-feel-at-home.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/qvDd79gt/when-a-woman.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/d1jFJDCF/jean.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/KjmMYKsD/manon.jpg

I'm getting close to the 200 mark - it's going to be so interesting at the end of the year to compile a list of the Best 25/50 movies from this thread in order of greatness - there's going to be some fantastic candidates that won't even make it, and I guess that means it's going to be tough choosing. I've probably said this six or seven times already, but I never expected this high a ratio of great movies when I started this - I don't think I really believed there were that many movies out there for me to discover and love, and by the rate new films are going on to my watchlist it seems the source is never-ending. It's been a lot of fun!

Never heard of Mommy, but it’s now in my watchlist.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/5NZwcnTS/godland.webp

GODLAND (2022)

Directed by : Hlynur Pálmason

It's funny to think now, that there was once a time you could travel so far away as to be beyond reach of family, friends and the society you grew up in. Not only that, but for the the Danish, who laid claim to the vast Icelandic landmass far to their north-west, you could set yourself up on an icy shore far from any other human being, or land-mammal - bar the few you bring with you. For priest Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove), it doesn't only feel far from the reach of Danish society, but perhaps God himself. He's warned by those higher-ups tasking him with setting up a new church there that the challenges will be immense, and although that sounds like it might be hyperbole when spoken aloud, the experience proves that the effort needed was actually understated. The journey alone will nearly kill Lucas, and will kill at least one of those he travels with. This experience shakes the priest's foundational faith in just about everything, and makes it hard for him to step outside of himself and communicate with his Danish/Icelandic compatriots at the village he arrives at - something patriarch Carl (Jacob Lohmann) interprets as weakness. The one passion Lucas has outside of his faith is his 19th Century camera, but as romance blossoms between him and Carl's daughter Anna (Vic Carmen Sonne) and as he rages against the man who frustrates him the most, Ragnar (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson) this priest's lack of focus and the picture-perfect idealism he's lost in this harsh land sees his world spinning out of control, and his morals slipping through his fingers.

Surprisingly, this is one I regret not seeing on the big screen. Cinematographer Maria von Hausswolff won various awards for her work, including the prestigious Bodil - it's shown (and this has become something of a trend) in 4:3 aspect ratio, with the corners of the screen rounded off as if we're looking at old photographs. This is obviously connected to the whole set-up which frames our journey - the story about a cache of wet plate photographs in Iceland taken by a Danish priest in the 19th Century. We see the photographs Lucas takes as the film progresses, and they help emphasise this or that during crucial stages of the emotional peaks in the narrative. It's the Icelandic geography and landscape that sets the scene though - and I swear I've never seen a land with so much beautiful variation and powerful displays of glorious magic and majesty. The great contrast is of course the fact that travelling through this glory of God is completely destroying a priest, who at times can do nothing but curse "Satan" as if the beauty is simple deception, and hides fangs. A great part of the film hinges on what this duality does to Lucas, and how hard this man of God finds the process of adaptation - chafing against language differences and local customs. It's as if this mission has come too late for him, as he's already set in his ways.

It's easy to find God glorious when you're comfortable and happy, and I guess it's easy to see a lion as beautiful when it's not chasing you, or when you're not in it's jaws. What occurs henceforth on this priest's journey is for those who travel with him by watching this movie - one which I thought was really excellent for both those who love visual beauty and those who love drama and deep meaning. It gets quite wrenching once it builds to it's final act and series of climaxes, and is overall one I'd definitely be in the mood for seeing again one day. I tried watching it as a way to distract myself a little from a family tragedy, and while I simply brought that tragedy with me and never forgot it for one second, I still found some solace in the film's beauty - and at times could connect so much more keenly with the pain embroidered into it, because of the way I was feeling personally. I've always liked films from this corner of the world, and remember a time when I looked at quite a few Icelandic films - surprised that such a sparsely populated place could produce an assortment of talented filmmakers. I've seen Hlynur Pálmason's A White, White Day before, and that was quite good as well. Godland doesn't totally rely on it's stunning photography - it has a lot more going for it - but that is one aspect that really sets it apart. I found it ironic that a place of such beauty should have so few witnesses to it's splendour and magnificence, but I guess that's one of the reasons it's kept that beauty intact up until now. God made that place for those who can appreciate what it takes to survive it.

Glad to catch this one - it came so very close to be nominated for a Best International Feature Oscar - made the last 15. Premiered at Cannes, and it also won the Gold Hugo for Best Feature Film at the Chicago Film Festival.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/HxNz3bwj/godland2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 436 (-14)

Next : Palm Trees and Power Lines (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Godland

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/fLL6xtkT/palm-trees-and-power-lines.jpg

PALM TREES AND POWER LINES (2022)

Directed by : Jamie Dack

Let's get straight down to the nuts and bolts of this - Palm Trees and Power Lines features 34-year-old Tom (Jonathan Tucker) meeting and seducing 17-year-old Lea (Lily McInerny) - taking his time to sweep her off her feet so that the doe-eyed, madly-in-love teenager is completely in his thrall. It all plays out as if this might be some kind of worrisome love story - or at least it would if we couldn't clearly see through Tom's cynical use of lines such as "you're so much more mature than your friends" (Lea clearly isn't) and "were we brought together by fate?" Tom is like an experienced hunter stalking his prey, and gives everything plentiful time instead of rushing anything. He absolutely knows what he's doing. When red flags start popping up all over the place, Lea is quite alarmed, but at the same time wants to believe in all of Tom's explanations and excuses - which he deftly fashions with all the aplomb of a first rate con-man. Is she going to believe some stranger, or the love of her life who treats her like a princess? In the meantime we watch on with growing discomfort as we get closer and closer to that critical moment where Lea becomes completely devoted to this man and the trap slams shut.

Yes - for all those thinking about how they'd feel watching this film, you'll experience a lot of anger, nausea, discomfort and sadness. It's easy to see why being 17 is so difficult for Lea - the film is told from her perspective, and we see in her gaze a desperate need for something more than her mother or other teenagers can give her. Lily McInerny gives something of a breakthrough performance here, strongly conveying her dissatisfaction at first, and then her complete transformation as a girl in love. Her character isn't one-note or annoying at all - she's not a silly ditz, and you can tell that she's intelligent and has a lot of potential. Of course you want to scream loud enough for her to hear you - but at the same time every step she takes closer to Tom is understandable at least. She's as blameless as a character can be under these circumstances, as it's Tom's cunning, patience and good looks which work most every time you'd think when applied to the right 17-year-old girl. It's that fact alone that makes Palm Trees and Power Lines such a maddening, horrifying film. Just to raise a daughter is to lament the predators out there, who have no shame or guilt.

I almost called this movie "a sickly love story" - it's not a love story of course, but the reason I nearly lapse into calling it one is how we see everything from Lea's point of view, so it takes the form of one. That means it's really not easy to watch at all - we have to helplessly witness all of the events, physical and emotional, as everything unfolds. Every time Lea comes face-to-face with reality, you feel your pulse quicken and hope that one revelation or another will enlighten her to the point of salvation. She's smart enough to see the signs - but at the same time completely lost, and sometimes I think our brains aren't wired for the world we confront today. At least this film gets us thinking though. Through it I kept pondering that perhaps there should be a lot more education concerning what we see here - Lea is at first afraid Tom might rape or murder her when he invites her into his car, but isn't alert to men with bad intentions playing the long game and hurting girls that way. Depressingly, we'll probably always have to deal with predators, and with men who exploit young women - destroying lives, and using the wonder of love as a weapon to wield for their own selfish, criminal desires. It's the ending of Palm Trees and Power Lines that really gets you. See it, and you'll see what I mean.

Glad to catch this one - Jamie Dack won the Best Director Award at the Sundance Film Festival for his work here, and brought home several other American and international festival awards to boot.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/90rLcvgb/palm-trees-and-power-lines2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 435 (-14)

I also ticked The Wind that Shakes the Barley off my watchlist recently - I had no idea when I put it on that it was on my watchlist, so it's another incidental watch (haven't had one of those for a while.)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3d/The_Wind_That_Shakes_the_Barley_poster.jpg

Next : The Eyes of My Mother (2016)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Palm Trees and Power Lines

[Stirchley]

https://i.postimg.cc/fLL6xtkT/palm-trees-and-power-lines.jpg

PALM TREES AND POWER LINES (2022)

Directed by : Jamie Dack

Let's get straight down to the nuts and bolts of this - Palm Trees and Power Lines features 34-year-old Tom (Jonathan Tucker) meeting and seducing 17-year-old Lea (Lily McInerny) - taking his time to sweep her off her feet so that the doe-eyed, madly-in-love teenager is completely in his thrall. It all plays out as if this might be some kind of worrisome love story - or at least it would if we couldn't clearly see through Tom's cynical use of lines such as "you're so much more mature than your friends" (Lea clearly isn't) and "were we brought together by fate?" Tom is like an experienced hunter stalking his prey, and gives everything plentiful time instead of rushing anything. He absolutely knows what he's doing. When red flags start popping up all over the place, Lea is quite alarmed, but at the same time wants to believe in all of Tom's explanations and excuses - which he deftly fashions with all the aplomb of a first rate con-man. Is she going to believe some stranger, or the love of her life who treats her like a princess? In the meantime we watch on with growing discomfort as we get closer and closer to that critical moment where Lea becomes completely devoted to this man and the trap slams shut.

Yes - for all those thinking about how they'd feel watching this film, you'll experience a lot of anger, nausea, discomfort and sadness. It's easy to see why being 17 is so difficult for Lea - the film is told from her perspective, and we see in her gaze a desperate need for something more than her mother or other teenagers can give her. Lily McInerny gives something of a breakthrough performance here, strongly conveying her dissatisfaction at first, and then her complete transformation as a girl in love. Her character isn't one-note or annoying at all - she's not a silly ditz, and you can tell that she's intelligent and has a lot of potential. Of course you want to scream loud enough for her to hear you - but at the same time every step she takes closer to Tom is understandable at least. She's as blameless as a character can be under these circumstances, as it's Tom's cunning, patience and good looks which work most every time you'd think when applied to the right 17-year-old girl. It's that fact alone that makes Palm Trees and Power Lines such a maddening, horrifying film. Just to raise a daughter is to lament the predators out there, who have no shame or guilt.

I almost called this movie "a sickly love story" - it's not a love story of course, but the reason I nearly lapse into calling it one is how we see everything from Lea's point of view, so it takes the form of one. That means it's really not easy to watch at all - we have to helplessly witness all of the events, physical and emotional, as everything unfolds. Every time Lea comes face-to-face with reality, you feel your pulse quicken and hope that one revelation or another will enlighten her to the point of salvation. She's smart enough to see the signs - but at the same time completely lost, and sometimes I think our brains aren't wired for the world we confront today. At least this film gets us thinking though. Through it I kept pondering that perhaps there should be a lot more education concerning what we see here - Lea is at first afraid Tom might rape or murder her when he invites her into his car, but isn't alert to men with bad intentions playing the long game and hurting girls that way. Depressingly, we'll probably always have to deal with predators, and with men who exploit young women - destroying lives, and using the wonder of love as a weapon to wield for their own selfish, criminal desires. It's the ending of Palm Trees and Power Lines that really gets you. See it, and you'll see what I mean.

Glad to catch this one - Jamie Dack won the Best Director Award at the Sundance Film Festival for his work here, and brought home several other American and international festival awards to boot.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/90rLcvgb/palm-trees-and-power-lines2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 435 (-14)

I also ticked The Wind that Shakes the Barley off my watchlist recently - I had no idea when I put it on that it was on my watchlist, so it's another incidental watch (haven't had one of those for a while.)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3d/The_Wind_That_Shakes_the_Barley_poster.jpg

Next : The Eyes of My Mother (2016)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Palm Trees and Power Lines

Good movie I thought.

[Takoma11]

Have you seen Red Rocket? And if so, how would you say this one compares?

[PHOENIX74]

Have you seen Red Rocket? And if so, how would you say this one compares?

Yeah, I like Red Rocket - that and this film are about as different as you could get tone-wise. Palm Trees and Power Lines isn't as colourful, and is instead very much (100% really) true-to-life and sober. Also, while we basically saw everything from the guy's point of view in RR, here it's the girl's point of view - her family and her friends make up all of the characters in this. We never see any of Tom's life, or meet any of his cohorts. There are no fun moments in Palm Trees and Power Lines - even moments of tomfoolery and laughter have that awful, "we see the whole picture", mood to them, so you could call this "horror" as opposed to Red Rocket's "comedy" if you painted in broad strokes. This one is more subdued and low key as well. Much more uncomfortable - especially when you get to the more visceral parts near the end.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/C1khRtrW/the-eyes-of-my-mother.jpg

THE EYES OF MY MOTHER (2016)

Directed by : Nicolas Pesce

The Eyes of My Mother doesn't want to shock you, despite being an at-times grisly horror movie - it wants you to feel empathy and think about grief. Murder and mutilation can happen between scenes, and Nicolas Pesce is much more determined to make sure we don't miss moments when the loneliness of main character Francisca (Kika Magalhães) becomes too much to bear - the pangs echoing through her physical body until they make their way to her vocal chords and we hear her desperate cries. At times like these, she'll do something like dig up her mother's skeletal remains and hold them, wash her dead father's naked corpse in the bathtub, or kill again. Those who are familiar with Jeffrey Dahmer might find this character comparable - but I don't want to dig too deeply (no pun intended) into what happens in this film otherwise I might spoil the constant surprises that spring forth from it's off-kilter narrative. Francisca's mother (Diana Agostini) was an eye surgeon, and when she was a little girl her mama used to dissect cow eyes for the curious little girl, showing her how they worked - the parts that the light shone through, making them the so-called "window of the soul". So, when trauma takes it's toll, Francisca brings to bear her own unique interpretation to what a relationship is - much to the misfortune of those who meet her.

After the constant run of two-hour plus movies I've been watching lately, The Eyes of My Mother felt like a thief in the night - here and then gone in 76 minutes which feels so disorienting, especially with the abrupt "middle-of-a-climax" ending it has. It's monochrome visual style lent the movie an aura that's almost feeling too familiar these days - but it does the job of providing a very specific kind of atmosphere, and you can't really complain about that. I can imagine this as a much longer film, showing us the violence that we often only discover has happened while it's being patched up, wrapped for storage in the fridge, tied down, washed or hidden. Perhaps though, it's more of a shock to suddenly be presented with an aftermath. Our imagination has to fill in the gaps then. Then again, the horror of it all really is the uncomfortable question of "what goes on in a girl's mind, when the result is Francisca?" What kind of torment does it take to make a Jeffrey Dahmer? To push those predisposed far enough, the tale must be sad, traumatic and weird. That's The Eyes of My Mother.

So, was this interesting, compelling, frightening, memorable, enjoyable? Yeah - in it's own minimalist way. It's interesting how blurred the lines are here concerning whether Francisca is a victim or assailant - especially considering her isolated environment. As the film comes to it's close you might find yourself shocked to be feeling emotionally protective regarding a character who has done horrendous things - but that's probably because The Eyes of My Mother focuses so much on her trauma and loneliness. The rest is a blur - which does so much to disorient us that we cling on to what we know all the more, that Francisca is drowning in the void. Visually, the whole film feels like a dream, and the film's inerrant but very strange rhythm just emphasizes that effect. The most discomforting feeling regarding a horror film like this is the fact that we know what Francisca does actually happens out in the real world - that her most aberrant modes of behaviour aren't so crazy as to be confined to the screen, even though they're hardly common. But the fact that this is a movie makes it easier to feel pity, and in turn I spent a moment or two thinking about grief and the infinite ways it can manifest itself. Not a bad effect for a movie to have.

Glad to catch this one - it won all of it's awards at the "Fantastic Cinema Festival", so I don't know if money changed hands there or if Nicolas Pesce's brother runs the festival or something.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/dQmKw6dS/the-eyes-of-my-mother2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 434 (-16)

Next : She Dies Tomorrow (2020)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Eyes of My Mother

[Takoma11]

Yeah, I like Red Rocket - that and this film are about as different as you could get tone-wise. Palm Trees and Power Lines isn't as colourful, and is instead very much (100% really) true-to-life and sober. Also, while we basically saw everything from the guy's point of view in RR, here it's the girl's point of view - her family and her friends make up all of the characters in this. We never see any of Tom's life, or meet any of his cohorts. There are no fun moments in Palm Trees and Power Lines - even moments of tomfoolery and laughter have that awful, "we see the whole picture", mood to them, so you could call this "horror" as opposed to Red Rocket's "comedy" if you painted in broad strokes. This one is more subdued and low key as well. Much more uncomfortable - especially when you get to the more visceral parts near the end.

Gotcha, thanks! I felt like Jonathan Tucker had really fallen off the map for a while. I feel like the last time I saw him was in a random episode of Hannibal.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/0yYX6Rg1/she-dies-tomorrow.jpg

SHE DIES TOMORROW (2020)

Directed by : Amy Seimetz

Okay! Time to get the party started! Who's up for some existential dread? I was once told something alone the lines of "If you're worried about the fact that you're inevitably going to die, then that means you must be alive - and if you're alive you don't have anything to complain about." That statement starts to lose a lot of it's meaning if you're presently about to die though, and that's what She Dies Tomorrow really explores - our grasp of our own mortality when we don't have the comfort of time to placate the alarming concept/inevitability. It does this in a really original, imaginative, and free way - when Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil) calls friend Jane (Jane Adams) in an unusually despondent manner, little does the latter know that Amy is host to a kind of mind virus that is highly contagious. The symptom is an unshakeable belief that the infected person is going to die the next day. Although there's no evidence, those who are experiencing this are absolutely certain, and so they behave almost as if the world is about to end altogether. Their shocking behaviour makes sense only in this context - with all rational thought gone by the wayside they rage against the dying of the light, make the most of all their senses and free themselves from normal societal constraints. What does anything really matter anymore?

She Dies Tomorrow could present it's 'mind virus'/'I'm going to die' premise in a fairly straightforward way I guess, but that's not what Amy Seimetz does. This is a very trippy movie - and it's not long before you realise and/or question if perhaps there's some kind of hallucinogenic substance involved with what's going on with Amy to start with (or at least I did), and I feel comfortable revealing that about the movie, because the answer to the 'is there, or isn't there?' question is so complex and shaded that there's no definitive answer, and also that's absolutely not the point of the movie anyway. The effects of such substances aren't transmittable or transferable, but regardless, the effects do mimic "tripping", and that provides the audience with interesting sights and sounds - instead of being dour the film is a psychedelic ride at times. It's as if the concept of death itself is so far from our normal mode of thinking that it veers our usual thought processes from the way they typically operate. It's true that it's hard to know what it feels like to be on the verge of death - who among us can say they've experienced that? Their perception warped, the characters in this film start behaving in strange ways also - they become more honest, decisive and less inhibited. They also cross moral and legal boundaries without a thought about the consequences.

We live in a world that functions the way it does because we put the thought of the inevitability of our death aside, and distracting ourselves from that reality is the only way we move forward and exist as constructive members of society. That in itself is an interesting topic to base a film around, and so as a concept I really liked Amy Seimetz's movie a lot. The cinematography was really good, and interesting in what it asks us to focus on. All of the performances were good - I especially loved catching up with Jane Adams, who is probably the best of the bunch here. To segue from normality to "I'm going to die" isn't easy, especially when you have to maintain such an unusual mood for your character to be in over the length of time it takes to make a film. Seimetz is a talent, and She Dies Tomorrow a brave, intelligent and authoritative artistic creation. The score, thanks to The Mondo Boys, fits the mood and enhances it. Just don't go in expecting a straightforward narrative that will lead you to answers - this is about our relationship with the fact of our inevitable demise, and not the 'what', 'why' or 'how' of anything. As much as I fear death, intellectual queries surrounding the subject have always excited me - be they songs, books or films. In some ways, it's the most important and revealing subject there is.

Glad to catch this one - Jane Adams ended up being nominated for a Florida Film Critics Circle, Chlotrudis, and Indiana Film Journalists Association Award.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/hPP2nkBs/she-dies-tomorrow2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : Daniel (1983)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch She Dies Tomorrow

[Takoma11]

She Dies Tomorrow (thoughts here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2158391-she_dies_tomorrow.html)) is a movie I had to rewatch in part to try and understand. I generally liked it, but it didn't fully click for me.

I much preferred another film from the same director, Sun Don't Shine.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/SNRq5RN0/daniel.jpg

DANIEL (1983)

Directed by : Sidney Lumet

Daniel Isaacson (Timothy Hutton) is trying to make some kind of sense of his life after a traumatic childhood - his parents are based on real-life couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed for espionage after being accused of and tried for providing the U.S.S.R. with top secret information involving, among other things, nuclear weapons. In this film their names are Paul Isaacson (Mandy Patinkin) and Rochelle Isaacson (Lindsay Crouse), and instead of two sons they have Daniel and Susan (Amanda Plummer) who are only children when the couple are arrested and pretty much shafted by the justice system - as Daniel starts to discover as he hunts down everyone involved in the whole saga. He feels compelled because his tortured sister has been hospitalized and is on a downward spiral after attempting suicide. That's the nuts and bolts of Daniel, which switches from "back then" and "now" in twin narratives Godfather Part II-style, showing us how passionate the Isaacson's were about their political convictions, and how traumatized their children are to suddenly find themselves virtually orphaned when police come, ransack their home, and spirit their parents away. It's a heart-rending story.

I can't say that I know all that much about the whole Rosenberg affair, apart from the fact that I hear it might have been the publicity surrounding their trial and execution that encouraged Lee Harvey Oswald to become interested in Marxism, Socialism and the Soviet Union. In any case, from what I can glean reading up on the case, there's little connection between reality and this film, which basically uses the bare facts as a template for this Sidney Lumet drama. It was his follow-up to The Verdict, but ended up as one of his bombs that certainly lacks the prestige of that classic. I liked this though - up to a point. I think it might have been a little uneven in intensity. Timothy Hutton is amazing though, and it's only unfortunate this film wasn't more successful, because it would have shone a light on another top-drawer performance. I absolutely love Amanda Plummer as well - she's a favourite of mine, so to discover that she's in this was like a wonderful surprise. I only wish her part had of been larger. Lumet's partnership with cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak was also of great benefit - the energy that protests consist of, and the period urban environments of time periods stretching from the 30s to the Vietnam era are brought to life with very thorough panache.

At it's core this was a really sad story that traces childhood trauma, and it was that which moved me more than the McCarthy era politics being reexamined and flaws in the American justice system probed. Still, it was really interesting and ambitious to combine all of those themes and subjects in this movie, and see two young adults that have been thrust into a world they never chose for themselves - just because of the convictions their parents had, and how that affected the lives of their children. It seemed like Daniel and Susan felt dutybound to continue to fight, simply because their parents died fighting. I certainly didn't think this was a bad movie by any means, and I thought it was terrific up until the last half hour where it seemed to lose a little momentum and focus, having expended so much energy and emotional force. Opinion on the movie is wildly mixed, with it being panned and praised in equal measure - I'll just say that if you have the ability to handle executions, funerals, suicide and kids struggling after losing their parents it's a great movie. Sad, with the potential to make you angry - but in Lumet's hands not depressing at all. Just righteous, up-front and searching - and I'm always up for that.

Glad to catch this one - no awards, the critics didn't like it and the movie bombed. I still liked it though.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/sXtP1ZkZ/daniel2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 432 (-18)

Next : …And Justice for All (1979)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Daniel

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/3rpVYgbq/and-justice-for-all.webp

...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1979)

Directed by : Norman Jewison

I went looking for big Pacino performances I might have not seen yet after watching ...And Justice For All, and the only one left now is an obscure 1977 Sydney Pollack film called Bobby Deerfield. Pacino had some kind of early career - for playing Arthur Kirkland in this film he received his 5th Oscar nomination in 7 years. He really goes for it, and the screenplay (written by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson) is such that it never feels like shameless Oscar-baiting - this is a great movie that demands an explosive turn from this explosive actor. Justice and the justice system are subjects you can easily get very worked up about - there are many a documentary that make the most of the way injustice can trigger very deep-seated emotional responses. In ...And Justice For All we get to see how lawyer Arthur Kirkland ends up failing clients through no fault of his own - they end up victims of some very arbitrary and nonsensical kinks in the system. A completely innocent man ends up with 5 years in prison, despite the fact that the very judge that sentences him knows he's innocent. Another ends up inside because a parole report is carelessly fudged, and the lawyer substituting for Kirkland lets it slip his mind - sending this man to his doom. These people are usually poor, and of course for the privileged the balances are weighted the other way.

Kirkland ends up having to represent a judge, Henry T. Fleming (John Forsythe), who he hates and is being tried for rape and assault - he has no choice, for if he refuses he'll end up being disbarred because he was once too honest, and informed on a client. Blackmail. Now, I always thought that if an attorney knew a client was guilty, or was committing crimes, he could inform the cops - or remove himself from the case - but I'm no expert in legal ethics. I would have liked to have been a prosecutor though - perhaps in another lifetime. Kirkland is friends with another defense attorney, Jay Porter (Jeffrey Tambor) who loses his mind over the guilt he has from having a client acquitted only for that client to go out and murder again. He's also on good terms with Judge Francis Rayford (Jack Warden) - who is suicidal, and shares a helicopter ride with Kirkland in a memorably comedic rollercoaster segment of the movie. Used in small doses, Pacino's wild and very vocal stylings can be very funny. He's also in a relationship with a legal ethics committee member, Gail Packer (Christine Lahti) - a character he can unload upon to give us a sense of where Kirkland is - still centered when we meet him. He also visits his grandfather, Sam (Lee Strasberg) who raised him, but now has dementia and lives in a home for old people. The film is rich in characters who are extremely well defined. Kirkland's sense of despair over the lack of real justice he sees in the system slowly unravels this man, because he genuinely cares about the people he represents.

There was a nice balance in ...And Justice For All concerning the deadly serious and overpoweringly grave subjects, which are the crimes and various punishments that are explored (not always in equal proportion), and the plate smashing/helicopter crashing antics which act as a release of the terrible tension weighing on the film's characters, and thus sometimes on us. When Pacino smashes the windshield of a fellow lawyer's car, it not only feels cathartic - it's very much deserved (if something you'd advise against in real life.) Every day, the life of real, flesh and blood people are in the hands of Arthur Kirkland. Who'd want to be a defense attorney really? It seems like having human emotions would eventually break you - and having to let go of injustice and not end up in contempt of court would be nearly impossible. Very gritty movie this though - with a lot going on adding substance to the main storyline featuring the judge up for rape and assault, and Kirkland's defense of this cruel and capricious man who deems those he sees as beneath him all deserving of the worst abuses the prison system can dish out. Best of all is the passion unleashed from the red hot Al Pacino - possibly the best in the business at the time. "You're out of order! You're out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They're out of order!"

Glad to catch this one - another Oscar nomination for Pacino, and a Best Original Screenplay nod for Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson. Pacino was also nominated for a Golden Globe. Dustin Hoffman ended up winning the Oscar and Golden Globe, for his role in Kramer vs. Kramer.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/fR52YW9N/and-justice-for-all2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 431 (-19)

Next : Two Men in Town (1973)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch ...And Justice For All

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/13bnncwT/two-men-in-town.jpg

TWO MEN IN TOWN (1973)
(Deux hommes dans la ville)

Directed by : José Giovanni

I sure didn't put many fun comedies in my watchlist for a stretch here - this '73 José Giovanni team-up of two all time greats - Jean Gabin & Alain Delon in their third film together - is a savage critique of the French justice system and capital punishment. A coincidence that the last couple of films I've looked at are 70s movies that examine the administering of justice in the two countries they come from. This one was terrific though, without being as flashy or hysterical as it's Pacino ("You're out of order!") counterpart. Jean Gabin features as Germain Cazeneuve - a social worker who assists prisoners in their parole and life outside prison, recommending releases and finding work for parolees. Alain Delon plays Gino Strabliggi - an ex-bank robber who is determined to go straight, and keep a steady job, despite being hassled by his ex-con crime buddies (one of whom is played by a young Gérard Depardieu) and the detective who nabbed him 10 years earlier, Inspector Goitreau (Michel Bouquet). Gabin narrates as Cazeneuve, his gravelly tone and wise musings creating a really warm atmosphere and trust that we're in the hands of a philosophical sort - somebody who knows what's what, and has a heart. He's seen by cops, prison wardens and lawyers as too soft on crime, and too forgiving of criminals.

I liked that this was a film that contrasts people who focus solely on punishment and revenge, as opposed to those who see the need to reform, and understand why certain crimes are being committed in the first place. It's said directly in this, and a theme that's otherwise in this film's subtext - and once you strip it down to it's essentials it's all about seeing the perpetrator of this or that crime as a human being instead of an animal to be corralled, dragged away and caged. We spend a fair bit of time getting to know Gino Strabliggi, and follow his story through personal tragedies, new relationships and the warm friendship he has with Cazeneuve. It's never hard to like any character Alain Delon plays, as long as he's not a psychopath, and Gino is a nice guy. Jean Gabin exudes a real sadness in his part - as if he's burdened personally with the hardships his clients have to go through. His reason for narrating this story becomes clear once you've seen the whole film - the direction Gino's story goes in takes some sharp turns, and you'll soon realise just how hard it is for any ex-convict to truly turn over a new leaf. The justice system simply won't let you. The punishment is never-ending.

I was really pleased with this film's powerful score from Philippe Sarde - at times I simply had to enjoy it, and I guess while a lot of the time a film's score should support what we're seeing without being noticed, that wasn't the case here - but not in a bad way. Visually, there were a lot of nice touches - great shots, such as when Jean Gabin is walking towards us, absolutely dwarfed by the walls of the prison he's walking beside. Insignificant and powerless when compared with this machinery that grinds people into dust. In the end, the story completely took over and had me staring at the screen - agog. I think that's probably the best thing a film can do - give us a lot to admire visually and sound-wise, along with interesting performances, and then have the narrative completely captivate us once we're completely immersed into the world the movie has built for us. I love Alain Delon and Jean Gabin - two of France's best (and RIP Delon - passing last month). Watching them is always a pleasure, and they definitely elevated Two Men in Town a great deal. Apparently director José Giovanni had been a criminal himself (once sentenced to death), so there's certainly no way to deny his familiarity with this film's subject. I've only seen one of his films previously (The Gypsy) - this one being much more powerful, and very much recommended.

Glad to catch this one - this was remade in 2014, a French/American co-production (this time featuring Forest Whitaker, Harvey Keitel and Ellen Burstyn).

4

https://i.postimg.cc/X7KjMSsJ/two-men4.jpg

Watchlist Count : 431 (-19)

Next : Hyenas (1992)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Two Men in Town

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/kXQjF42J/hyenas.webp

HYENAS (1992)

Directed by : Djibril Diop Mambéty

Once old Linguère Ramatou (Ami Diakhate) drops her bombshell in Senegalese film Hyenas I instantly recognized what I was watching - this was another version of The Visit. The version I'd already seen is a 1964 film featuring Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, but it was originally a play written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt that premiered in Germany in 1956. Although pretty faithful to it's source material, it also manages to marry itself to the economic disparities that exist in Senegal and Africa itself, along with how double-edged the sword of capitalism inevitably turns out to be. Although Djibril Diop Mambéty never lets us forget the third world status of the village this film is set in - Colobane - all of the haves and have nots are shot with a beautiful kind of dignity, and African culture transforms this into something a little enjoyably different to what I usually see. The place is dusty and desolate, and the store that Dramaan Drameh (Mansour Diouf) runs isn't exactly something most of us can compare to our nearest supermarket. The poor, many of whom come into the shop to sit at a table and drink, all dress themselves with simple burlap sacks - a starting image of poverty from a visual standpoint.

So, it seems Colobane is seeing something of an economic downturn - as we explore, we oversee the entire City Hall being repossessed. When news comes that Linguère Ramatou (a modern-day African Howard Hughes figure, richer than "the World Bank") is arriving in town it seems everyone's prayers might be answered. Ramatou grew up in Colobane and left in her late teens, going on to make her fortune. To help draft a "welcome home" speech, the Mayor (Mamadou Mahourédia Gueye) seeks out Ramatou's old flame, Dramaan Drameh, and he tells tales of her kindness and charity. When Linguère Ramatou does arrive though, she tells the gathered townspeople a harrowing tale about a horrifying injustice Dramaan Drameh did to her before she left Colobane, and how it left her broken and forced to become a prostitute. She offers the people of Colobane a deal - she'll give the town $100 billion if they do one thing for her : kill Dramaan Drameh. With this bargain on the table, the wealthy matriarch settles in and watches on, implacable and determined. In the meantime, she buys her goodwill and the population with a near-infinite source of gifts and favours.

It's once you sit back and think that you realise how much of a weapon money can be - and has been when it comes to the wealthy industrialized world and how it's been used against poor third world countries. You can do more with enticements and promises than you can with guns and cannons, and in the process keep yourself from getting blood directly on your hands. This was an interesting parable, and a great use of an existing property in another context. The film is beautiful, and wonderfully shot by Matthias Kälin. Diakhate's Ramatou, with her golden appendages and stern countenance, really sets the scene with her iron presence and ultra-dignified manner - such a joy to watch. Diouf is great - tightly wound as central character Dramaan Drameh (who wouldn't be?). The music is a treat also, with the singing/dancing along with cutaways at times to rhythmic dynamic movement especially entrancing. Hyenas are the motif - skulking and maneuvering, waiting to strike when something tempting is on offer - and we see many cutaways to hyenas in the wild. All added together, it makes up something pretty special, and one of the best African films I've seen - it works as a film of gravity, vision and poetry.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for the Golden Palm Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. Winner of the Special Jury Award at the Chicago International Film Festival.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/mrJHXNHM/hyenas2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : The Driver (1978)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Hyenas

[Takoma11]

It's once you sit back and think that you realise how much of a weapon money can be - and has been when it comes to the wealthy industrialized world and how it's been used against poor third world countries. You can do more with enticements and promises than you can with guns and cannons, and in the process keep yourself from getting blood directly on your hands.

It's interesting to read this, because just yesterday I watched an extended news clip about the complicated issues around international sanctions and the impact they have on countries and the people in them. It's a really complex topic, but at the same time everyone can agree that financial misery can be leveraged to make people act in immoral ways or against their own interest.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/Gh428njR/the-driver.jpg

THE DRIVER (1978)

Directed by : Walter Hill

Everything is extremely straightforward in The Driver - you've got your driving expert for hire, played by Ryan O'Neal, and a detective chasing him, played by Bruce Dern. No names - that's just extraneous detail, and as this is a 70s movie directed by Walter Hill, it's easy to point to movies like The Getaway to explain the feel of the film. Action, and forward movement, with our driver and an ally described as "The Player" (Isabelle Adjani) in the credits being careful to stay one step ahead of the various crooks that might double cross them, and the cops that want to nab them in the act of aiding heists and bank robberies. The focus, though, is mainly on the cars, driving, and plentiful chase sequences - grand, epic car chases on the level of the ones we see in films like The French Connection, To Live and Die in L.A., Bullitt and Drive. If you're a fan of big, well-choreographed, destructive car chases then The Driver is essential viewing. If you were just hearing the film from another room, half the movie you'd just be registering tyres screeching, engines revving and police sirens blaring - and you'd be missing the careful storyboarded progression and editing which make these chases work so well.

Ryan O'Neal's fame was at it's height here, and The Driver did nothing to help sustain his success in movies - it was a huge flop. His performance is one of sustained sourness, although I guess you could consider it serious and studied - or mean. The Driver takes on the countenance of someone sick and tired of being double-crossed, hassled by cops, and short-changed. Always one job away from giving it all up. I'd say he made himself look believable though - probably more so than Bruce Dern did. I'm not sure how you could describe the over-the-top narcissism and brash overconfidence you see from his detective. I guess the easiest way would be to imagine if Donald Trump had of become a detective chasing getaway drivers instead of President of the U.S., because he spends more time bragging about how he's great at what he does than he does actually doing his job. The non-stop bragging, bullying and harassing is enough for us to forget that this is actually supposed to be one of the good guys, and side with the guy helping bank robbers get away. The whole point, I know. Adjani's Player doesn't quite get enough time to really register as having a character with personality, but this is a film where even the two leads don't display many traits themselves.

The confidence, the economy with regards to words and expressiveness and focus on forward momentum remind me of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï, where Alain Delon played another professional whose persona completely embodied his crime-related occupation. I liked that, and I liked the fact that The Driver in this gives us plenty of action as far as escape is concerned, and also plenty as far as being the hunter goes - desperate not to lose touch with the car that's trying to elude him. There's also a very enjoyable scene where The Driver proves himself by careening around a garage with potential clients (out to set him up) in their car, and he proves his mettle by completely destroying the car they're in while they're in it. Very dynamic. I can't fault much with this film, and if a film is very minimalist at it's core that's just the way it is - I might come away craving more, but that probably just means that car chases and action alone doesn't completely satisfy me personally. I do wonder though, if this would have been a lot better to see on the big screen, because it does seem like that kind of movie.

Glad to catch this one - an influence on much in popular culture, including video games and filmmakers Quentin Tarantino, Nicolas Winding Refn and Edgar Wright .

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/FH2RnzgP/the-driver2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : Host (2020)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Driver

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/W1DZ4gvV/host.jpg

HOST (2020)

Directed by : Rob Savage

Man, ghosts are violent these days. Movie ghosts anyway - or demons if you want to be specific and correct about the lore in Rob Savage's Host. Host is a heady mix of modern technology, superstition and pandemic isolation that creates a steady ratcheting up of pressure until everything explodes into a spectral whirlwind of blood and screams. It uses Zoom and Screenlife filmmaking techniques to have it's cake and eat it too - most of the characters in Host are completely alone, but at the same time connected to all of the other characters. So while they're all interacting, they still maintain that specific vulnerability of not having anyone on hand to help them when bad things happen. Apparently, you can hold a séance online - a virtual séance if you will, and why not? I mean, demons existed in a virtual world long before the internet came along - and can multitask, because doing their stuff in 5 or 6 places at once is not a problem. The movie itself goes for an incredibly lean 54 minutes, which means it's an exceptionally short feature or a pretty long short film. (The Academy officially denotes anything longer than 40 minutes a feature.)

So, how did Host fare with me? A lot of the jump-scares really got me (my cat looks at me as if to say "what is wrong with you tonight dude?" - he's a cozy-up close cat, but hates me crinkling snack packets or jumping at jump-scares.) I wasn't spooked after it though - there wasn't much of a mythology built around this quickie. Just compare it to The Blair Witch Project, which built a very compelling mythology around what it was doing, and you'll see why it doesn't linger in the mind very long. It makes up for that by employing very clever scares and a rollercoaster ride of violence, freaky occurrences and scary-looking spectral ghouls. All of that is effective because Savage gets the timing just right, from casual ease, to concern, relief, worry, more concern, fear, terror then absolute panic and chaos. Just like a good comedian, there's a finger on that pulse that knows exactly when to up the tempo, and push on to the next stage of terrorizing the audience with something horrific after a period of agonizing anxiety. It's a brief rollercoaster ride that forgoes the deep unease of something more heavy, but packs a punch regardless.

How quickly us human beings put the trauma of the past behind us! The pandemic seems such a long time ago now, and it took me a moment or two to reorient myself once I realised that this film's virtual setting were the familiar surroundings of the housebound. Once bad things start to happen, you realise that there's this strange mental condition created when you're experiencing something together as far as the mind is concerned, but you're completely physically distant from each other. It's the agony of being unable to help someone sitting right in front of you, and while watching this my mind flashed back to a case I read about where someone attempted suicide by overdosing while people watched online, unable to help because they didn't know where this person lived or who to call. Then I realised that there's a false sense of security you feel at the start of Host which is like a rug that's pulled from beneath us when everything starts to go wrong - when 6 people connect there's a natural sense of collective safety where in fact there's none. Whatever the malevolent force in Host is, it has all the power, and the characters have nothing but the illusion of company. Scary stuff.

Glad to catch this one - on Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 98% approval rating based on 98 reviews and Time magazine named it one of "17 Great Movies You May Have Missed This Summer".

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/zGjNG93W/host2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 432 (-18)

Next : Safe Place (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Host

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/cCtrr7BK/safe-place.jpg

SAFE PLACE (2022)

Directed by : Juraj Lerotić

Safe Place is a Croatian film that starts with a young man, Bruno (played by director Juraj Lerotic) saving his brother, Damir (Goran Markovic), who has cut himself in a suicide attempt. It then goes on to deal with the repercussions and repeated attempts by Bruno and his mother Mater (Snjezana Sinovcic) to find help for him, and their attempts to guide him in his increasingly confused and mentally troubled state. The delve into realism this takes really reminded me of The Death of Mr. Lazarescu in form and tone, and while there's slightly less of a bureaucratic nightmare for Bruno and Mater to deal with when helping Damir, mental illness provides it's own trips, challenges and frustrations for family, police and health services. It's one of the toughest things to deal with, because scans, tests and inquiries are not going to provide anyone with a quick, clear and concise picture of what's going on. Decisions dealing with medication, treatment and action at times feel like stabs in the dark, and the question "what should I do?" often plagues Bruno and Mater. In the meantime, the events flow on in a low-key, realistic, day-in-the-life fashion - and at times it almost feels like we're watching a documentary. It feels like we're peering into something intensely personal and at times my anxiety levels went through the roof because I knew this has happened to many people, and still does every day.

There is one moment in Safe Place that takes us out of the reality it sets up, and I have a feeling that Juraj Lerotić went through this experience (or one very similar) personally, and is bending the 4th wall just a little in an almost magical kind of way so he can tell us that. It comes and goes, as a wave of sadness engulfs the proceedings for a moment. I tell you, this is a really moving film, and one in which mental illness feels so accurately portrayed - from a family point of view. I felt that Goran Markovic was utterly fantastic in this, and exuded the aura of a broken person to an almost perfect degree. I'd also highly praise director/star Juraj Lerotić and Snjezana Sinovcic - who I was sure I'd seen in something else, but whose filmography offers up nothing. That's frustrating. She looks a little like Jasna Djuricic in Quo Vadis, Aida? That must be it. In the meantime, I'm guessing police and medical personnel aren't playing themselves, because their rudeness, uncaring attitude and at times baffling decisions don't reflect well on them. I think that's common in many places - mental illness doesn't bring out the best in any nation's services. That even goes for the mental health services themselves sometimes.

So, I was deeply, deeply affected by Safe Place. The familial love on display is so strong, and so well conveyed to the audience in very beautiful ways. It's a soft, quiet, but intense journey whose only hoped-for destination is safety for Damir, who in the meantime harbors an enormous sense of guilt because of the turmoil his illness has caused for the lives of his brother and mother. It's a film I wish everyone would watch - and going by the numbers I see on the IMDb and Letterboxd, not nearly enough people have seen it. It gives such an authentic display of what it feels like to be right up close to mental illness, and that's really something I've so rarely seen on a movie screen. I admire Juraj Lerotić so much for just putting it up there, and I'm happy to see that his film was given the deference it deserved from the Croatian film industry. Amongst the pain and anxiety it finds the beautiful when needed, and also the grey, unrelenting coldness of modern life, and hospitals. It's so good at formulating desperate attempts at communication that continually fail. I really liked this movie a lot and will probably want to see it again one day.

Glad to catch this one - premiered at the 75th Locarno Film Festival, where it won 3 awards, and was selected as the Croatian entry for Best International Feature in submissions to the Academy Awards. Juraj Lerotić won The "Vladimir Nazor Award'' from the Republic of Croatia for outstanding artistic achievements in film.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/Bn4cP5Jz/safe-place2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 431 (-19)

Next : The Blue Caftan (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Safe Place

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/g2Lsp4dg/the-blue-caftan.webp

THE BLUE CAFTAN (2022)

Directed by : Maryam Touzani

The Blue Caftan is quietly dignified, and bravely steps out of line with it's country of origin - Morocco - and it's laws, featuring a gay relationship which fully acknowledges love, in it's many different forms. I'll put my hand up and admit - at first I was a little restless and impatient, because this is a film with a thousand little moments which build a foundation up until you can clearly see it's three characters, and how they relate to each other. Mina (Lubna Azabal) and her husband Halim (Saleh Bakri) run a caftan store in Salé - and that doesn't mean buying and selling, it concerns making the intricate, embroidered robes. They're beautiful, and the closest corresponding item to the ornate ones we see here in Western culture is a wedding dress - many of Mina and Halim's clients order special caftans to be made for Moroccan weddings, and we see one used for a funeral as well. They hire an apprentice, Youssef (Ayoub Missioui), and from the start there's sexual tension between the apprentice and Halim, who teaches Youssef the intricate, specialized craft. Touches linger just long enough - and Mina seems to sense this immediately, which creates tension of a different kind between her and Youssef.

Now, you'd expect the relationship between Mina and her husband to be strained - sexually, she's attracted to him and needs that kind of attention. You can tell Halim has to really put in effort to satisfy her - he's not into it. However, The Blue Caftan surprises by revealing a depth of love that goes beyond mere sexual incompatibility, and it opens up a corresponding love story that combines with Halim and Youssef's attraction to each other. Now, I've seen so many films that have been absolutely ruined by actors having no chemistry with each other, but the exact opposite is the case here - Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri have an incredible oneness, and one of the most pleasurable aspects of watching this film is seeing their easy, familiar way with each other. It's really beautiful. On the same page, Saleh Bakri and Ayoub Missioui also free themselves enough to really sell the guarded but undeniable attraction they have for each other. I really remember Lubna Azabal from her career-making turn in Incendies, and was very happy to catch up with her again here. Hers is the performance which really cements The Blue Caftan as a film worthy of praise and recommendation.

Like a caftan, this is a film richly and delicately embroidered, combining a forbidden, highly charged love story with a deeply grounded, abiding love which comes from spending a lifetime with somebody. The camera lingers on touch, and it searches for every hint of emotion to be gleaned from the faces of our three characters. It slowly builds until you're absolutely in tune with the joy and pain, and then tightens it's grip on you. There's a definite correspondence between the passion and dedicated effort producing the beautiful garments being made, and the same caring attitude building relationships which have real value and beauty. A lot is made of how long it takes to make a good caftan, and caring enough to put enough into making it beautiful and stunning to look at. Patience is needed though, to see the picture slowly develop here and for it to be carefully deepened and explored. It's a worthwhile journey, seriously mature and carefully composed as if Maryam Touzani is weaving the cinematic equivalent. Events bring our characters into such an intimate proximity that you'll be glad you took the time to get to know them - and took the time to sit and watch The Blue Caftan.

Glad to catch this one - premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, and ended up winning the FIPRESCI Prize. It was also Morroco's entry for the Best International Feature Oscar shortlist in 2023.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/Mp2S1jgP/the-blue-caftan2.jpg

Incidental Watch - I also went to see The Substance yesterday, which turned out to be on my watchlist, so it's a two movie catch up session this time around. The Substance was really good as well - loved both films.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/The_Substance_poster.jpg

Watchlist Count : 429 (-21)

Next : Showing Up (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Blue Caftan

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/FFZ3tpmn/showing-up.jpg

SHOWING UP (2022)

Directed by : Kelly Reichardt

I often argue with myself during movies like this. "When is something going to happen? Nothing is happening." Another side of me counters : "Are you kidding? What's happening is happening - life is happening. Does someone have to die for you to be satisfied?" A slice of life drama about a lady, Lizzy (Michelle Williams), making her ceramic art, working at an art and craft college and dealing with her at-times troublesome friends, neighbours and family - this lives or dies depending on how you perceive the characters and empathize with them. Without giving anything away, I was absolutely shocked at how emotional I felt at the end of Showing Up. Something had been building, and building, inside of me, and a lot of credit must go to Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams for creating a character so familiar and seemingly wrestled from the real world onto a silver screen. Aloof, yet concerned. Prickly, but caring. Plain, but fascinating and talented as far as her expression goes regarding her creations. When Showing Up opens we're taken through a series of drawings, giving each one enough time to appreciate and admire - there's movement and life in Lizzy's art, hinting that her inside world differs dramatically from her careful, staid, even-toned lack of excitement and colour. It's a great metaphor for this film as a whole.

When we start to explore Lizzy's world, we find that she's one peg down from her neighbour, landlord and fellow artist Jo (a wonderful Hong Chau - an actress I find fascinating). Jo is having a huge exhibition, and is seemingly too busy to fix Lizzy's lack of hot water - despite having enough time to put together a tire swing. This is a raw nerve we'll keep returning to throughout this film - hot water should be an immediate concern, and not a "I'll get to it when I get to it" issue, so not only is Jo a rival and a landlord - she's something of a thorn in Lizzy's side, despite being her friend. An injured bird further complicates this relationship. In the meantime, Lizzy's Mom Jean (Maryann Plunkett), is her boss at the Art College she works at - another relationship with more than one angle to it. She finds herself mothering both her father Bill (Judd Hirsch) and her brother Sean (John Magaro), the latter of whom seems to have some psychological problems and is an artist himself. When you consider the bird, a whole theme of protectiveness, mothering and anxiety emerges - something that borders of hypervigilance, and Kelly Reichardt succeeds at making us hypervigilant, seeing the world through Lizzy's eyes.

Visually, it felt like I was gliding through Showing Up in the same way I'd glide through an art exhibit - we pass nude models, students performing interpretive dance, exhibits and shows. Lizzy is a keen observer, and makes us the same. The comedy sowed deeply into the movie's style and tone is really light and of a sort that won't take you out of the realness of the movie - funny situations that arise from people being who they are and how that relates to exactly what's happening. Michelle Williams and Hong Chau are so good in this - and overlooked for more awards than they ended up being nominated for (I was also giddy with excitement to see Amanda Plummer show up - a favourite of mine.) Like I said, the way this movie ended just resonated with me in such a strong way, and it ended up being one of those striking moments that made me realise, "Hey - that was really something. Great movie!" Without consciously knowing it, I'd emotionally bonded with Lizzy to a great degree, and her world really mattered to me. The only other Kelly Reichardt film I've seen is First Cow, and considering how good that film was she's 2 for 2 with me - I'll gladly watch anything else she makes or has made. Showing Up was meaningful, humanistic, grounded and a really worthwhile film to become absorbed by.

Glad to catch this one - competed at Cannes for the prestigious Palme d'Or, and named one of the Top 10 Independent Films of the Year by the National Board of Review. It also won the Robert Altman Award at the 39th Independent Spirit Awards.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/SNFN5sGD/showing-up2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 428 (-22)

Next : The Vast of Night (2019)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Showing Up

[Stirchley]

https://i.postimg.cc/FFZ3tpmn/showing-up.jpg

SHOWING UP (2022)

Directed by : Kelly Reichardt

I often argue with myself during movies like this. "When is something going to happen? Nothing is happening." Another side of me counters : "Are you kidding? What's happening is happening - life is happening. Does someone have to die for you to be satisfied?" A slice of life drama about a lady, Lizzy (Michelle Williams), making her ceramic art, working at an art and craft college and dealing with her at-times troublesome friends, neighbours and family - this lives or dies depending on how you perceive the characters and empathize with them. Without giving anything away, I was absolutely shocked at how emotional I felt at the end of Showing Up. Something had been building, and building, inside of me, and a lot of credit must go to Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams for creating a character so familiar and seemingly wrestled from the real world onto a silver screen. Aloof, yet concerned. Prickly, but caring. Plain, but fascinating and talented as far as her expression goes regarding her creations. When Showing Up opens we're taken through a series of drawings, giving each one enough time to appreciate and admire - there's movement and life in Lizzy's art, hinting that her inside world differs dramatically from her careful, staid, even-toned lack of excitement and colour. It's a great metaphor for this film as a whole.

When we start to explore Lizzy's world, we find that she's one peg down from her neighbour, landlord and fellow artist Jo (a wonderful Hong Chau - an actress I find fascinating). Jo is having a huge exhibition, and is seemingly too busy to fix Lizzy's lack of hot water - despite having enough time to put together a tire swing. This is a raw nerve we'll keep returning to throughout this film - hot water should be an immediate concern, and not a "I'll get to it when I get to it" issue, so not only is Jo a rival and a landlord - she's something of a thorn in Lizzy's side, despite being her friend. An injured bird further complicates this relationship. In the meantime, Lizzy's Mom Jean (Maryann Plunkett), is her boss at the Art College she works at - another relationship with more than one angle to it. She finds herself mothering both her father Bill (Judd Hirsch) and her brother Sean (John Magaro), the latter of whom seems to have some psychological problems and is an artist himself. When you consider the bird, a whole theme of protectiveness, mothering and anxiety emerges - something that borders of hypervigilance, and Kelly Reichardt succeeds at making us hypervigilant, seeing the world through Lizzy's eyes.

Visually, it felt like I was gliding through Showing Up in the same way I'd glide through an art exhibit - we pass nude models, students performing interpretive dance, exhibits and shows. Lizzy is a keen observer, and makes us the same. The comedy sowed deeply into the movie's style and tone is really light and of a sort that won't take you out of the realness of the movie - funny situations that arise from people being who they are and how that relates to exactly what's happening. Michelle Williams and Hong Chau are so good in this - and overlooked for more awards than they ended up being nominated for (I was also giddy with excitement to see Amanda Plummer show up - a favourite of mine.) Like I said, the way this movie ended just resonated with me in such a strong way, and it ended up being one of those striking moments that made me realise, "Hey - that was really something. Great movie!" Without consciously knowing it, I'd emotionally bonded with Lizzy to a great degree, and her world really mattered to me. The only other Kelly Reichardt film I've seen is First Cow, and considering how good that film was she's 2 for 2 with me - I'll gladly watch anything else she makes or has made. Showing Up was meaningful, humanistic, grounded and a really worthwhile film to become absorbed by.

Glad to catch this one - competed at Cannes for the prestigious Palme d'Or, and named one of the Top 10 Independent Films of the Year by the National Board of Review. It also won the Robert Altman Award at the 39th Independent Spirit Awards.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/SNFN5sGD/showing-up2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 428 (-22)

Next : The Vast of Night (2019)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Showing Up

Seen it twice. Better on 2nd viewing. Big fan of Kelly & Michelle.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/3x31G9ND/the-vast-of-night.jpg

THE VAST OF NIGHT (2019)

Directed by : Andrew Patterson

Something of a potent mixture - the 1950s, paranoia, Twilight Zone sci-fi imagination, strange noises, mysterious stories and two characters with a gift for fantabulous dialogue. Those characters are the hip, free-wheeling Everett Sloan (Jake Horowitz) and the resourceful, eager-to-learn Fay Crocker (Sierra McCormick) who work to get to the bottom of the strange events occurring in the small town of Cayuga in New Mexico one night. Sloan works at a local radio station, WOTW, and 16-year-old Crocker finds herself working the switchboard when strange noises send them on an odyssey into the vast of night - urged on by stories told to them by an ex-military man and an elderly woman whose son once disappeared without a trace. Are the Soviets about to launch an invasion, or is there some other peril looming in the sky - some unknowable thing beyond our comprehension, and something we're powerless to confront? Our two intrepid seekers are determined to follow the clues and find out what's going on - fearful the fact that most people have gathered together for a local basketball game makes them especially vulnerable to attack. They're off into "a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination."

There's an interesting framing device used in The Vast of Night - it makes everything that's happening an episode of a 'Twilight Zone'-type show on an old-style television, which transitions into a more modern colour image. Because the main body of the film feels more true-to-life than your average 50s/60s television show it means that there's this strange duality going on as we're constantly reminded that we're watching this 'show'. There's a tenuous connection being made between reality and our imagination, especially when that concerns solving mysteries. During one sequence when Everett and Fay talk, Fay mentions a bunch of articles she's read in science journals which postulate future life-changing inventions that will one day become the norm. With the benefit of hindsight, we know that none of them will actually come to pass - and that's pretty much a constant when it comes to predicting outcomes, despite our imagination. It alone can't provide answers - only investigation can. Imagination spurs us on and inspires us - and sometimes it's all about asking the right questions. Our imagination works hand-in-hand with our ability to inquire, test and observe reality.

The Vast of Night is a really well written sci-fi mystery - I was so impressed with the dialogue in this, which goes beyond drab necessity and adds a clever, inventive style all of it's own. Everett Sloan has an imaginative way with words, at times inventing his own smart twist when describing just about anything. Everett and and Fay are a lot of fun to listen to. In the meantime the period immersion feels very real - and that's one of the funny things about this being set up as an episode of a TV show, because it really doesn't feel like it is one. Instead it feels like that device is simply reminding us that this is a peek into our own imagination - into that dimension not only of sight and sound but mind. Remarkable, when you consider the assured direction in this that this is Andrew Patterson's first feature - leading a team that transformed Whitney, Texas into a period playground for a virtuoso audiovisual sci-fi odyssey. I also nearly forgot to mention how great the scene with old Mabel Blanche (Gail Cronauer) is - telling her strange story in monologue mode in a way that really gets under your skin, adding to the uneasy sense that this might be a mystery best left avoided by our determined duo. This was a movie good at getting under your skin - an imaginative sci-fi mystery out in 50s rural America where something may very well be out there.

Glad to catch this one - it's in Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and won/was nominated for dozens of international and domestic Film Festival and critics awards.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/NjcGmHB2/the-vast-of-night2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : Ponette (1996)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Vast of Night

[Takoma11]

You and I wrote very similar things about The Vast of Night. It took me two viewings to really click with it, but then I really enjoyed it.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/qqjWM97c/ponette.jpg

PONETTE (1996)

Directed by : Jacques Doillon

When I was little there was this kid who assured me that when a person died they were just taken to hospital and fixed - that death wasn't permanent. I knew that wasn't true, but still remember that age where death isn't clearly defined in the mind yet. Ponette is a very sad film dealing with the aftermath of a car crash which kills the mother of four-year-old Ponette (Victoire Thivisol), and leaves the little girl with a broken arm. Ponette struggles to understand the nature of her mother's death, and takes great pains to find out if there's a way to bring her back or, failing that, a way she can talk to her mother again. Along the way she encounters the religious beliefs of various people, and is confused by the various theories of her peers, who know even less about death than she does. Her grief affects the way she relates to the children around her, and forces her to confront a certain emptiness when it comes to the promise of prayer or assurances that her mother is "in heaven" and "happy" despite the fact that her broken body now lays in a coffin buried deep under the ground. What makes it all worse is the fact that all of her friends still have a mother - it seems unfair that she must bear this hardship when others don't.

When you hear about Ponette one factor about it is so extraordinary it will always be the first thing that's mentioned - the performance of young Victoire Thivisol, which is one of the most remarkable things you'll ever see in a film. I can't figure how Jacques Doillon managed to get that out of her, and I'd hate to think that little Victoire had to suffer by imagining that her mother had died. She won the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival - at a younger age where I was quite happy and proud with a Certificate of Achievement at school. Four years of age, and winner of Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival! The camera really kind of slips into the whole realm of childhood, and all of the kids seem quite natural - these aren't kids acting like pint-sized adults, but instead innocent young minds with ideas that resemble dream-logic. Ponette's little cousins have no time for grief, and instead feel aggrieved that Ponette doesn't want to play. From time to time adults invade this world, but most of the film takes place fully immersed in it. The camera sidles in closely, and the kids have an intimate relationship with it and each other.

Boy oh boy - okay, this one is a sad one. I used to get really upset when, as a child, I'd think to myself that one day my mother would die, and I'd have to say goodbye forever. If it happens when you're only 4-years-old, then it's truly heartbreaking and unfair. Little Ponette is so cute, but the poor little girl is the very image of sadness and loss, desperately searching for answers or a way to reconnect with her mother. Her father (Xavier Beauvois) is good with her, but typically absent, and so Ponette must subsist with her cousins and at a boarding school - which just seems to make her emptiness worse. Still, this is a very worthwhile film to see, because even though it's sad it gives a lot more to it's audience than it takes from them. You feel richer for having seen it. It imparts wisdom in that it gives you access to a world you ordinarily wouldn't be able to be a part of. Ponette is so well made that the journey into that world is magical, and almost transcendental. You see grief from a perspective that's totally unfamiliar, while at the same time being easy to understand, and very much a part of who we all are. In a way, we spend our entire lives doing what little Ponette does - trying to come to terms with what it all means once we've lost what made us whole.

Glad to catch this one - this won 4 awards at the Venice Film Festival, including the FIPRESCI Prize, along with various other international film festival awards.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/RFCCGdmb/ponette2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Ponette

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/HnMxYbWC/the-emperor-s-naked-army-marches-on.jpg

THE EMPEROR'S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON (1987)

Directed by : Kazuo Hara

Kenzō Okuzaki is not okay. There are parts of The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On that underline that, and add exclamation marks, but we see immediately that this man is not okay. What he wants to say is written clearly, all over the car he drives - and he didn't have enough space, which means he had to add placards to the car's roof. In fact, not even that was enough, because he shouts through a microphone at the police who try to stop him doing the latest crazy thing he's up to - words of nihilist rage, anti-establishment fury and general pique fly from his lips. Kenzō Okuzaki has spent 10 years in solitary confinement, because in the past he's gone a little too far when losing his temper, killing a man in 1956 - and showing no remorse for having done so. He wasn't okay then, and he's not okay now - but instead of just filming Okuzaki generally causing trouble, and hoping for the day when people follow him as a particularly unstable leader, director Kazuo Hara suggests that Okuzaki channel his energies into exploring his painful past. Who knows how cathartic that may be - and so we join filmmaker and subject on a journey back in time to the horror of the 2nd Company, 36th Independent Engineering Regiment in New Guinea during the Second World War. Some wounds never heal.

Kenzō Okuzaki visits relatives of long lost brother soldiers who died bad deaths in the jungle, where there were many different ways to die. Even though 40 years have gone by - more - the pain is still so evident, and it's hard to watch the grieving. But let us not forget also - Kenzō Okuzaki is not okay. His mission is to talk to the officers who were in his regiment, and try to get to the bottom of an injustice that still bothers him. The execution of two privates that cruelly came weeks after the war had officially ended - for reasons that aren't completely clear, but could possibly have something to do with either desertion or cannibalism. Like a tabloid journalist Okuzaki likes to surprise these men at home without any prior notice that he's coming - and he (most probably correctly) assumes that if he were to call beforehand these guys would either refuse to see him or not even be there by the time he showed up. These men, troubled themselves, and with guilt written all over their faces, make facile, pathetic excuses, pass blame, deny they were even there and tell unlikely, constantly changing stories. So, when Okuzaki has had enough, he physically attacks them. This man's assaults complicate an already dark issue - but it also makes the trauma stand out. Some wounds never heal.

It's impossible to walk in Okuzaki's shoes. The 2nd Company, 36th Independent Engineering Regiment, like many in the Pacific, had been abandoned by a navy that had been virtually wiped out, and ordered to fight to the last man. With no supplies, they all eventually began to starve to death and along with madness, cannibalism took hold. These painful occurrances come up in a halting, uncomfortable manner in this documentary - truly there were things that happened that are too frightful to even remember, or say out loud. Kenzō Okuzaki went through this (he returned to New Guinea with this film crew, but Indonesia confiscated the footage) and will obviously never be over it. He's tried to attack the emperor, and served time for that. He brutally assaults a poor, old, sick man as we watch on in horror. By the time Kazuo Hara was getting near to completing the filming, Okuzaki asked him if he'd like to film him as he murders one of these ex-officers. Hara refused, but Okuzaki went anyway, intending to shoot his target dead. The target wasn't home, so Okuzaki shot his son instead. I feel for all the victims here, of which there are so many - everyone seems a victim in my eyes, with memories so troubled that I doubt any of these survivors felt any peace until the day they died. Such a strange, sad, and mad documentary.

Glad to catch this one - this documentary won awards at the following festivals : Berlin, Blue Ribbon, Kinema Junpo, Mainichi, Rotterdam and Yokohama.

4

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Watchlist Count : 426 (-24)

Next : The Murderers Are Among Us (1946)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On

[Stirchley]

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PONETTE (1996)

Directed by : Jacques Doillon

When I was little there was this kid who assured me that when a person died they were just taken to hospital and fixed - that death wasn't permanent. I knew that wasn't true, but still remember that age where death isn't clearly defined in the mind yet. Ponette is a very sad film dealing with the aftermath of a car crash which kills the mother of four-year-old Ponette (Victoire Thivisol), and leaves the little girl with a broken arm. Ponette struggles to understand the nature of her mother's death, and takes great pains to find out if there's a way to bring her back or, failing that, a way she can talk to her mother again. Along the way she encounters the religious beliefs of various people, and is confused by the various theories of her peers, who know even less about death than she does. Her grief affects the way she relates to the children around her, and forces her to confront a certain emptiness when it comes to the promise of prayer or assurances that her mother is "in heaven" and "happy" despite the fact that her broken body now lays in a coffin buried deep under the ground. What makes it all worse is the fact that all of her friends still have a mother - it seems unfair that she must bear this hardship when others don't.

When you hear about Ponette one factor about it is so extraordinary it will always be the first thing that's mentioned - the performance of young Victoire Thivisol, which is one of the most remarkable things you'll ever see in a film. I can't figure how Jacques Doillon managed to get that out of her, and I'd hate to think that little Victoire had to suffer by imagining that her mother had died. She won the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival - at a younger age where I was quite happy and proud with a Certificate of Achievement at school. Four years of age, and winner of Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival! The camera really kind of slips into the whole realm of childhood, and all of the kids seem quite natural - these aren't kids acting like pint-sized adults, but instead innocent young minds with ideas that resemble dream-logic. Ponette's little cousins have no time for grief, and instead feel aggrieved that Ponette doesn't want to play. From time to time adults invade this world, but most of the film takes place fully immersed in it. The camera sidles in closely, and the kids have an intimate relationship with it and each other.

Boy oh boy - okay, this one is a sad one. I used to get really upset when, as a child, I'd think to myself that one day my mother would die, and I'd have to say goodbye forever. If it happens when you're only 4-years-old, then it's truly heartbreaking and unfair. Little Ponette is so cute, but the poor little girl is the very image of sadness and loss, desperately searching for answers or a way to reconnect with her mother. Her father (Xavier Beauvois) is good with her, but typically absent, and so Ponette must subsist with her cousins and at a boarding school - which just seems to make her emptiness worse. Still, this is a very worthwhile film to see, because even though it's sad it gives a lot more to it's audience than it takes from them. You feel richer for having seen it. It imparts wisdom in that it gives you access to a world you ordinarily wouldn't be able to be a part of. Ponette is so well made that the journey into that world is magical, and almost transcendental. You see grief from a perspective that's totally unfamiliar, while at the same time being easy to understand, and very much a part of who we all are. In a way, we spend our entire lives doing what little Ponette does - trying to come to terms with what it all means once we've lost what made us whole.

Glad to catch this one - this won 4 awards at the Venice Film Festival, including the FIPRESCI Prize, along with various other international film festival awards.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/RFCCGdmb/ponette2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Ponette

Excellent movie.

[PHOENIX74]

SEPTEMBER RUN-THROUGH

I tried to pick up the pace in September, and that led to me adding another 21 movie reviews to the pile I've stacked up this year. That pile, as it turns out, is now at 213 movies watched and reviewed for this thread. I can't really remember how sure I was that I'd make it this far, but I think I was pretty confidant. I was really excited to be tackling my watchlist, and since I've had such a great time doing it I'm still excited pressing on into the future. No matter how strict I am adding movies to this watchlist (there are no "maybes" placed there - only movies I must see) it seems to keep pace with what I watch. Honestly - I did not know there were so many movies out there that I'd find so enjoyable. The ratio of good to bad so highly favours the good that it's kept me going stamina-wise, and my horizons have been broadened.

BEST OF THE BUNCH

The standards for September are extremely high! I could have had 5 movies up here in this category - each one of them brilliant - but instead I'll put forward the absolute masterpiece, and give those other amazing films a place in the second category. I need to watch more Wong Kar-wai movies, and rewatch the ones I've already seen - they're absolutely sublime, and speak directly to me in an emotional and spiritual manner. Beautiful, and soulfully elevating.

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BEST OF THE REST

Yeah, in previous months I think any of these could have been in the above category, but I felt it would have made that "best of the best" section too crowded. These are the films that I also felt were incredible, amazing and far beyond what I was even expecting.

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Honorable mentions have to go to Jeremiah Johnson, The Blue Caftan, Showing Up, The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On, The Vast of Night, Two Men in Town (1973), ...And Justice For All, Godland and Arrebato - all of which I enjoyed immensely. Can't wait to get right back into it October-wise, and for the rest of the year - and probably next year as well. Who knows how long I'll be compelled to do this for - I honestly thought I'd have chopped my watchlist in half by now - and I know I mention this a lot, but I'm amazed at how the new additions I make to it keep pace. So many great recommendations come my way - so for those I'm especially thankful. Keep 'em coming, and keep up the good work on these messageboards as far as writing about what you watch goes - I never tire of hearing people excited about a newest cinematic discovery.

[PHOENIX74]

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THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US (1946)

Directed by : Wolfgang Staudte

The pain is visceral - nobody could say Germany hadn't suffered for what the ignoble had caused, which was in effect a catastrophe unparalleled in all of human history. Millions, many millions had been murdered, and what faced the survivors wasn't only a spiritual reckoning, but the rebuilding of an entire nation. The Murderers Are Among Us takes place in the rubble of Berlin, where Susanne Wallner (Hildegard Knef) returns from a concentration camp to her semi-intact apartment. There she finds a squatter - Dr. Hans Mertens (Ernst Wilhelm Borchert) - who is in a state of despair and instead of throwing him out she makes the determination that he's to stay. Survivors should stick together. Hans retains in his memory, however, events that have a suffocating hold on him, and lead him to an old comrade - Ferdinand Brückner (Arno Paulsen), once he finds out that he has survived the war. Brückner, a killer of innocent women and children, is suffering from little guilt or trauma, and is already reaping the financial benefits from his rapid pivot from pulling off massacres to pulling off business deals. Can Dr. Mertens forget the past and forge a new future with Susanne, or will he give in to his impulse to deliver justice on behalf of his tortured soul?

Turns out the spectacular destruction of a German city gives a film crew many opportunities for interestingly devised shots. Over and over again while watching The Murderers Are Among Us, it's easy to be impressed by the inventiveness on display - and it's sure surreal to be a Berliner at this time in history, where a walk down the street means you have to climb piles of rubble, and meet people who pop out from virtual holes in the ground. It's easy to project despair, crookedness, shattered dreams, destroyed hopes, discomfort and darkness when you can shoot through shattered windows. It must have been useful to play with light and darkness too, and I liked the ultra close-ups on Ernst Wilhelm Borchert's face during his torment while we hear the recent past - the Horst Wessel Lied and screaming. On the other side, Susanne Wallner is the hope of this story, in a steadily brightening apartment she works at making a home of. The shot of Susanne and Hans walking through a ruined street, with what looks like a great deal of careful lighting that accentuates the crumbling facades, should be an iconic shot that's more well known in cinematic circles. The unusual angles of some shots add to the sense that this is an expressionistic film aided by the fact that the surroundings it has been shot in have been rendered such by chance.

The Murderers Are Among Us is famous for being the first German film made after the end of the Second World War - and I'm kind of blown away by the fact that there's so much artistry and complexity to such an effort. There's a scene that offers redemption not only for the character of Hans Mertens, but Germany as a whole when he forgoes an attempt at murder to instead save the life of a German girl amongst the ruins. The girl's mother, wishing to thank the doctor somehow, simply tells him how glad she is. "I'll let you in on a secret," Mertens says, "I am too." There has to be some hope, because the reckoning is only just beginning for the German nation. While Mertens is performing an emergency surgical procedure on the girl, the war criminal, Brückner, is carousing with girls and drinking in a bar. No matter how obvious the discrepancy though, it doesn't feel heavy-handed. I've learned enough about post-war Germany to realise the issue was real, and that The Murderers Are Among Us does capture a moment in time unique in world history. A nation remaking itself from the ground up. Nothing needed to be faked or exaggerated, and there's a grim sense of fascination I have regarding how people survived this terrible situation after years of Hitler's rule.

Glad to catch this one - the first and a great example of " Trümmerfilm" (rubble films), another of which is Rossellini's Germany Year Zero. Bulgarian director Angel Wagenstein said that the film "...renewed our faith in a nation capable of self-reflection, of looking into the mirror and acknowledging its own guilt, of making a confession that very few nations would be able to make.”

4

https://i.postimg.cc/Ghk3vzbx/the-murderers-are-among-us.jpg

Watchlist Count : 434 (-16)

Next : Poison for the Fairies (Veneno para las hadas) (1986)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Murderers Are Among Us

[Takoma11]

The pain is visceral - nobody could say Germany hadn't suffered for what the ignoble had caused, which was in effect a catastrophe unparalleled in all of human history. Millions, many millions had been murdered, and what faced the survivors wasn't only a spiritual reckoning, but the rebuilding of an entire nation.

I really loved this film. Here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2393327-the_murderers_are_among_us.html)'s the review I wrote up last year.

I'm sure you've seen Cranes Are Flying (maybe even in the same HoF where I saw it?), and this one made me think a bit of that one.

[PHOENIX74]

I really loved this film. Here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2393327-the_murderers_are_among_us.html)'s the review I wrote up last year.

I'm sure you've seen Cranes Are Flying (maybe even in the same HoF where I saw it?), and this one made me think a bit of that one.

The Cranes Are Flying is a good one. I think I saw it when I went through the Foreign Language countdown films, and have it on Criterion now. Looking at when that HoF took place, I watched it around the same time coincidentally, but that was just prior to when I first discovered the HoFs and started participating in them.

[PHOENIX74]

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POISON FOR THE FAIRIES (1986)
(Veneno para las hadas)

Directed by : Carlos Enrique Taboada

Don't worry about witches, goblins, fairies, zombies or the devil - we cause enough trouble for ourselves without the need for the boogeyman to be hiding underneath our bed at night. Poison For the Fairies is basically about a toxic friendship between two 10-year-old girls, Verónica (Ana Patricia Rojo) and Flavia (Elsa María Gutiérrez). Flavia is the new girl at school, and comes from a wealthy family - she's easily influenced and skittish. Verónica is the odd bird of the class - she collects insects, and is right into anything that evokes witchcraft, Satanism and horror. She influences Flavia, and when piano lessons get in the way of their friendship she tells her she can cast a spell to free her from a part of her life Flavia hates. When it appears that the spell works, and Flavia starts having terrible nightmares, Verónica takes advantage of the power her friend thinks she has. It's a dynamic that leads to more and more bad behaviour, which in turn sets the stage for real horror to rear it's ugly head. This is a friendship that is always giving the viewer a bad feeling, with jealousy and resentment being as much of a foundation as shared interests. Verónica is domineering, and instead of comforting Flavia when something bad happens, she takes advantage.

I thought this was a great movie. We've all come across these personality types in our lives, but children have little experience of the world, and are at the mercy of circumstance sometimes. So, we must simply watch on - director Carlos Enrique Taboada seals the audience in Flavia and Verónica's world by not even having the camera see anything above shoulder height adult-wise when it comes to Flavia's parents. It's maddening not being able to guide these kids, and having to watch on as they build a friendship a little too focused on Verónica's need to scare Flavia, and in turn see what she can take from her. This is a movie that reminds us children are still learning about the world around them, and as such are easily led astray. Verónica herself has been gifted her specific frame of mind by her nanny, who reads her stories that focus on witchcraft and horror - and it doesn't help at all that her home feels dysfunctional, with the only other person we know is there her deformed and invalid grandmother - lost in her own dark world. It makes sense that Verónica envies Flavia, and it also makes sense that Flavia is a little afraid and in awe of Verónica, who seems to be living with witch-like adults instead of cozy, no-nonsense parents.

I don't know if it's great acting or great casting (probably both), but Ana Patricia Rojo looks like a spoiled brat, and Elsa María Gutiérrez simply looks like a nice little girl. I've seen those looks smug self-satisfaction in people used to getting their own way - the kind that's a bully one minute and then when adults walk into a room pretend to be suspiciously nice and friendly. Carlos Enrique Taboada takes the situation of the dominant and submissive here and takes it to a place where the audience is on edge, twisting things in such a way that we can't imagine a catharsis that isn't going to be tragic and horrific. I thought the writing and direction was perfect for this kind of film - one which includes frequent nods to the genre, and maintains a fantasy vibe which often alludes to the witchcraft Verónica is so obsessed with. Spells are cast and operate in the subconscious, where dark magic really does it's work. I really loved this movie, and was blown away by the ending - what a great pair of child actresses as well! Oh, and well done to Ana Patricia Rojo for what looks like handling a really, really big spider. I shuddered at the thought of that.

Glad to catch this one - this was nominated for 10 Ariel Awards (Mexico's Oscars) and ended up winning 5, for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Score.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/kXWhBtYY/poison-for-the-fairies2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : The Cremator (1969)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Poison For the Fairies

[Takoma11]

I also thought very highly of Poison for the Fairies. Have you seen Darker Than Night by the same director? I liked it about as much.

[PHOENIX74]

I also thought very highly of Poison for the Fairies. Have you seen Darker Than Night by the same director? I liked it about as much.

I've got Darker Than Night on my watchlist already, and since I liked Poison for the Fairies so much I've ordered a Carlos Enrique Taboada DVD compilation with both movies on it.

[Wyldesyde19]

I preferred Poison for the fairies by a large margin.

[PHOENIX74]

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THE CREMATOR (1969)
(Spalovač mrtvol)

Directed by : Juraj Herz

The Cremator is about a terrible man - Karel Kopfrkingl (Rudolf Hrušínský) - the very definition of the "banality of evil". He runs a crematorium in Prague during the late 1930s, just as Hitler's Germany is on the verge of occupying the Sudetenland and then Czechoslovakia. A talkative fellow, who at times breaks the 4th wall to talk to us, he espouses his views on just about everything - especially death, as it relates to his profession. He sees death as a mercy for those who have a lot of suffering in front of them, and is a firm believer in reincarnation - one of his most prized possessions a Tibetan book on the subject. He speaks with conviction, but without passion. He's not an unhappy man, but he's completely joyless. When the Nazis come looking for a collaborator, he has to be persuaded - but once onboard Karel Kopfrkingl is the perfect conformist, adapting his own ideas to a future that will deal with murder and cremation on an ever-increasing basis. This all unfolds in a dizzying fashion via an inventive combination of fish-eye lens cinematography, rapid editing and a haunting, operatic score.

This is the kind of man that finds himself at home when it comes to the macabre, which is something we return to over and over in The Cremator - talk of disease, physiological oddities, being buried alive, death and killing abounds during Karel's soliloquies, and he delights in the grotesqueries on display at carnivals. In his mind, though, he's the epitome of benevolence, and eventually turns into what he sees as an angel of mercy. Juraj Herz uses a fish-eye lens on the camera to accentuate this man's inner deformity in an external fashion - Rudolf Hrušínský comes off a little like Peter Lorre at his most villainous, sounding and looking immediately suspicious, which creates a little dissonance when you listen to him speak. You could easily be lulled into agreeing with whatever this man says, and get slowly led down a garden path until you realise where exactly you are. It feels almost like he's had to rationalize what he does to the point of making it beautiful and almost heroic - burning corpses is to this man pure transcendence and glory. He's freeing spirits, and hastening the perfect cycle of "ashes to ashes". Nothing could be more spiritually uplifting.

This film is chilling. There's a sense that Juraj Herz and Ladislav F uks (who helped to adapt his novel ) is hitting the nail directly on the head, as I imagine what we hear in this movie is the inner monologue that many Nazis who convinced themselves they were doing good work repeated to themselves. There's nothing crazy or hateful in it - and murder suddenly becomes the alleviating of future suffering, and the transference of a soul to a better home. Supporting all of this is an extraordinarily dark strain of comedy throughout - which seems almost a necessity considering the peculiarities of the Nazis and the need for some kind of release from the wrenching despair of this subject. I'd say all-up The Cremator is in the running as far as being considered the best repudiation of Hitler and his ideals in cinematic form goes. I think Karel Kopfrkingl is obviously modelled on him, and his descent into madness (at one stage he believes he's the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama) mirrors Hitler's messianic image of himself. All-up, I think this movie evocatively highlights the power movies have to demystify and undress the horrors of murderous states - a testament to it's greatness.

Glad to catch this one - Criterion #1023, and winner of Best Film, Best Actor (Rudolf Hrušínský) and Best Cinematography at the Catalonian International Film Festival.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/9QWPf9Jy/the-cremator2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 433 (-17)

Next : The Manitou (1978)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Cremator

[PHOENIX74]

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THE MANITOU (1978)

Directed by : William Girdler

I swear there are an infinite supply of films made from the late 70s to the early 80s that share similar characteristics with The Manitou. They all involve some kind of mythology from an exotic civilization, an artifact or curse, one or two really big-name actors, and a need to really amp up the craziness during the movie's climax. These are modest-budget horror/supernatural movies that have many a poorer cousin (these without the big name star) that kept video shop shelves stuffed throughout the format's peak. For those who are in it for the fun the madness brings won't be disappointed by The Manitou, which is a rollicking good time for those who don't want to take a movie too seriously. Tony Curtis heads the bill - a little past his prime (he'd appear in the notorious Sextette the same year) and long separated from the caliber of movie he'd appear in during his heyday in decades past. He plays Harry Erskine a theatrical tarot card reader with a friend, Karen Tandy (Susan Strasberg), who has a tumor-like growth on her neck. This growth is soon identified as a foetus, which is turn is identified as a 400-year-old medicine man who is reincarnating himself via folk magic. Enter John Singing Rock (Michael Ansara) to help fight a battle for the ages.

I must confess to having a soft spot for these late 70s supernatural horror movies (those who like The Manitou should really check out The Medusa Touch, a Hammer Horror-like production which came out the same year.) Here you literally get fire and ice - along with laser beams, explosions, earthquakes, cosmic infinity, lizard demons and a lot more. There's one scene, where Harry is tarot reading for an elderly client that had a real The Producers vibe to it, and when this old lady is attacked by the demonic force now attached to Harry, her fit and mania is played with one foot firmly in the supernatural horror arena, and the other planted way over in wacky comedy territory. This weird dichotomy is only broken when the old lady takes off floating out the door and down the corridor before being violently launched down a flight of stairs - destroying the bannister on the way. She may be dead, and Harry may have been in some kind of trouble - but the incident is barely mentioned again, so apparently nothing much happened there. Later on, Burgess Meredith turns up as a Native American scholar, Dr. Snow, to generally help explain the folklore this film is basing itself on - a day's filming, but a welcome face to see all the same.

We all need a movie like The Manitou from time to time - out of this world while not taking itself too seriously, it keeps it's audience entertained throughout. Tony Curtis doesn't look at all like he's unhappy being in a movie of this sort, and as such gives a really generous amount of energy to his role and the audience. He was having a good time it seems. Influences abound from The Exorcist to 2001 : A Space Odyssey and there's one shot of a frozen nurse's severed head flying through the air that seemingly aspires to greatness - and even though this is more supernatural than horror, the latter gets enough of it's due to stamp some authority on the film. Every now and then something a little absurd pokes it's head up (the medicine man hoping to contain the entity must draw a circle around Karen's bed, but he ends up stopping short when he reaches the hospital wall! Good enough I guess) but that's all a part of The Manitou's charm. It might be ridiculous, but I'd say that a copy of The Manitou would be a welcome addition to my movie collection, and hope that there's a really nice boutique version on Blu-Ray for me to buy one day. It's a hoot - no doubt.

Glad to catch this one - William Girdler's last film before dying in a helicopter crash in Indonesia while scouting for his next film.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/br9Tbdvd/the-manitou2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 432 (-18)

Next : The Hands of Orlac (1924)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Manitou

[Takoma11]

I enjoyed The Manitou for the most part. Here (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2394200-the_manitou.html)'s what I wrote about it.

I think it's really imaginative and perfect October movie.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqfjXH6m/the-hands-of-orlac.jpg

THE HANDS OF ORLAC (1924)

Directed by : Robert Wiene

I took a journey back in time last night - 100 years since audiences first viewed Robert Wiene's The Hands of Orlac. It's not my usual kind of movie-watching, watching these silent films, so I do feel a little removed from what I'm watching. The cinematic language is different, performances are far more theatrical, and I think I picked the wrong version music-wise. I can't put myself "in" the movie, because everything looks too different from reality. Other than that though, there are some surprisingly awesome sights to behold and I was shamefully caught unawares by the twist the narrative had in store for me when the film was ending. The story is that of a concert pianist, Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt), who is badly injured in a train crash and loses his hands. A sympathetic surgeon transplants the hands from a recently executed murderer, and when Orlac finds out he now has the hands of a murderer his revulsion overcomes him - but that's the least of his troubles as it seems these hands have a mind of their own, and are committing crimes of their own volition while Orlac is unaware. In the meantime, debts are mounting and Orlac's marriage to his once-devoted wife Yvonne (Alexandra Sorina) suffers.

Getting the worst out of the way - I sorely wished throughout the whole film that Conrad Veidt could dial down his performance just a little, from time to time. I know, though, that this isn't something specific to The Hands of Orlac - theatricality and forceful expression is a staple of silent cinema, and as such all performances are exaggerated. For Veidt that seems doubly so, as his horror produces a consistent series of wide-eyed, trembling attacks of overstated and excessive terror. Now, I'm not saying they never should have been a part of his performance - I'm saying that they shouldn't have happened as often as they did (basically, constantly once he found out he had a murderer's hands.) The only other large problem I had was that the intertitles tended to stick around for too long (I'd have liked their time onscreen halved), and that slowed the pace of everything too much - the narrative and pace are already slow as things are. I watched the film on YouTube, and the music I got grated (I should have done what I kind of felt compelled to do, and found another version or just turned the sound off altogether.) All that said, the film looks amazing for it's time period (I was kind of expecting more expressionism - but I was fine with that being dialed back), and some sequences - like the train crash - were far beyond what I would have been expecting from a film in 1924. That whole sequence after the train crash was pretty amazing.

My biggest surprise came from various rug-pulls that caught me napping - it's not often I'm genuinely surprised by a silent film's story, but in this case everything fit together in a really remarkable and satisfying way. Different threads are weaved, one of which has Yvonne's maid, Regine (Carmen Cartellieri) conspiring with a stranger (Fritz Kortner) in a plot that targets Paul and Yvonne, and the other involving Yvonne having to approach Paul's cruel father to plead for financial assistance. There are some really neat dream sequences, and the version I watched had the German writing in letters and newspaper articles dissolve into English (in a way that makes me think this is a recent revision.) So, overall, a pretty wild and crazy story. The world's first ever successful hand transplant was performed in 1998, which always makes me wonder how storytellers can just have this happen as if hand transplants are everyday medical procedures. It's no less ridiculous than Oliver Stone's 1981 movie The Hand however, that has Michael Caine's severed appendage crawling around doing it's own thing. I thought there was a lot about The Hand of Orlac that was outstanding, and only it's age and a handful of issues stopped me from absolutely loving it.

Glad to catch this one - fully restored to it's original length in 1995, once all the footage had been found. One of the most critically acclaimed Austrian-produced films.

3.5

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Watchlist Count : 431 (-19)

Next : Leila’s Brothers (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Hands of Orlac

[SpelingError]

I'd give The Hands of Orlac at least an extra point, personally. It's a great example of a film carried by its various twists, and plot twists are hard to get right. I also didn't mind the acting.

[PHOENIX74]

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LEILA'S BROTHERS (2022)

Directed by : Saeed Roustaee

There's something about Iranian films that rouse me, and get my passions all stirred up. Leila's Brothers, a wonderful recent cinematic beauty from Saeed Roustaee, did more than just that, because it delivers on various different levels. I'd never seen a movie from Iran that can be as funny as this one can, but there's of course plenty of heartbreak to finally drive home an intimate family portrait of life in Iran in an era after Donald Trump scraps their Nuclear deal with the United States and sanctions are reimposed. Leila Jourablou (Taraneh Alidoosti) is a middle-aged woman looking after a family of particularly low achievers. Her father Esmail (Saeed Poursamimi), craves a high standing with respect to the larger extended family, at great financial cost. Her brothers are mostly either unemployed or barely scraping by, but she hatches a plan with Alireza (Navid Mohammadzadeh) - the most intelligent brother - which involves the whole family pooling their resources together to buy a shop in a busy shopping district, so they can be lifted out of poverty. Esmail has other ideas however, and is determined to give everything away as a wedding present so he can officially become the "patriarch" of the wider clan. Poor decision making on all fronts see them all lurch from one disaster to the next - with growing fractures threatening to tear this brood apart. In the meantime, Iran's economic situation starts to bite.

I loved this movie - all 164 minutes of it. Luckily, the pace and explosive narrative surprises are so engrossing that the considerable length isn't felt all that much - at least it wasn't for me personally. Leila's Brothers takes it's time to warm up, but the temperature keeps on rising until all is a raging fire and shockwaves are felt on levels that equate to how intimately we get to know the Jourablou family. The cinematography was fantastic, and rises a level during the wedding sequence which seems to aim for lofty heights - a very nice set piece which also proves to be a crux moment in this compelling story. The screenplay was full of subtle humour, and all of the younger actors were very well equipped for high farce and wry one-liners. I've never laughed as much at an Iranian film before - and at one stage I was starting to think that this was a comedy, but at a certain stage this darkens considerably and so like seasons we drift in and out of different moods and tones. Despite being the driving force behind the family, there's so much Leila can't actually do, being a woman in Iran. The bumbling force doing the actual work are her less savvy and more accident prone brothers, who always act on the rather bad ideas they have instead. This goes for her father as well. Cultural differences to what I'm used to show up in this film to a large degree.

Put this movie in your watchlist if you at all like Iran's distinct cinematic style and output. It was a tonic for me, and connected with me emotionally - this during a week when it seems like so many films have been trying so hard to do just that, and failing. I really felt stinging sadness, sorrow, and the warm glow of family - because these characters have close familial bonds which might be lacking in some cultures these days. I felt a great number of sentiments - searching my own experience and feeling every raw, almost terrifying moment when it seems like something has happened that can never be taken back. You experience the resounding shock when a lie is exposed, and freeze like most of the characters do when a culturally forbidden slap occurs. You stare, unable to look away when humiliation and betrayal are heaped on one person, but understand the motivations behind it. Leila's Brothers sets up a shocking clash between culture and economic necessity that leads and leaves people in the unenviable position of having to make impossible decisions. It all adds up to a really powerful drama that gives you an experience - that of what family means to average, everyday Iranians, and what it takes these days for a family to survive. Great stuff.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, it ended up winning the FIPRESCI Prize and Citizenship Prize for Saeed Roustayi.

4.5

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Watchlist Count : 431 (-19)

Next : Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Leila's Brothers

[Takoma11]

Oh, I did not care for Brawl in Cell Block 99 all that much. I initially gave it a 3.5, but my opinion has declined a bit since first watching it. Interested to hear your thoughts on it.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/YSBfqF4w/brawl-in-cell-block-99.webp

BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 (2017)

Directed by : S. Craig Zahler

Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a lot of dumb fun, which is why it's a shame that it decides that, like it or not, it's going to be offensive at various moments throughout. It did go on to prove though, that I don't necessarily have to like any characters for me to enjoy a wacky film like this. Vince Vaughn plays Bradley Thomas who, due to the economic times, decides that smuggling meth into the United States is the only way he and wife Lauren (Jennifer Carpenter) can afford nice things. Cue a ridiculous metaphor involving jars of cream, milk and milk substitute. Bradley beats up his wife's car instead of his wife when she cheats on him so that's perfectly okay (?) but I don't like Bradley, at all - too bad then, because he's our "morally complex" hero in this film. He goes to prison for meth-related reasons, but he does so in a heroic manner, saving the cops from a couple of the real villains and monsters in Cell Block 99's universe - Mexicans. Mexicans won't be the only ones our meth dealer hero has to contend with - he also has the face the likes of evil abortionists and an unfair justice system. So okay, I now know which audience will fully embrace Brawl in Cell Block 99 as an instant classic. Funny thing is, apart from constantly making me frown it also made me smile, because this is a very entertaining, fun, gory and violent movie.

Once Bradley Thomas gets to the titular "Cell Block 99" all restraints are let loose and this becomes one of the craziest prison films I've ever seen. This cell block is the worst cell block, which happens to be in the worst prison you could ever imagine anywhere. We've seen him graduate from a comparatively nice one, on and on, because of a plot contrivance introduced to the film via none other than Udo Kier - and I love Udo Kier, so the film was scoring points with me despite my feelings against it. Thomas has to make his way through prison guards, prisoners, and - worst of the worst - Mexicans - until he faces up against Warden Tuggs (Don Johnson), and treatment that would make members of the SS and Gestapo blush. This institution - Redleaf - has a literal torture chamber in it! The cells actually look like they belong in the Middle Ages, and wouldn't be out of place if this film was set in a castle's dungeons during a break in the Crusades. Everything ratchets up, and that includes the violence - which up until now has been bone-breakingly severe and rough as it is. During the climax of Brawl in Cell Block 99 the gore reaches "over the top" levels, and it stands to reason - everything else has also. I found myself having fun during the film's closing stretch, so I can see why it's popular.

Vince Vaughn plays Bradley Thomas in a very straight manner - aloof, serious, protective, principled, adept at just about anything - but especially mechanics, fighting and smuggling drugs. He cracks the odd sly joke, but his demeanor never deviates from a determined kind of seriousness. He's straightforward. He loves his wife, and he loves his country. He shows his emotion by breaking things. Where many people might cry, his method is destruction. He doesn't flinch when he's pistol-whipped in the face. Look - this film is dumb in many departments. It seems to think that the worst thing about meth is "meth mouth", and that a 7-year sentence for smuggling the destructive narcotic is unfair (our flawed hero is promised 5.) But Redleaf - from it's theatrical warden to it's torture devices (belts that deliver electric shocks) and cells with toilets overflowing with faeces - unleashes so much madness that all of the subtle misogyny, racism, lack of moral compass and extremism melts into a goo so remarkable that you can't help but point at it and go "look at that! It's horrible but also somehow beautiful." The villains are so evil that you want them to be mangled by the guy who is a little less evil than they are. The prison is so ridiculous you no longer take anything about this film seriously. Thank goodness, because some of this film is seriously messed up. I disliked a lot of things about this movie, but I'd definitely watch it again - despite the fact that it'd often annoy and bother me, I can look past that when something is this entertaining.

Glad to catch this one - it was named as one of the year's best films by publications such as the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The A.V. Club.

3.5

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Watchlist Count : 430 (-20)

Next : The American Friend (1977)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Brawl in Cell Block 99

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/HnDYndM9/the-american-friend.jpg

THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977)

Directed by : Wim Wenders

It didn't much matter that I'd already seen Liliana Cavani's 2002 adaptation of the same source novel, Ripley's Game, because this really seemed like a different take on the same story. That mainly happens because of what occurs when a maverick like Dennis Hopper takes a role like that of Tom Ripley and runs wild with it. Hopper's Ripley is something of a free spirit and a searcher. When he's hurt by a harsh comment Jonathan Zimmermann (Bruno Ganz) doles out, it's not because of excessive pride or a certain self-image that's being maintained, it's simply because Hopper's Ripley is sensitive and surprisingly introspective. I like it this way, because for me it makes more sense that this Ripley would suddenly pivot and become a guardian angel as opposed to an avenging one. I've read that Patricia Highsmith loathed this new interpretation of Ripley at first, but eventually came to accept it - and why not? It forms the basis of a great adaptation - a better one than the 2002 version. In a strange way, Jonathan Zimmermann seems more of a mystery in this film than Ripley does - a man wrestling with the idea of his own mortality.

Zimmermann's mortality comes to bear early in the film when his doctor lets the cat out of the bag, and through a slighted Ripley is targeted by gangster Raoul Minot (Gérard Blain) in an effort to get him to kill a rival for a large sum of money - something that would help his family when he's gone. Zimmermann becomes an unlikely assassin, but in the meantime Ripley has been becoming his unlikely friend and it's the intersection of plans and relationships that lead to the crux of the film. In the meantime Zimmermann's wife Marianne (Lisa Kreuzer) is left on the outer, frustrated by the wall of silence her husband maintains once she realises something big is going down. The film features two assassination scenes that you really want to watch fully focused and uninterrupted - the epitome of drawn out tension with an increasing sense of fear and desperation that's like a kettle coming to the boil. Wim Wenders proves that he's masterful when it comes to suspense here, and I have to say that the movie is worth watching just for those two wild segments that had me on the absolute edge of my seat. There's nothing as frightening as watching a protagonist you care about having to commit murder for the first time in his life, with his anxiety a factor you think will surely bring him undone.

Yep - I loved The American Friend. Bruno Ganz and Dennis Hopper have a really surprising chemistry that gifts the film the beating heart it needs - you believe in a friendship that has to develop in a limited number of scenes. I can't tell you the number of times I haven't believed in a friendship that suddenly develops out of nowhere in a movie - but here I can't question it. Two great performances. If I praise the film for having a real feel for the 70s, don't worry - I realise the movie was actually made in the 1970s, but there was simply something about the pre-digital, gadget-free age that took me back to my very early life. I had a fascination with trains as a youngster - and perhaps that's where I'm making the personal connection, because a lot of The American Friend revolves around train journeys and platforms. This reminded me of a Hitchcock film, but with a much more muted palate and a grounding in everyday ordinariness that's offset by Ripley's fantastical world. A really mature film for a 32-year-old to be making, and one that I admire one hell of a lot. Simply a marvellous creation that I'm glad I got to finally see after it being recommended for so long.

Glad to catch this one - Criterion #793 and in Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. This was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film by the U.S. National Board of Review.

4.5

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Watchlist Count : 430 (-20)

Next : The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The American Friend

[SpelingError]

Next : The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

You're in for a treat with that one.

[SpelingError]

The American Friend is also very good. Wenders has yet to disappoint me.

[Takoma11]

The American Friend is very good.

If you've never read Patricia Highsmith's Ripley books, I highly recommend them.

[PHOENIX74]

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THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)

Directed by : William Wyler

How strange it must have been to have life overshadowed and dictated by war for a number of years, and then suddenly be left with a sense of "what now?" when it ended. Those fighting came home only to discover (by their loved ones' reaction) that they had changed. The Best Years of Our Lives explores this with three main characters in it's arsenal. Technical Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March) comes home to a plush bank job, wife Milly (Myrna Loy) and loving family - and an expectation that veterans will be afforded an exulted status. He also leans on booze to aid in his readjustment, making the transition harder for everyone. Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) comes home to a wife (played by Virginia Mayo) he barely knows - and who has been having a good time while he's been away. He soon discovers his whirlwind marriage wasn't a match made in heaven. Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) has lost his hands - replaced by mechanical hooks - and worries about how his family and his love (literally the girl next door - played by Cathy O'Donnell) will treat him. He becomes extra-sensitive about any discomfort people feel, and the ugliness he sees in himself convinces him that he couldn't possibly be loved with such disfigurement. Once the joy of being reunited with loved ones starts to fade, the struggle to reintegrate themselves back into civilian life begins to bite, and the friendship this trio struck up on the way home must somehow see them through.

I've known about this film for a long time, and I'd always been curious to know why it was called "The Best Years of Our Lives". The optimism this title invokes always made me think it might be comparable to David Lean's 1944 film This Happy Breed, which I saw a number of years ago. That film involves those returning from the First World War, but if I remember correctly, there wasn't as much of a struggle to readjust - The Best Years of Our Lives takes trauma and the effects separation have had on family and friends a lot more seriously, and is introspective where in This Happy Breed you sense a need for continuity, a stiff upper lip and British stoicism. I have a sense that the difference is dictated by the fact that Lean's film was made during the war and Wyler's film after - making it free to take into account that war is traumatic, difficult, uncertain and leaves it's mark. Once over, there was a surge of documentaries examining the psychological effects war had left in it's wake, and it was a Time magazine article, "The Way Home", that inspired Wyler to make this film. I sensed an uncomfortable air of aimlessness as soon as the film started - where do you go after a World War? How do you just go back to everyday life after travelling the globe with a band of brothers, risking life and limb?

I saw the film as more optimistic than a lot of other commentators have. The returning veterans always have the support of someone, even if sometimes it takes time to find the right balance and the right people - and the contrast between this and what those returning from Vietnam faced is stark. Economic uncertainty can be faced (anything can be) when it's faced together, with family, friends and loved ones. There's light at the end of the tunnel, despite the anxiety I often felt when Al started drinking, Homer pushed people away or when Fred had to deal with a recalcitrant wife, unhappy with having a husband unable to afford a lavish lifestyle. It affirmed my belief in people as intrinsically good for the most part, while at the same time providing enough pain and struggle to keep me engaged and apprehensive. The Best Years of Our Lives also takes the time to examine it's subject in an intelligent, intimate, and meaningful way - not afraid to be frank when it needs to, and up-front about what capitalism lacks when it comes to not really rewarding the worthy, or even looking after them. Those occasional digs at the system was what sealed the deal for me, and made The Best Years of Our Lives a very gratifying watch.

Glad to catch this one - won Best Picture at the Oscars in 1947, along with Best Actor (Fredric March), Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell), Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Score, along with an honorary award for Harold Russell because the Academy didn't think the double-amputee could possibly win a competitive Oscar (he did though!) Nominated for Best Sound Recording. In Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

4

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Watchlist Count : 430 (-20)

Next : Memoir of a Murderer (2017)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Best Years of Our Lives

[SpelingError]

Definitely one of the best films of the 40's. Its emotional resonance is really highlighted by the year it was released (had it been made today, it wouldn't hit nearly as hard). I do think it makes one slight misstep near the ending, but everything else about it is perfect. Especially since its optimism is balanced out by a shade of bittersweet given the subtle political undercurrent thrown into the mix.

[Takoma11]

It's a very solid film, and I like the way it tackles a whole range of problems facing veterans. (Including that scene in the diner where the guy says they were "fighting for the wrong side" or whatever).

[PHOENIX74]

It's a very solid film, and I like the way it tackles a whole range of problems facing veterans. (Including that scene in the diner where the guy says they were "fighting for the wrong side" or whatever).

That "fighting for the wrong side" guy felt familiar - I'm guessing he would be reading fringe websites if he were transposed into the current age.

[PHOENIX74]

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MEMOIR OF A MURDERER (2017)

Directed by : Won Shin-yeon

Memoir of a Murderer might have a title that comes pretty close to Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder, but the film itself hits a lot closer in tone and substance to Christopher Nolan's Memento - only very South Korean, with it's rural, atmospheric misty vibe and bumbling cops who are plentiful but good for nothing. Kim Byeong-soo (Sol Kyung-gu) is a retired veterinarian who is suffering from the onset of dementia, and as such he's decided to write down his life story before all of it has departed his mind. It's also a confession of sorts, because Byeong-soo was once a serial killer - he used to kill people he deemed as deserving of having their lives snuffed out. He stopped 17 years ago, after he suffered head injuries in a car accident, and now lives with his young daughter Kim Eun-hee (Kim Seol-hyun) who helps care for him. Life is relatively straightforward until one day he prangs his car and interrupts a current-day serial killer (played by Kim Nam-gil) who is trying to get rid of a body. So begins a game of cat and mouse as both killers try to outwit each other in a desperate contest which soon involves the safety of Eun-hee. Can Byeong-soo possibly hope to win a game he sometimes even forgets that he's playing?

Talk about unreliable narrators! Well, the term usually more or less refers to some kind of surreptitious trick being played on us, the audience, but here our protagonist simply isn't always on top of the situation at hand. One of the biggest rewards this has is how it stacks the odds against Kim Byeong-soo. With gruff but kindly old Sol Kyung-gu playing the part it's easy to forget that the character almost literally has skeletons in his closet, and what puts us even more on his side is the way Kim Nam-gil plays his character - with a confident smile, and an obvious enjoyment in being bad. Memoir of a Murderer builds a nice, unsettling atmosphere with it's cinematography and score, and isn't interested at all in being torture porn or gory - it's much more thriller than horror, and the shocks aren't related so much to killings as they are to unfortunate mistakes Kim Byeong-soo makes (his last ever as a veterinarian was giving someone's cat an accidental overdose.) But, if he's as hazy as he is, then are we being told the whole story or is Kim Byeong-soo telling it wrong? At one stage he nearly kills his own daughter because he doesn't recognize her. Can we trust anything that's coming from the mind of someone losing touch with reality?

I didn't see the director's cut of Memoirs of a Murderer (not the first time that has happened to me during my watchlist travails) so there were a few twists that I never ended up being subjected to - twists that pretty much spin the film in a completely different direction. I guess this is that kind of film - with dementia the mystery aspect isn't always solved until the narrator is put to one side and the film comes clean with us. In any event, I recommend this movie for those who are looking for lots of tension and excitement, because it really delivers on that front. Kim Byeong-soo is such a vulnerable protagonist - when he tells his daughter that this man is a killer, it's "my dad having one of his turns again", so there's an impotency there that adds to various weaknesses, such as having the threat of being exposed as a killer, and the fact that at times he has no idea that a week has passed, and what in the meantime has happened during that week. The silent bamboo groves and misty plains speak of the dead, and as such they drip with malevolent ambience. It's a really good thriller/murder mystery, and although it's not as good as Memories of Murder or Memento, it's worth having a look at if you like this kind of thing. The South Koreans really know how to make a movie.

Glad to catch this one - Sol Kyung-gu and Kim Seol-hyun were nominated for acting awards at the inaugural Seoul Awards, with Sol Kyung-gu winning a few other film festival awards in his home country .

3.5

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Watchlist Count : 429 (-21)

Next : The Animatrix (2003)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Memoir of a Murderer

[Takoma11]

That "fighting for the wrong side" guy felt familiar - I'm guessing he would be reading fringe websites if he were transposed into the current age.

I think it's also a really important moment from a modern perspective. I think that America in particular has this communal memory that "Oh, yeah, we totally beat down those Nazis!", without realizing that there were people who didn't want to get involved not just because of usual war stuff, but also because maybe they didn't 100% disagree with what was happening.

It's something very interesting about movies made about a topic very close to the time period. You might see nuances that decades can erase from communal memory.

[PHOENIX74]

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THE ANIMATRIX (2003)

Directed by : Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Mahiro Maeda, Shinichiro Watanabe, Takeshi Koike, Peter Chung, Koji Morimoto and Andrew R. Jones

I remember the early 90s as the end of high school and an era when I'd catch stuff like Aeon Flux on a cartoon channel geared for young adults - a show that circled the rim of insanity and played more like a dream than science fiction. It was part of the animated avant-garde, the influence of which I see throughout the short animated films that make up The Animatrix, along with one of them being directed by Aeon Flux's creator himself, Peter Chung. It's no coincidence then that he directs the strangest segment - Matriculated, where the machines from The Matrix universe are lured to a base where humans put them into a matrix of our devising, and teach them to basically love humans. A robot's mind can be as curiously bizarre as a human's it seems - or more so, from our perspective. All of the short films are stand-alone stories from the Matrix universe, with a couple of them having a direct relation to events or characters from the films themselves. None of them really connect with each other except for The Second Renaissance Part I and Part II, which tell the story of how machines rose up and enslaved mankind after mankind turned against machines.

The Matrix and it's sequels (I've seen the trilogy, but not the belated sequel The Matrix Resurrections) are films I have a funny relationship with. I watch them and understand them - but despite the fact that I've seen the first one maybe four times, I always have a hard time remembering specifics about how they work. The artificial reality construct that serves as a basis is easy enough to grasp, but once you add Oracles, Architects and various plot twists the structure keeps fading and I keep having to refer back. Fortunately, the short films here focus on the basics, and were easily accessible - which is something I liked. Only Final Flight of the Osiris really demanded any specific knowledge of a plot point from one of the films - and even then, it was straightforward - a character races to deliver an extremely important and urgent message. Program features combat in the kind of training module that exists for those in the resistance. World Record is about a sprinter who exerts himself to such an extent that he actually wakes up in the real world. Kid's Story features a minor character from the films, and shows us how he willed himself out of the Matrix. Beyond shows us how what some people consider a haunted house is actually a glitch in the Matrix, and A Detective Story gives the Matrix universe a film noir spin.

Overall I only had one major complaint, and that's the fact that after each short end credits run - which really messes with the tempo and rhythm of the collection as a whole. So many times I had to go into a mental holding zone as 3 or 4 minutes of credits played out - and I didn't enjoy that. It would have been easy enough for a long end credits sequence after all the sequences had finished. Another factor which is common to all anthology films is that my enjoyment wavered a lot, with some chapters I really found thrilling and some that weren't my kind of jazz. My favourites were The Second Renaissance Parts I & II, World Record, Beyond and Matriculated - that makes for five out of the nine getting my highest approval, which isn't a bad ratio for an anthology I guess. I loved all of the psychedelic imagery, and the crazy style Takeshi Koike imprints on his World Record segment which turns the ordinary into the strange and the strange into the incredible - drawing with extremely exaggerated angles and shapes. All in all good for me, and great for the fans - of which I'm really not one. The original film was great, but the concept morphed into something monstrously convoluted eventually. These animated shorts though - they're mostly really enjoyable, and don't go down any overly brain-taxing rabbit holes.

Glad to catch this one - in Helen McCarthy's 500 Essential Anime Movies. Winner of "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Entertainment Production" at the 2004 Annie Awards.

3

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Watchlist Count : 428 (-22)

Next : The MacKintosh Man (1973)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Animatrix

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.ibb.co/VWKBtbH/The-mackintosh-man2.jpg

THE MACKINTOSH MAN (1973)

Directed by : John Huston

I remember going through a phase reading spy thrillers, but it never became a long-term thing, because eventually they became a little repetitive to me. I guess everything does until you manage to find something that really speaks to you. The Mackintosh Man didn't speak to me, but whenever it clicked into high gear it worked well enough. Our agent - an American working for the British - is Joseph Rearden (Paul Newman), who is ordered by MI5 honcho Mackintosh (Harry Andrews) to rob someone and get thrown into the same jail as KGB mole Ronald Slade (Ian Bannen) both of whom end up escaping together. Things go awry of course, and Rearden has to depend on his own wits once burned, with only Mackintosh's deputy, Mrs. Smith (Dominique Sanda) to aid him. Complicating matters is British MP Sir George Wheeler (James Mason), who becomes personally involved in the matter. The action takes place in London, Galway in Ireland and Malta. It's rather more toned down than a James Bond film, although there is a little bit of action and suspense which works to varying degrees of success.

We get a fun car chase in The Mackintosh Man, it's originality stemming from the fact that it's along muddy Irish trails, which produce great big skids and offer nonchalant cows walking into the path of the oncoming cars as hazards. Watch out for those cliff faces! There are chases on foot (and be aware dog lovers, Rearden is forced to drown one that has been sicced on him), fights, escapes and Mexican standoffs - nothing that will make a highlight reel regarding the history of cinema, but all staged well enough and entertaining. For nearly the entire first half, Paul Newman has to pretend to be an Australian, which provided me with no end of amusement. I don't know if he'd fool Londoners and his prison inmates (along with those who help him later on), but it wouldn't fool a fellow Aussie. Newman does really, really well in a relative way, but the accent slips every now and then, which sounds really weird to my ears. So hard for an American to try and pull that off for nearly half a movie! An impossible mission. Tickled me to death - watching Paul Newman doing that. I give him seven out of ten as far as the accent goes. His performance is measured, and he's even upstaged a little when James Mason becomes a prominent figure in the film.

One of Mackintosh Man's biggest flaws is that Rearden's mission doesn't seem all that important, and as such there are no stakes aside from the risks he's taking personally in dealing with the criminal underworld and KGB agents. What will happen if he fails? Nothing much, or at the very least we don't know. Reardon's mission is a mystery to the viewer at first, and only becomes clear once he's well into it. Do we get a chance to really fall in love with the character? He's kind of serious, stoic and straightforward - hard to read. Also, the villains in this movie are so nice! They help Rearden escape and treat him like he's a king, getting him anything he asks for and treating him to first class meals and service as well as being polite and ingratiating. Conflict does eventually erupt, but for a while there's an unusual ease to Reardon's odyssey. All that said though, there's enough suspense, action and adventure here to go a ways to make up for some of the film's negatives, even if it's not quite enough to lift this into classic territory. As a whole you'd need to be a big Paul Newman fan, or extremely devoted to spy thrillers, to love The Mackintosh Man. I thought it was okay - nothing more.

Glad to catch this one - based on the novel "The Freedom Trap" by Desmond Bagley which itself was loosely based on the real-life identification, defection, and escape from Wormwood Scrubs Prison in 1966 of Russian spy George Blake , who was working in British intelligence as a double Agent.

3

https://i.ibb.co/z7FcsvV/The-mackintosh-man3.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : America America (1963)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Mackintosh Man

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.ibb.co/vcDRs8S/America-america.jpg

AMERICA AMERICA (1963)

Directed by : Elia Kazan

There's a certain duality about the America young Stavros Topouzoglou (Stathis Giallelis) dreams about in Elia Kazan's America America. "It's no different from here!" is something he often hears once he's made his way to Constantinople, and that holds true when looked upon from the viewpoint of how the wealthy have all the privileges. But there's one important difference which makes America a dream place for many Greeks and Armenians living under their brutal Turkish overlords as part of the Ottoman Empire - there are no massacres, and a young man can make something of himself there. During this film's opening stages we're witness to a Hamidian massacre - this concerns our young Greek protagonist's friend, Vartan Damadian (Frank Wolff) - who is Armenian, and killed before he can even start his journey to the promised land of equality and opportunity. Stavros is sent to Constantinople to help his father's cousin's rug business and then send for the rest of the family - but he has other ideas. America. His desire to emigrate there is such an obsession that those he works with while trying to earn the money call him "America". His journey from Kayseri to New York is such an epic one that it takes 174 minutes to detail each heartbreaking setback and reversal of fortune.

Elia Kazan lets us know directly, at the start of the film, that this is the story of his uncle, Avraam Elia Kazantzoglou - and the movie itself has a docudrama feel to it. You can tell that this isn't a typical Hollywood production - it was filmed in Istanbul, Athens, rural Greece and New York City. Little-known actors appear in it, including 21-year-old Greek actor Stathis Giallelis. Visually, it reminded me a lot of the Turkish films I've seen from this era much more than an American film. There's an authenticity to it that feels very unusual and different from what you'd be expecting when you find out this is an American film directed by Kazan. Instead of an American tale it's an immigrant's tale objectively speaking - but as an American Elia Kazan is saying that this is his tale - his American identity is inextricably linked with the incredible journey his ancestor undertook. Stavros Topouzoglou's family gives him everything they own - every bit of money, and every scrap of jewellery, carpets, clothes and goods of value. On his way to Constantinople he's robbed by a miscreant who he has to kill in order to not be slaughtered for the few coins he's swallowed in an attempt to keep them. He then finds out that working honestly and alone, it would take him decades of back-breaking employment to afford the fare on an ocean liner. It will also take ingenuity to get to his destination - not only perseverance, bravery, effort and luck.

Talk to an immigrant from Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Bosnia etc., and you'll most likely hear a horror story concerning this person's family and/or friends - and if you're an Australian, Canadian or American then their story is our story. Their story is what makes our respective countries great - because these people were compelled to want to be part of a nation greater than those they come from. This especially holds true for the American understanding of all people being born equal - and I simply can't understand why some Americans are turning their back on the principles that makes their country great. America is supposed to be a beacon for the rest of the world to follow because all religions are accepted, and nobody is persecuted because of their race - only because they've broken the law. America America helps to clarify the issue even more when it offers Stavros great wealth and a place in society through marriage that still can't compare to the promise of true freedom and the opportunity for him to write his own story, live his own life, and become part of a great nation's chronicle. Hardly any of this movie is set in the United States, but at the same time it's one of the greatest exponents of the U.S. because of what this journey represents.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for Best Picture at the 1964 Academy Awards along with Best Director, Best Writing (Elia Kazan), and Best Art Direction (which it won). Also nominated for 8 Golden Globe Awards.

4

https://i.ibb.co/61v2NSW/America-america2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch America America

[Stirchley]

Mr Blandings is a classic.

[Wooley]

https://i.ibb.co/VWKBtbH/The-mackintosh-man2.jpg

THE MACKINTOSH MAN (1973)

Directed by : John Huston

I remember going through a phase reading spy thrillers, but it never became a long-term thing, because eventually they became a little repetitive to me. I guess everything does until you manage to find something that really speaks to you. The Mackintosh Man didn't speak to me, but whenever it clicked into high gear it worked well enough. Our agent - an American working for the British - is Joseph Rearden (Paul Newman), who is ordered by MI5 honcho Mackintosh (Harry Andrews) to rob someone and get thrown into the same jail as KGB mole Ronald Slade (Ian Bannen) both of whom end up escaping together. Things go awry of course, and Rearden has to depend on his own wits once burned, with only Mackintosh's deputy, Mrs. Smith (Dominique Sanda) to aid him. Complicating matters is British MP Sir George Wheeler (James Mason), who becomes personally involved in the matter. The action takes place in London, Galway in Ireland and Malta. It's rather more toned down than a James Bond film, although there is a little bit of action and suspense which works to varying degrees of success.

We get a fun car chase in The Mackintosh Man, it's originality stemming from the fact that it's along muddy Irish trails, which produce great big skids and offer nonchalant cows walking into the path of the oncoming cars as hazards. Watch out for those cliff faces! There are chases on foot (and be aware dog lovers, Rearden is forced to drown one that has been sicced on him), fights, escapes and Mexican standoffs - nothing that will make a highlight reel regarding the history of cinema, but all staged well enough and entertaining. For nearly the entire first half, Paul Newman has to pretend to be an Australian, which provided me with no end of amusement. I don't know if he'd fool Londoners and his prison inmates (along with those who help him later on), but it wouldn't fool a fellow Aussie. Newman does really, really well in a relative way, but the accent slips every now and then, which sounds really weird to my ears. So hard for an American to try and pull that off for nearly half a movie! An impossible mission. Tickled me to death - watching Paul Newman doing that. I give him seven out of ten as far as the accent goes. His performance is measured, and he's even upstaged a little when James Mason becomes a prominent figure in the film.

One of Mackintosh Man's biggest flaws is that Rearden's mission doesn't seem all that important, and as such there are no stakes aside from the risks he's taking personally in dealing with the criminal underworld and KGB agents. What will happen if he fails? Nothing much, or at the very least we don't know. Reardon's mission is a mystery to the viewer at first, and only becomes clear once he's well into it. Do we get a chance to really fall in love with the character? He's kind of serious, stoic and straightforward - hard to read. Also, the villains in this movie are so nice! They help Rearden escape and treat him like he's a king, getting him anything he asks for and treating him to first class meals and service as well as being polite and ingratiating. Conflict does eventually erupt, but for a while there's an unusual ease to Reardon's odyssey. All that said though, there's enough suspense, action and adventure here to go a ways to make up for some of the film's negatives, even if it's not quite enough to lift this into classic territory. As a whole you'd need to be a big Paul Newman fan, or extremely devoted to spy thrillers, to love The Mackintosh Man. I thought it was okay - nothing more.

Glad to catch this one - based on the novel "The Freedom Trap" by Desmond Bagley which itself was loosely based on the real-life identification, defection, and escape from Wormwood Scrubs Prison in 1966 of Russian spy George Blake , who was working in British intelligence as a double Agent.

3

https://i.ibb.co/z7FcsvV/The-mackintosh-man3.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : America America (1963)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Mackintosh Man

I wanted to like this one a lot - because of Newman - but alas, it is actually just kinda boring.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/8CqTYhfK/mr-blandings.jpg

MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE (1948)

Directed by : H. C. Potter

This was a nice and easy change of pace to what I've usually been watching lately - a Cary Grant comedy, of which I seem to have watched quite a few by now. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is about the titular character Jim Blandings (Grant) and wife Muriel (Myrna Loy) becoming embroiled in a costly endeavor once they find out that the property they fell in love with and purchased is unsafe and needs to be demolished. They find that building the dream replacement ends up fraught with problems as they sink more and more money into a project they simply can't back out of once they've invested so much. Grant's deadpan reactions to each foul-up, unexpected occurrence and difficulty is what makes the process as funny as it is - and the movie is quite dependent on the sheer charisma, charm and comedic ability the superstar wielded at this time. A formidable actor who had his schtick honed to an absolute sharp point. As something of a romantic rival, but also friend and lawyer, Melvyn Douglas turns up as Bill Cole, who spends as much time with the family as Jim seems to do - much to Jim's considered and playful consternation. The movie never seriously considers this a love triangle, but at the same time plays with the concept for the sake of amusement.

Jim is an Ad man (every time I see him at his office, I can't help but picture in my mind the series Mad Men), and there's a running gag throughout the whole film with regards to WHAM, which basically looks to be a variety of Spam which was introduced to grocery shelves in 1937. Jim can't quite think up a good enough slogan - the constant pressure of the process he's going through distracts him. That's a lot of what this film is about, which in turn was the basis of the novel (same title) by Eric Hodgins that this was based on. The story Hodgins wove together was actually based on his own experiences - a house in the country that was meant to cost $11,000 ended up costing him $56,000 when all was said and done, and the process had him in such a dire financial position that he had to immediately sell it. In an amazing reversal of fortune, the book he wrote ended up becoming a hit, and aside from the money he earned from that, the movie rights ended up netting him $200,000. He tried to buy his dream house back because of his new circumstances, but the owners wouldn't sell. I don't usually waste so much time in my reviews detailing the origins of a story - but I found this one to be quite interesting, and I can't help but repeat it.

I think absolutely everyone can relate to really wanting something with all your heart, but finding out that the price it will cost is way more expensive than it should be. Do you pay more than you should because it's worth it to you? Jim and Muriel really think so, which is why they rarely falter when hit with so many setbacks and expensive problems. They also get carried away with their dream, as we all tend to do, and in a very funny scene with an architect start adding rooms and features to the plans until it becomes a veritable Frankenstein's monster of a drawing (with the second story being bigger than the ground floor!) You can't put a price on your dream, but what the film doesn't tell us is that the real-life Blandings, Eric Hodgins, lost it because of cost overruns. No sense adding that to this light and breezy film though. The movie has a lot of fun with all the various problems you run into when building a new home, but none of this would have worked as well if it weren't for the amazing Cary Grant. Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas provide able back-up, but they're completely outshone in the end by the charisma machine Grant is, and how pleasing this man is to watch with his impeccable comedic timing and all. A very solid entry for the talented Mr. Leach.

Glad to catch this one - the Writers Guild of America ended up nominating screenwriters Norman Panama and Melvin Frank for a Best Written American Comedy Award, and this film would later by remade with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as The Money Pit.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/KvCdwYC9/mr-blandings-builds.jpg

Watchlist Count : 428 (-22)

Next : O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (1985)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/mgP2qLKL/o-bi-ba.jpg

O-BI, O-BA : THE END OF CIVILISATION (1985)

Directed by : Piotr Szulkin

Oh my lord, these post-apocalyptic films are real studies of despair and hopelessness. If you're at all sensitive to that kind of suffering, they can really put you in a depressed mood. O-bi, O-ba : The End of Civilisation is Poland's version of World War III's aftermath, where a couple of thousand survivors have been herded into a vault called "The Dome", safe from radiation, but existing on dwindling food supplies, medical supplies and anything resembling what was once normality. The people in The Dome who aren't in positions of authority have been promised the eventual arrival of "The Ark", which will take them to a better place - but of course The Ark is a myth created by The Dome's overseers to give the general population some kind of hope. Among those keeping order is "Soft" (Jerzy Stuhr), a portly romantic who barters and trades so he can enjoy such treasures as an onion or the loving embrace of his lover Gea (Krystyna Janda) who is otherwise engaged in The Dome's bar/brothel. When Soft discovers that The Dome's days are numbered, and that the structure's integrity is becoming more unstable by the day, he desperately attempts to initiate all manner of schemes in order to either repair The Dome or escape it, while those he begs help from try and assure him that the Ark will come and save them - the very myth that he invented.

This one if unforgiving, even though it refrains from delivering anything gruesome or hard to watch - it's the grind of joyless living which gets to you. The lighting itself is brutal in it's unforgiving glare, which doesn't seem to do anything to brighten the pitch-black surroundings. Cinematographer Witold Sobociński shuffles through muck-caked corridors like The Dome is one large and cramped submersible, and there's a dark blue/green filter which removes any natural, vibrant colour from the surroundings. The one bright spot in the whole dystopian nightmare is the brothel, and that's the only place we'll see much colour in. It seem to be the last bastion of recognizable humanity, the bar/brothel, and it stands to reason - this is a society where The Bible has been pulped, but dirty magazines held onto as worth preserving for our future. Oh, and about those books being pulped - it seems that this is what the lowly in The Dome are being fed with. The living dead wander around aimlessly in rags, crazed and obsessed with the arrival of The Ark - even as loudspeakers try to disavow the myth. Soft's journey takes him to all corners of The Dome, so we can see what has become of humanity's last enclave.

So, this was the mid-80s. We had Threads (Britain) in 1984, The Day After (United States) in 1983, Dead Man's Letters (Soviet Union) in 1986, Testament (United States) in 1983, this film (Poland) in 1985 and an endless assortment of other movies which dealt with the aftermath of Nuclear War. The 1960s had probably been the most dangerous decade as far as getting close to war goes, but it seems that our collective anxiety took a while to catch up, and by the 1980s we were visualizing all over the world what it would look like. Are we meant to take all of O-Bi, O-Ba seriously? How much of the madness that we see is satire, and how much is simply madness? The whole subject of our extinction is hard to digest without recourse to an acknowledgement of how crazy all of this really is. Just look at how Stanley Kubrick got his point across in Dr. Strangelove. You won't be laughing when you watch O-Bi, O-Ba however - it's just too grim and dark. I'm hopelessly curious when it comes to seeing what these visions look like, but invariably I walk away pained that such a dead end for humanity is even possible.

Glad to catch this one - Andrzej Kowalczyk won the Best Production Design Award at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, where the filmed premiered.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/6qzQMjH2/obi-oba.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch O-Bi, O-Ba : The End of Civilisation

[SpelingError]

That one's going on my watchlist for sure.

[Wooley]

https://i.postimg.cc/8CqTYhfK/mr-blandings.jpg

MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE (1948)

Directed by : H. C. Potter

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/KvCdwYC9/mr-blandings-builds.jpg

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

I also enjoyed this "light, breezy film".

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/vHRDnggH/the-most-dangerous-game.jpg

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932)

Directed by : Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack

I'm not particularly well-watched when it comes to 1930s movies, but I surprise myself when it comes time to compile a list of those I like : My Man Godfrey, Stagecoach, Make Way For Tomorrow and The Awful Truth are a few of my favourite films of all time. Oh, and recently I remember watching The Old Dark House, which was released in 1932, the same year as The Most Dangerous Game - which during it's first half kind of reminded me of the former. It really is a film of two halves - the first introducing main character Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea), who finds himself shipwrecked on an island, the only survivor from a luxury yacht which has hit a reef and sunk (other survivors are eaten by sharks, in surprisingly bloody scenes for 1932.) Rainsford finds an imposing chateau on the island, it's master a scarred individual - Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks) - who is hosting a variety of other shipwreck victims with his various rough-looking servants, who look more menacing than helpful to the guests. Rainsford happens to be a hunter, and Zaroff is delighted to meet him for he also hunts. Having grown bored with chasing down animals and shooting them, he's progressed to hunting humans. That's what leads to this film's second half - Rainsford and fellow "guest" Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray) having to survive a night in the wilderness as Zaroff, his employees and a pack of dogs try to find and kill them.

For a film that has been made in the early 1930s, my hat is off to The Most Dangerous Game, which was produced and shot in conjunction with King Kong (also using many of the same sets, and four of the same actors.) The foundering of the yacht relies on effects that would just about pass muster today, and the action-packed final half hour of the film (it's overall running time a scant 63 minutes) is exciting, and extraordinarily well-directed and filmed. Add to that a stupendous score from Max Steiner, which also punches above it's weight and seems ahead of it's time. Much of this seems geared to a more modern audience - many minutes had to be cut from the film because it was simply too shocking and gory, and initial audience members were leaving before the end because it was simply too much for them. Count Zaroff's "trophy room", filled with severed heads and torture devices, prefigures horror films far more advanced than this. I'd love to see what exactly was cut. Anyway, it's not the horror I admired but the action - real Indiana Jones-level work (you know, the good Indiana Jones) where a breakneck tempo is kept white hot for a long duration. Better, I must say, than the violent cult classic Turkey Shoot (in the U.S. Escape 2000) which I still have fond memories of from my youth.

Fay Wray does play a damsel in distress here, but she at least has smarts and is on to Count Zaroff long before anyone else - it's thanks to her initiative that Rainsford is as forewarned and as ready as he is to resist him. Count Zaroff himself seems to represent an old part of society - one that was dying out in the 20th Century (but not before plunging mankind into another devastating worldwide conflict), while Bob Rainsford, the American, brings nobler ideals to the table. Any semblance of downgrading a human being to the level of "animal" is anathema to modern, free thinking idealists from democracies - and as such The Most Dangerous Game runs counter to ideologies which were arising in Germany at the time. I don't know if that was on purpose - Richard Connell's story, on which this is based, was published in 1924 - but it feels like a comment on those who would dehumanize any person regardless of their status in society. Hunting is an activity I hate, with a passion anyway. Anyone who shoots and kills an elephant, lion or tiger in today's world should be locked up as far as I'm concerned, so I'm not with Rainsford on that. Leave your rifle at home and buy yourself a camera to hunt with. As for this film - really enjoyable and exciting early '30s horror, on par with The Old Dark House.

Glad to catch this one - Criterion #46 - The basis of many subsequent films based on hunting humans, it entered the public domain in 1961.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/ZRmCWjbS/the-most-dangerous-game2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Most Dangerous Game

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/zfq14BVY/ike-countdown-to-d-day.jpg

IKE : COUNTDOWN TO D-DAY (2004)

Directed by : Robert Harmon

When you watch a television film called Ike : Countdown to D-Day you pretty much know what you're going to be getting, and you get exactly what you expect to. There's a certain uniformity to television films that depict history or biography (often a combination of both), and that can be both a blessing and a curse. All I wanted from watching it last night was to learn a few historical details, and I counted on Robert Harmon and writer Lionel Chetwynd being in a position where they'd be expected to not depart too far from fact and accuracy. Reading up on it, that seems mostly true apart from a few details and the use of specific terms. We meet Dwight D. Eisenhower (Tom Selleck, in a piece of surprise casting) in discussions with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Ian Mune - we could have done with Gary Oldman) as the decision is being made to make the former Supreme Allied Commander. I'm making assumptions here that those reading are familiar with World War II on a very basic level. From there it's basically a series of meetings that correspond with major decisions being made and events being reported to Ike. Disciplining an errant General Patton (Gerald McRaney), having a difficult, quite testy conversation with French General Charles de Gaulle (George Shevtsov) and conferring with First Army Commander Omar Bradley (James Remar). He has endless back and forth exchanges with British Field marshal Montgomery (Bruce Phillips).

This is all about the war, and has basically nothing to do with Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal life - unless you regard the problems he had with his personal friend, Major General Henry Miller (Paul Gittins), who got drunk one night and let all of the invasion plans slip in front of a crowded bar - much to the shock of his fellow officers, who were aghast. Ike had to deal with punishing someone who was close to him, and it seems to have been something that affected him deeply. That's not to say that sending men to their death didn't weigh on him - a lot of Ike : Countdown to D-Day deals with the man contemplating the ugly truth of war. You'll find nearly one out of every three conversations he has deals with his misgivings about the realities of war. Whenever I sit back and contemplate modern warfare it becomes a concept that seems so bizarre, because killing - one of the most dramatic, horrible and momentous occurrences that can happen in life, and is rarely encountered - becomes commonplace all of the sudden. People in battle have to go through with their activities while at the same time knowing that at any moment they might die. When you really think about it, it's hard to wrap your head around that. I guess that Eisenhower had to have been thinking about that a lot, while not directly experiencing it.

So, Ike : Countdown to D-Day was fine. It went through the motions, but at least contained a lot of information that I didn't know about. In fact, there wasn't much that I did actually know happened, because this really got right into details. Worries about tanks sinking into wet sand on the beaches. A great deal of anxiety about the weather (I knew about that at least). Decisions to be made about how far back paratroopers were going to be dropped (without knowing how fast they could be relieved, it was a gamble.) If you're looking for something more human and personal, you'll be disappointed - this is a very political and historical film, and not at all artistic or humanistic apart from the wringing of hands regarding casualties. I never got used to seeing Tom Selleck bald without a mustache - he would have blended in more if he didn't have such a distinctive, recognizable voice. I don't know if this is accurate, but he did give Ike a very warm, convivial and welcoming countenance. I do enjoying learning new facts and getting better acquainted with history, thought I doubt I'd pick up a book about this exact subject - which is why I wanted to watch this. I heard something about it, and it went into my watchlist - pretty much matching expectations.

Glad to catch this one - filmed entirely in New Zealand with New Zealanders playing the British and Americans playing the Americans. First aired on the A&E channel.

3

https://i.postimg.cc/SRnMHPq0/ike-countdown-to-d-day2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 426 (-24)

Next : Bound (1996)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Ike : Countdown to D-Day

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/kGxLw8QR/bound.jpg

BOUND (1996)

Directed by : Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski

I'm not the biggest Matrix fan going around (I don't hate it, it's quite good - but I don't love it as some others do), so colour me surprised to find out that the The Wachowskis' debut, Bound, is an absolutely top-notch crime thriller with very erotic lesbian underpinnings, and that I really thought a great deal of it. It was a movie that I wasn't necessarily in the mood for, but it sure put me in the mood as I watched, starting with noir-like sultry ambience before upping the stakes and switching gears until it became a grand opera of murder, suspense, action and sweat-drenched desperation. It all starts when mob wife Violet (Jennifer Tilly) meets ex-con, mob-employed plumber Corky (Gina Gershon) - sparks immediately set ablaze a steamy love affair. When Corky finds out that Violet's husband, Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), will be handling over $2 million before handing it over to boss Gino Marzzone (Richard C. Sarafian) she puts forward a daring plan to snatch the money, fool Caesar into thinking rival Johnnie (Christopher Meloni) took it, and run off together with her new lover, whom she can't be sure she trusts. Of course, not everything unfolds as it should, which means Violet and Corky have to think fast if they're to survive the night and the massacre that unfolds.

One of the very nice surprises in store for those who watch Bound is how cinematically adventurous the Wachowskis got proving themselves here - having cinematographer Bill Pope pull off all manner of clever and visually pleasing shots that add to the feel of the film and don't simply distract. Certain shots look cool, but not simply for the sake of looking cool - they exemplify the surreal nature of gunfights, the anxiety of confrontation, the discombobulation of shock. There's a lot of effort put in here in service to the story. Violet and Corky's love affair unfolds via a gradually heated erotic tension that draws you in, so that by the time they're in bed together you're feeling the heat yourself. Tilly and Gershon share a chemistry that's believable, and Pantoliano plays Caesar in such a grotesque manner it's no problem at all siding with our two underdogs. The danger they're in is brought home to us as the film continues, with graphic and shocking scenes showing how those who undermine these guys are tortured before being brutally murdered - as an audience we're definitely rattled and on the edge of our seats. There's something about bright red blood on white porcelain that sets the heart racing - fear being a different kind of arousal that sets up what is about to happen so damn well.

Violet and Corky's plan to steal the $2 million is far from foolproof and depends on a lot going right - and it's no spoiler (we're shown ahead of time) that at some stage Corky is going to end up with her hands and feet bound together, in deep trouble. The theme of the whole movie is that of being bound - by marriage, to the mob, in prison etc. Try to escape and you can end up tangled and even more stuck. It's something that resonates with LGBT+ audiences, and considering who the Wachowskis are it's an interesting way to read the film as a whole. Otherwise it's simply a cracking, thrill-a-second gangster rollercoaster ride - once a plan goes off the rails and people have to improvise there's excitement to be had in every unexpected situation that can turn deadly. Well executed, as it is here, a movie like this is so much fun, and I had fun watching it last night, but while a lot of the time this kind of film can be disposable once all the twists and turns have been revealed, Bound has enough artistry regarding performance and visualisation woven into it's DNA that it's worthy of future rewatches. I'm surprised that it managed to pass me by, especially considering the extra notice it must have received after The Matrix thrust the Wachowskis into superstardom. Pleased to have rectified that.

Glad to catch this one - Criterion #1220. It won the Grand Jury Award—Honorable Mention at L.A. Outfest and the Stockholm International Film Festival in 1996. In 1997 it won the International Fantasy Film Award at the Fantasporto festival, the GLAAD Media Award and was nominated for the Grand Prix at the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/dQzCLpDH/bound2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 425 (-25)

Next : The Big Heat (1953)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Bound

[Takoma11]

I'd put off watching Bound for so long because Hollywood's portrayal of lesbians . . . eh. But after incidentally finding out about the queer women who'd advised on the sex scenes, I gave it a shot and really enjoyed it.

Also, this happened last week:

Me: I'm making a costume out of a cardboard box. I'm going to be a robot!!
My brother: Last night I had dinner with Gina Gershon.

[PHOENIX74]

I'd put off watching Bound for so long because Hollywood's portrayal of lesbians . . . eh. But after incidentally finding out about the queer women who'd advised on the sex scenes, I gave it a shot and really enjoyed it.

Also, this happened last week:

Me: I'm making a costume out of a cardboard box. I'm going to be a robot!!
My brother: Last night I had dinner with Gina Gershon.

I hope that was an innocent remark with the sole intention of wanting to share that amazing piece of news and not him seeing your fun robot remark as an opportunity to make you look silly! (My brother would totally be saying that with the intention of making me look silly.)

How amazing though!!

(I mean your robot costume of course...)

[Takoma11]

I hope that was an innocent remark with the sole intention of wanting to share that amazing piece of news and not him seeing your fun robot remark as an opportunity to make you look silly! (My brother would totally be saying that with the intention of making me look silly.)

How amazing though!!

(I mean your robot costume of course...)

Yeah, it was just a conversation. But it made me laugh a lot. We live very different lives!

Me: I'm having a really busy week. I'm trying to get over to swim in the pool after work!
Him: Yeah same, I have to get back to the Ukraine for negotiations.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/P5Rg2M7M/the-big-heat.webp

THE BIG HEAT (1953)

Directed by : Fritz Lang

The Big Heat ticks so many boxes as far as great film noir traits go, and good movies period. Lets start with Glenn Ford, who seriously exudes a real masculine toughness as homicide detective Dave Bannion, one that has flexibility enough for him to feel right at home with cool wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando - yes, you're right, Marlon Brando's older sister) and his young daughter. Ford has always impressed me as far as his versatility goes, his version of machismo including so much warmth - even as far as villain Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma seeming sympathetic and attractive thanks to his easy aura. He's up against a whole criminal enterprise here, and impossible odds seeing as kingpin crime boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) has the whole city in his pocket. Noir allows for all manner of norm-breaking, and I really think we're nudged in the direction of noticing that Lagana might have a gay partner - a domestic closeness between him and a co-conspirator in the bedroom seems to hint at that. This being a 1953 film, I think that just might be the way I saw it - but it sure seemed that way. Add to the volatile mix a young Lee Marvin as hoodlum Vince Stone. Ever since I saw Reservoir Dogs I've thought that being a Lee Marvin fan might mean there's something wrong with me - but I can't resist it. He's the epitome of vile, but it's the performance I admire - not the character.

The movie starts with a suspicious suicide, mysterious envelope, and the wife of the top cop (now widow), Bertha Duncan (Jeanette Nolan) willing to be part of a conspiracy by hiding the contents of said envelope. It's Dave Bannion who smells something rotten, and he won't let go of it despite the pressure he starts feeling from above - he knows that the cop in question wasn't suicidal, and that Bertha is hiding something. The plot details take darker and darker turns until you're hard-pressed to believe this is really a 1953 feature - I was kind of astonished. Late in the film Vince Stone's "girlfriend", Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame) becomes and important figure, and something horrifically violent happens to her that further twists what has become one of the grimmest film noir classics I've ever seen. Gloria Grahame gives her eccentric gangster's girl some fun tweaks that I found really original and fresh considering the lack of variety you see in the roles women would get during this era. All the more shocking to see what's done to her. It all pre-empts a rather strange abrupt ending that nevertheless doesn't feel wrong, just surprising. I was left with a feeling of "wow" - Fritz Lang could still turn out something brilliant despite being in the twilight of his career.

I don't like to harp on run-times, it feels like such a hot-button topic amongst film fans these days - but at 89 minutes The Big Heat never gets to outstay it's welcome, and has everything it needs to tell a solid crime story. If made today, it would no doubt go for 150 minutes. I swear, there's an obsession these days with "more", and there's no regard as to whether "more" is actually better. Quality above quantity I say - tell your story in as economic fashion as you can. I liked just about everything here. The performances, the cinematography with it's surprisingly stark, well-lit straight-forwardness and the charged dialogue. Everybody is ready for a fight in this story, and although I was at times begging Bannion to back down or course he never does - becoming almost foolhardy in his brave all-or-nothing stance. A bright light of moral integrity where there is not one person left who hasn't backed down in the face of threats and violent intent. The kind of character who'll stand up to a mob despite being hopelessly outnumbered. I remember my father's tone when Superman came out in '78, when he said "That's Glenn Ford!" I didn't get why that meant anything - this old man playing Pa Kent. I get it now - I get why he had that reverence in his voice after seeing this actor shine during his trips to the movies long ago.

Glad to catch this one - In Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and packed off to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for preservation in 2011.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/yY08SXmJ/the-big-heat2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 428 (-22)

Next : Inside (2023)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Big Heat

[SpelingError]

That one's very good. It exceeded my expectations entirely and was also much darker than I expected.

[PHOENIX74]

OCTOBER RUN-THROUGH

Well - this has certainly taken on the feel of a marathon. At my absolute best in October I could only manage another 19 films watched and reviewed, which proves that as time goes on I've slowed down, and no matter how hard I try it's hard to pick up the pace again. Still, add what I watched to the year as a whole and we're up to 232 films watched and reviewed - which is a lot. I've watched what was well over half of my entire watchlist at the start of the year - which means more than 250 more films were added this year. Somehow this thread has led to an increase of movies going in my watchlist! I won't be able to get to 300, it'll be more like 270. That's not bad. One of my most productive film-watching years I've ever had.

BEST OF THE BUNCH

Overall, six films stood out in October. I've had more productive months, but everything has added up to such a mountain of cinematic goodness that I'm not perturbed by slow periods - I mean, another 6 films added to a glittering collection of great new watches compared to when I'm not doing this, when I'd be lucky to see one or two, is still a bonus. I plucked one as the winner to put forward as "Best of the Bunch" here - it stands head and shoulders above the rest as I look back - a big surprise at the time. Can't wait to check out more of Carlos Enrique Taboada's stuff.

https://i.postimg.cc/d3DKRMHb/poison.jpg

BEST OF THE REST

All of these movies will be in the running for a Top 25 or Top 50 that I'll compile at the end of the year (or start of next year) - and I'm guessing it's going to be hard to leave some titles off that list. A special emphasis regarding the films featured below - Leila's Brothers is one I don't think many have watched, and it's so good. I really recommend it - there's something special about films that come from Iran.

https://i.postimg.cc/6qNBXbYg/crem.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/4ywqSWMz/leila.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/kgPKH7Qv/america.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/287hgP0p/big.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/rsJsYLMQ/best.jpg

There are some honorable mentions of course : Bound, The Most Dangerous Game, America America, O-Bi, O-Ba : The End of Civilisation and The Murderers Are Among Us were all movies I enjoyed one hell of a lot and now have everlasting respect for. Hell, there are half a dozen more that I really enjoyed and have respect for. I'm so much more likely to enjoy a movie on my watchlist than any others that I watch on a whim thinking that I might enjoy them - new releases, DVDs I've picked up for a bargain, random picks on streaming platforms or the latest big thing at the movies that everyone is talking about. Those don't get vetted like my watchlist movies do. Hard to believe that way back in the 20th Century, so many of the movies I watched never had the benefit of being so easy to research.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/BQsbdpYR/inside.jpg

INSIDE (2023)

Directed by : Vasilis Katsoupis

You've probably seen Inside many times before. I know I had. The themes are different, but the narrative body is the same : survival with limited resources, and complete isolation. The situation, though, is completely novel - instead of the jungle, the desert, space or adrift in a leaky lifeboat, Nemo (Willem Dafoe) is stuck in a luxury apartment that has clamped itself shut when the security system goes haywire. To be fair, Nemo doesn't belong there - he finds himself entombed as he's carrying out an art heist, which feels like karma to us at first. It's not long however before you start to feel sorry for Nemo. The temperature control and thermostat have also been affected by the system crash, which means constant heating and a rising temperature. The water has been cut off altogether, and it's not long before Nemo starts running out of options as his thirst builds. How hard could it be to break out of an apartment? Well, this one is built like Fort Knox, and as time passes with nobody coming to help him, Nemo's mind starts to falter and his interest in art has him finding a kind of creative output that changes this barren and soulless living space into a complex and mentally disordered art-piece.

When Inside started I was thinking "why did they get Willem Dafoe for this?" By the time Nemo started to lose his mind I understood why Dafoe was chosen - someone who just in recent years has played psychologically troubled men in such features as At Eternity's Gate and The Lighthouse. He has the looks of a person who can be vulnerable, but also criminal and insane. He's pretty good in this - for sure one of Inside's better features, although I always find it tough watching actors who have nobody to interact with - it must be one of the biggest acting challenges there is. There's nothing to really react to, so everything has to come from the inside - possibly one of the reasons this film has the title it has. Whenever I watch one of these films I really start to feel the confinement myself, and start getting just as desperate as the person who is either lost or trapped somewhere to find a way out. Nemo doesn't even have the comparative "luxury" of having other people he can cannibalize once he runs out of crackers, caviar, jam, the fish in the fish tanks and dog food. I'd credit this movie with making me feel anguished for it's protagonist - but it's something I invariably feel in every film of this sort.

In the end what is it all about? Inside seems to have a lot to say about art and the artistic process - it's no coincidence that this starts with an art heist, and that Nemo is surrounded by high value art for the duration of his confinement. He starts to express himself when he reaches a certain stage of isolated desperation that you could compare to what art in it's purest form is. Nemo wants to leave something, perhaps because he assumes that if he dies he'll have no way of expressing how he felt, who he was, and what had happened to his mind as it tried to adapt to such trying circumstances. During a flashback, he's asked if he thinks every man is an island - and it's kind of a way to philosophize about how, when you think about it, we're all alone in this world. We might be able to interact with other people, but in our mind nobody can come inside and join us. We only wave at each other through the glass panes that our eyes are, and try to express what's going on in our mind - and art is the deepest attempt at such expression. Nemo specifically takes in William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" and exudes his way of seeing his plight in many constructively creative ways. It has all of that going for it at the very least.

Glad to catch this one - this had wins at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards, Palic Film Festival and Sofia International Film Festival.

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/PJ6N160C/inside2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 428 (-22)

Next : The Believer (2001)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Inside

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/fWqPcnx4/the-believer.jpg

THE BELIEVER (2001)

Directed by : Henry Bean

There's something The Believer does that not enough films of it's type usually do. It's when Daniel Balint (Ryan Gosling), an aspiring American Neo-Nazi talks about his beliefs. You see, Daniel is an intelligent, perhaps brilliant man and great speaker - so when he talks about his ideas they sound, despite our better judgement, convincing somehow. They don't sound dumb just for our benefit. He is a real seller - charismatic, charming, smart and emotionally engaging. We know his arguments are born of hate, and we know they're not even worth contemplating, but they're surprisingly clever - and sure to win over people who have an open mind for this nonsense. What complicates Daniel's choice of lifestyle though is the fact that he's secretly Jewish. The Believer is based on the true story of Klansman Daniel Burros, who in 1965 was outed as being Jewish and went on to commit suicide on the same day a story about him was printed in the New York Times. Our Daniel tries to get into the good graces of far right figures such as Curtis Zampf (Billy Zane) - more palatable Neo-Nazi figures for mainstream American audiences. He also, as a goal that runs concurrent with his political aspirations, wants to "kill a Jew", and becomes part of a group who have experience with firearms and explosives.

Man - watching this film right now, at this point in world history and more specifically American history is far, far more frightening than it might have been watching this movie in 2001, when it was originally released. Back then I would have thought that we'd have nothing to worry about in relation to the extremists we see in The Believer, because they'd all be completely rejected by mainstream society. Now I see the possibility that fascist groups might become a protected species instead of the other way around, and that extreme right political figures might actually find their way into positions of power and influence. Director Bean, who is now 79, only ever directed two features in his career - the other being 2007 comedy Noise, so it's hard to discern just how devoted he was concerning this subject, but he wrote the screenplay as well and did a really great job at constructing a believable yet troubled young character in Daniel, trying to distinctly see who Daniel Burros might have really been. Gosling was a complete unknown at the time but carries the entire movie on his well-built shoulders here - a man at war not with Jews or African Americans but with the very concept of God itself.

By the end of the movie I was glad to see that this was not simply Australian film Romper Stomper adapted for an American audience but very much it's own thing - the whole project seemed to be leaning that way, and a little bit of reading would have set me right, but it's simply the fact that there aren't many films out there where the protagonist is an out-and-out irredeemable Neo-Nazi. This movie does a few interesting things and at times almost seems to be paying homage to the likes of A Clockwork Orange (Daniel, when told a horror story by old members of the Jewish community who survived the Holocaust, he sits back and imagines himself as the Nazi in the story) and other films that deal with wanton violence. Most of the other young Neo-Nazis are of course the kind that we're well and truly used to seeing on the news - absolute idiots who are mostly interested in guns, dressing up, marching around shouting and doing things which prove just how ignorant they really are. This shows up Daniel as the odd duck he is - surely a proto-Hitler with the potential to do a lot of harm because of his ability to be a little smarter. In the end though, his aims or no more intelligent than his slack-jawed buddies. The combination makes him an especially scary character, and this film more than a little chilling.

Glad to catch this one - won the Grand-Jury Prize at Sundance Festival in 2001 along with the Golden St. George at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival .

3.5

https://i.postimg.cc/wjhcVvWG/the-believer2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : The Eternal Daughter (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Believer

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/J0svZdNJ/the-eternal-daughter.webp

THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER (2022)

Directed by : Joanna Hogg

The Eternal Daughter was such a sad experience for me. Now, don't read too much into that, because there are certain movies that simply remind me of my mother - she passed away in 2019, and we were close. Movies like Mrs Lowry & Son do it to me because Vanessa Redgrave was the very picture of my mother in that film - it happens sometimes, and it happened here. Julie (Tilda Swinton), a middle-aged screenwriter/director is taking her mother Rosalind (Tilda Swinton) to a hotel that was once an estate that she lived on as a child. Yes - a very Tilda Swinton thing to do, play both the mother and daughter. Rumour is this hotel is haunted, and indeed Julie is absolutely plagued with odd noises at night, bumps and murmurs - but the really freaky stuff occurs when she's out at night with her dog Louis (either letting him out to do his business, or searching for him when he's run off), when she sees ghostly apparitions in the windows. Even more trying than that however is her obsession that everything be perfect, and her compulsive desire to please her mother and see that she's completely happy every moment of the day. It's a mindset sure to break down any individual, and force them to confront their emotions in and honest and forthright manner.

So, for those who want to know (I won't reveal spoilers in this review), this is more a "relationship between mother and daughter" movie than a haunted house ghost story, although there is certainly a sense of things going bump in the night. It's a weird visit to a fair-sized hotel, because it seems that Julie and Rosalind are the only two there - and that starts to make more sense when you find out that this was made at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wales when a lockdown had gone into effect. There's a grand total of 5 actors in this film, and two of those are very briefly seen. There's never any mention of why the entire hotel is empty, and there's even a weird confrontation at the start where Julie has trouble with her booking and which room she wants despite every other room in the place seemingly being available. The Hotel Receptionist (Carly-Sophia Davies) is curt, rude, impatient, lazy and generally sour - not the best mix when dealing with a fussy, obsessive-compulsive, needy and delicate guest. In fact, I kind of expected that to go somewhere - but instead it just is what it is. You get a sense of how far Julie is from the norm when you compare her to her mother, who is quite happy with most everything and sleeps very soundly at night.

So, how did I like this? I was moved, but I still haven't quite come to terms with how I feel about the double performance here. I ended up asking myself far too many questions when presented with the way this is filmed - mostly without both Julie and Rosalind in the same shot, so you'll watch Tilda Swinton say something, then cut to a slightly different Tilda Swinton answering and so on. Rosalind does eventually interact with the caretaker at the hotel - and I mention this because surely like me everyone will ask the pertinent question - "Is Julie's mother really there?" It's a part of the cinematic landscape now, so audiences must be aware enough to always ask the question. The fact that it always looks like Tilda Swinton talking to herself only heightens that uncertainty. This is an empty hotel filled with ghosts after all. Regardless of how this ends however, it is touching and I personally connected with it - I think Swinton does a fine job in a supremely difficult position by carrying double the load. Joanna Hogg uses sound in very ingenious ways to unnerve us when we sense some kind of paranormal entity lurks the halls, and makes us search in the darkness for spectral whisps - but in the end it's a much more internal haunting that's happening in The Eternal Daughter.

Glad to catch this one - on critics' "Best of 2022" lists this came 2nd on Molly Haskell's (Screen Slate), David Sims' (The Atlantic) and Florence Almozini's (Film Comment Poll) and 3rd on Monica Castillo's (RogerEbert.com) and Justin Chang's (The Los Angeles Times).

4

https://i.postimg.cc/wjT7Gk3t/the-eternal-daughter2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 426 (-24)

Next : Starbuck (2011)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Eternal Daughter

[Stirchley]

https://i.postimg.cc/J0svZdNJ/the-eternal-daughter.webp

THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER (2022)

Directed by : Joanna Hogg

The Eternal Daughter was such a sad experience for me. Now, don't read too much into that, because there are certain movies that simply remind me of my mother - she passed away in 2019, and we were close. Movies like Mrs Lowry & Son do it to me because Vanessa Redgrave was the very picture of my mother in that film - it happens sometimes, and it happened here. Julie (Tilda Swinton), a middle-aged screenwriter/director is taking her mother Rosalind (Tilda Swinton) to a hotel that was once an estate that she lived on as a child. Yes - a very Tilda Swinton thing to do, play both the mother and daughter. Rumour is this hotel is haunted, and indeed Julie is absolutely plagued with odd noises at night, bumps and murmurs - but the really freaky stuff occurs when she's out at night with her dog Louis (either letting him out to do his business, or searching for him when he's run off), when she sees ghostly apparitions in the windows. Even more trying than that however is her obsession that everything be perfect, and her compulsive desire to please her mother and see that she's completely happy every moment of the day. It's a mindset sure to break down any individual, and force them to confront their emotions in and honest and forthright manner.

So, for those who want to know (I won't reveal spoilers in this review), this is more a "relationship between mother and daughter" movie than a haunted house ghost story, although there is certainly a sense of things going bump in the night. It's a weird visit to a fair-sized hotel, because it seems that Julie and Rosalind are the only two there - and that starts to make more sense when you find out that this was made at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wales when a lockdown had gone into effect. There's a grand total of 5 actors in this film, and two of those are very briefly seen. There's never any mention of why the entire hotel is empty, and there's even a weird confrontation at the start where Julie has trouble with her booking and which room she wants despite every other room in the place seemingly being available. The Hotel Receptionist (Carly-Sophia Davies) is curt, rude, impatient, lazy and generally sour - not the best mix when dealing with a fussy, obsessive-compulsive, needy and delicate guest. In fact, I kind of expected that to go somewhere - but instead it just is what it is. You get a sense of how far Julie is from the norm when you compare her to her mother, who is quite happy with most everything and sleeps very soundly at night.

So, how did I like this? I was moved, but I still haven't quite come to terms with how I feel about the double performance here. I ended up asking myself far too many questions when presented with the way this is filmed - mostly without both Julie and Rosalind in the same shot, so you'll watch Tilda Swinton say something, then cut to a slightly different Tilda Swinton answering and so on. Rosalind does eventually interact with the caretaker at the hotel - and I mention this because surely like me everyone will ask the pertinent question - "Is Julie's mother really there?" It's a part of the cinematic landscape now, so audiences must be aware enough to always ask the question. The fact that it always looks like Tilda Swinton talking to herself only heightens that uncertainty. This is an empty hotel filled with ghosts after all. Regardless of how this ends however, it is touching and I personally connected with it - I think Swinton does a fine job in a supremely difficult position by carrying double the load. Joanna Hogg uses sound in very ingenious ways to unnerve us when we sense some kind of paranormal entity lurks the halls, and makes us search in the darkness for spectral whisps - but in the end it's a much more internal haunting that's happening in The Eternal Daughter.

Glad to catch this one - on critics' "Best of 2022" lists this came 2nd on Molly Haskell's (Screen Slate), David Sims' (The Atlantic) and Florence Almozini's (Film Comment Poll) and 3rd on Monica Castillo's (RogerEbert.com) and Justin Chang's (The Los Angeles Times).

4

https://i.postimg.cc/wjT7Gk3t/the-eternal-daughter2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 426 (-24)

Next : Starbuck (2011)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Eternal Daughter

Loved this movie. Saw it twice.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/dVqb7TpX/starbuck.jpg

STARBUCK (2011)

Directed by : Ken Scott

There's an uneasy balance coded into Starbuck's DNA that made the movie feel a little disingenuous to me as far as character goes, and I'll get it out of the way at the outset. Main character David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) - otherwise known as "Starbuck" - is a screw-up of monumental proportions. He owes the mob (the Canadian mob?) $80,000, and is forced to grow weed in his apartment. He messes up everything he's put in charge of - including getting his soccer team the uniforms needed for the start of the season. He can hardly do the easiest job related to his family's business - delivering meat. The central core of the film is the fact that he donated so much sperm for cash at a Quebec sperm bank that he's fathered 533 children. As much as I liked this movie in general, Wozniak does not go on to earn the reputation he's saddled with at the start. I don't think he had to be a bad person - of course not - but his character goes on to do resoundingly well at everything he sets his mind to, and by the end of the film I couldn't square the Wozniak I was introduced to at the start of the film and the Wozniak I knew by the end. They were two completely different characters. You'd feel well entitled to put the Wozniak at the end of the film in charge of organizing the Olympic Games. I'm not talking about his redemption - I'm simply talking about his character, and his capabilities.

Wozniak learns about his multiple progeny when a group of over 100 try to overturn his confidentiality agreement so they can find out who their father is. When he receives a file with their various profiles in it, he secretly starts to either introduce himself to them (without the admission that he's "Starbuck") or follow them - and begins to help each one in whichever way he can. Soon he becomes part of the group, without the group knowing that he's the one they're looking for. In the meantime his girlfriend, Valérie (Julie Le Breton) gives him the news that she's pregnant, and although doubtful at first, he discovers he does have what it takes to be a father after interacting with his various adult kids. Helping him with the wrangle over his confidentiality is his lawyer friend - played by Antoine Bertrand. The film is funny enough without being a complete riot, and quite cheery. I found it so hard to stay conscious of the fact that this is set in Canada, because of the fact that everyone is speaking French. In fact, it took until the mid-point of the film before I realised at all that this was Canadian, and not a French film. Quebec still hasn't seceded - and don't get me started about how I used to think there'd be fewer and fewer different countries in the world as time passed, but it seems that there's more and more as nations break down into different autonomous groups.

Anyway, if you like really sweet films and you're not averse to finding out that the main character in this, despite the way he's introduced, has an absolute heart of 24 karat gold and is a beautiful person, then you might like this movie. It has a good sense of humour, and Patrick Huard can absolutely play the part. Antoine Bertrand is pretty funny as well as the lawyer with kids of his own who keeps trying to tell Wozniak that parenting is a nightmare. I kept on waiting for our protagonist to screw everything up, because his character was totally set up to do that, and in most other films of this sort he'd mess it all up big time before earning his redemption - but instead Starbuck is stupendously great and everything he does to help his adult offspring comes up roses. I'm sorry if that's spoiler territory - but that's such a large part of how this movie is unusual. In any case - the main dilemma here is whether he decides to tell all of these people that he's their father, and if Valérie wants him to be a part of her and her kid's life. Thing is, it makes no sense by the end because we learn that David Wozniak is the perfect man, and a wonderful father. That's a completely different person to the one we meet at the start of the film - the incompetent mess who was in deep with the mob. I guess finding out you've fathered over 500 kids is the wake-up call every down and out schlub needs to get their life together and stop messing around. In Starbuck, it looks kind of fun.

Glad to catch this one - remade twice - in France as Fonzy in 2013 and in the United States as Delivery Man that same year, with Vince Vaughn in the lead role.

3

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Watchlist Count : 426 (-24)

Next : Blacker Than the Night (1975)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Starbuck

[Takoma11]

Excited to hear what you think about Blacker Than the Night.

(I HIGHLY identified with a certain character, and I'll say no more until you watch it!)

[Wooley]

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THE BIG HEAT (1953)

Directed by : Fritz Lang

The Big Heat ticks so many boxes as far as great film noir traits go, and good movies period. Lets start with Glenn Ford, who seriously exudes a real masculine toughness as homicide detective Dave Bannion, one that has flexibility enough for him to feel right at home with cool wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando - yes, you're right, Marlon Brando's older sister) and his young daughter. Ford has always impressed me as far as his versatility goes, his version of machismo including so much warmth - even as far as villain Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma seeming sympathetic and attractive thanks to his easy aura. He's up against a whole criminal enterprise here, and impossible odds seeing as kingpin crime boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) has the whole city in his pocket. Noir allows for all manner of norm-breaking, and I really think we're nudged in the direction of noticing that Lagana might have a gay partner - a domestic closeness between him and a co-conspirator in the bedroom seems to hint at that. This being a 1953 film, I think that just might be the way I saw it - but it sure seemed that way. Add to the volatile mix a young Lee Marvin as hoodlum Vince Stone. Ever since I saw Reservoir Dogs I've thought that being a Lee Marvin fan might mean there's something wrong with me - but I can't resist it. He's the epitome of vile, but it's the performance I admire - not the character.

The movie starts with a suspicious suicide, mysterious envelope, and the wife of the top cop (now widow), Bertha Duncan (Jeanette Nolan) willing to be part of a conspiracy by hiding the contents of said envelope. It's Dave Bannion who smells something rotten, and he won't let go of it despite the pressure he starts feeling from above - he knows that the cop in question wasn't suicidal, and that Bertha is hiding something. The plot details take darker and darker turns until you're hard-pressed to believe this is really a 1953 feature - I was kind of astonished. Late in the film Vince Stone's "girlfriend", Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame) becomes and important figure, and something horrifically violent happens to her that further twists what has become one of the grimmest film noir classics I've ever seen. Gloria Grahame gives her eccentric gangster's girl some fun tweaks that I found really original and fresh considering the lack of variety you see in the roles women would get during this era. All the more shocking to see what's done to her. It all pre-empts a rather strange abrupt ending that nevertheless doesn't feel wrong, just surprising. I was left with a feeling of "wow" - Fritz Lang could still turn out something brilliant despite being in the twilight of his career.

I don't like to harp on run-times, it feels like such a hot-button topic amongst film fans these days - but at 89 minutes The Big Heat never gets to outstay it's welcome, and has everything it needs to tell a solid crime story. If made today, it would no doubt go for 150 minutes. I swear, there's an obsession these days with "more", and there's no regard as to whether "more" is actually better. Quality above quantity I say - tell your story in as economic fashion as you can. I liked just about everything here. The performances, the cinematography with it's surprisingly stark, well-lit straight-forwardness and the charged dialogue. Everybody is ready for a fight in this story, and although I was at times begging Bannion to back down or course he never does - becoming almost foolhardy in his brave all-or-nothing stance. A bright light of moral integrity where there is not one person left who hasn't backed down in the face of threats and violent intent. The kind of character who'll stand up to a mob despite being hopelessly outnumbered. I remember my father's tone when Superman came out in '78, when he said "That's Glenn Ford!" I didn't get why that meant anything - this old man playing Pa Kent. I get it now - I get why he had that reverence in his voice after seeing this actor shine during his trips to the movies long ago.

Glad to catch this one - In Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and packed off to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for preservation in 2011.

4.5

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Watchlist Count : 428 (-22)

Next : Inside (2023)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Big Heat
Fantastic movie. Just really hit me when I finally saw it a few years back.

[PHOENIX74]

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BLACKER THAN NIGHT (1975)

Directed by : Carlos Enrique Taboada

They're young, cheerful and wear strikingly colourful clothes, but the young ladies in Blacker Than Night are a generational force that are about to defile what's sacred in this Carlos Enrique Taboada horror film. It's one that aims high - the cat at the center of much of the drama is called Bécquer, after a 19th Century Spanish poet and writer of such horror tales this is. I'm always going to side with the cat - especially a soon-to-be orphan named after a semi-obscure wordsmith. You see, it belongs to old Tia Susana (Tamara Garina), who immediately dies - leaving her estate to her only living relative, young Ofelia (Claudia Islas). There's one heartfelt condition though - she must look after Bécquer and see that he comes to no harm. Ofelia decides to move into to the regal old house Susana left to her, and invites her young friends - Aurora (Susana Dosamantes), Marta (Lucía Méndez) and Pilar (Helena Rojo). They waste no time declaring to the old maid Sofia (Alicia Palacios) how ugly everything is - but save their most vicious scorn for Bécquer. The cat only wants it's favourite spots (and Aurora's bird) but the girls' desecration will stop at nothing and it's not long before something or somebody has to step in and start evicting these tenants from the house so they can find other accommodations six feet under ground.

This was probably the one of the best horror films I've seen that deals with generational gaps and the difficult divide that exists between the very young and the very old. When you add a black cat to the mix, there's almost a desire for people who are young and carefree to label Tia Susana an old witch. The lack of respect the young women show kind of culminates in a great multidimensional scene where they all try on old clothes and ruthlessly mock out-of-date fashion statements while the camera leers at the actresses as if to accentuate the power they exert because of their age. If you weren't already feeling for the departed soul whose life this all represents, Taboada shows Susana peering through a window as if she's not dead. As if things couldn't get any worse, the girls find Susana's old wedding dress, which they snatch despite the best efforts of Bécquer to stop things going this far. The importance of tradition and that which is sanctified is something you can tell young people about, but you never really feel it until you get older - and for me back then and most young people it's true when you say "nothing's sacred". When one of the girls mentions how she finds a statue she comes across hideous, Sofia tries to explain to her where it came from and what it means - to little effect.

First and foremost - cat abuse is horror to me, so if you harm one in any way you deserve what's coming to you. Sofia never went as far as to plead that Ofelia look after her things and treat them with respect - but she did stick her neck out for her precious Bécquer, and there's little sympathy shown either way. When death does occur in the movie, it has some of the visual qualities I associate with giallo movies - but I'm certainly no expert when it comes to that genre, so don't quote me on that. You also feel the faint echo of proto-slasher stirrings by the time the film ends, if that makes any sense. What impressed me though (despite the fact that there are many villains) was the fact that this was a Bechdel test-smashing, fully committed movie where woman are the complete focus and driving force, while men are unimportant side characters. Both Carlos Enrique Taboada films I've seen have come completely from a female perspective - and his one moment of leering was message-driven and not simply voyeuristic. Refreshing for a movie in the mid-70s, where women's liberation was certainly up and moving in Mexico but not established in all walks of life. Intelligent and well-shot, with superb production values and set design, this is a horror film with a really satisfying literary feel to it. I'm definitely checking out more of Carlos Enrique Taboada's stuff.

Glad to catch this one - this was remade in 2014, again in Mexico with the slightly different title Darker Than Night - it's in 3D and was directed by Henry Bedwell.

4

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Watchlist Count : 427 (-23)

Next : La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Blacker Than Night

[Takoma11]

I'm so glad you liked it!

I particularly enjoy the fact that the ghost of the aunt just wants to take out the people who hurt her cat. I think it creates a very sympathetic point of view for the killer.

Like you say, there's an interesting cultural gap between the older and younger characters.( In this film it's the younger people who come off terribly, but we all know that older generations can be very dismissive of young people.)

And I also appreciated that the film treats the murder of the cat as seriously as it treats the murder of the people. It's a cruel and unnecessary death and it is horrific and the movie treats it as such. So many horror movies use the death of animals/pets as just a plot touchpoint, and I appreciated seeing a pet treated with such reverence and seriousness.

[PHOENIX74]

Like you say, there's an interesting cultural gap between the older and younger characters.( In this film it's the younger people who come off terribly, but we all know that older generations can be very dismissive of young people.)


There's a compelling dynamic in this with Sofia, the older character, being a maid, and thus certainly expected to hold her tongue and not tell the girls exactly what she's thinking - even when she's being badmouthed for no particular reason other than the fact that there's a generational gap and she cares about stuff. She's in a terrible position because I don't think you could easily quit and leave a place you've lived for a long time, so suddenly you're beholden to these young people who have no respect for anything - I really felt for her. You could tell what she was thinking a lot of the time.

[Takoma11]

There's a compelling dynamic in this with Sofia, the older character, being a maid, and thus certainly expected to hold her tongue and not tell the girls exactly what she's thinking - even when she's being badmouthed for no particular reason other than the fact that there's a generational gap and she cares about stuff. She's in a terrible position because I don't think you could easily quit and leave a place you've lived for a long time, so suddenly you're beholden to these young people who have no respect for anything - I really felt for her. You could tell what she was thinking a lot of the time.

Agreed. The tensions cut across socio-economic lines and generational lines. The house is, in effect, more Sofia's than anyone else's, and yet she has no say over it.

[PHOENIX74]

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LA COMMUNE (PARIS, 1871) (2000)

Directed by : Peter Watkins

I stand back, and look at La Commune (Paris, 1871) with one hell of a lot of admiration and respect. This isn't a movie that's different for the sake of being different - it's eccentricities yield concrete results for both the casual viewer and those who might want to analyse it with more thoroughness. The hard part is the fact that this has a running time of 345 minutes - but more about it's length later. This is about a moment in French history when revolutionaries set up their own government in Paris during the Franco-Prussian war, and were put down by the French Army despite their Commune being defended by the National Guard. But more than that, this film is about revolution as a whole, as well as economics in our current age and world politics. The events aren't filmed as they normally would be - we're given a tour of the set before everything commences, and are introduced to some of the actors who talk about their characters. Then, when the story does commence, performers often stop to explain how their characters are feeling, or else about how the actors themselves are feeling about anything they may wish to express during peak moments of tension or emotion. It's all a very free-form process where there is no fourth wall anymore, with both real world and imaginary world bleeding into each other.

Another difference you'll find in the Paris of 1871 is that in this version television and the media exist as they do today. No other modern technologies or differences are apparent but that - so we get to see news broadcasts and television interviews during the months of revolution in Franco-Prussian-war era Paris. A large portion of the film is devoted to on-the-street interviews - and Watkins has hundreds of actors at his disposal here all playing their parts. Throughout the film we get regular intertitles that explain in detail all of the events as they transpire - something I really appreciate, because that makes it much easier to follow proceedings. They impart much information, and it means the actors don't have to constantly worry about exposition - they can simply get on with playing their roles. Many of these roles consist of people attending committees and meetings where passionate revolutionaries debate about what actions to take, but there are also convent schoolgirls, wealthy older ladies who are against the Commune, soldiers from the National Guard and historical figures like French President Adolphe Thiers (played by Jean Giacinti). Everyone plays their part as if this is all 100% real while at the same time free to express themselves in any way they see fit and make comparisons to today's world. It's as if two worlds have fused together into one.

So this one requires stamina to a certain degree - (but it's by no means the longest film made by Peter Watkins - that would be Resan, which tops the list of "longest non-experimental movies in history" at 873 minutes.) I could have watched the "short version" of La Commune, the theatrical cut, but even that goes for 220 minutes. Watching, we can see how the revolutionaries frequently shoot themselves in the feet - often making conditions for the poor even worse than they were before, seeing wages continually cut as they try to do too much too quickly and lose sight of the bigger picture. They waste time debating, and their debates are never filtered - there should be a process where ideas can be seconded, voted on and then implemented into real-world action. Instead, energy and time is wasted. When the French troops do eventually arrive, despite having months, they catch the National Guard flat-footed and unprepared. While many revolutionaries are happy to give their lives for the cause, the civil war ramps up until terrible atrocities occur - monstrous even by today's standards. Throughout Watkins manages to glean what's pertinent for today's world, perhaps in the hopes he can wake people up from their slumber. Some historians think much of what's rotten with today's system of governance and finance started in Paris, 1871. I don't know about that - but I do know that this is an insane movie-making feat that does something profound to both filmmaker and spectator.

Glad to catch this one - Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice listed this as the #1 film made since 2000. It holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

5

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Watchlist Count : 429 (-21)

Next : Full Time (2021)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch La Commune (Paris, 1871)

[Stirchley]

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IKE : COUNTDOWN TO D-DAY (2004)

Directed by : Robert Harmon

When you watch a television film called Ike : Countdown to D-Day you pretty much know what you're going to be getting, and you get exactly what you expect to. There's a certain uniformity to television films that depict history or biography (often a combination of both), and that can be both a blessing and a curse. All I wanted from watching it last night was to learn a few historical details, and I counted on Robert Harmon and writer Lionel Chetwynd being in a position where they'd be expected to not depart too far from fact and accuracy. Reading up on it, that seems mostly true apart from a few details and the use of specific terms. We meet Dwight D. Eisenhower (Tom Selleck, in a piece of surprise casting) in discussions with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Ian Mune - we could have done with Gary Oldman) as the decision is being made to make the former Supreme Allied Commander. I'm making assumptions here that those reading are familiar with World War II on a very basic level. From there it's basically a series of meetings that correspond with major decisions being made and events being reported to Ike. Disciplining an errant General Patton (Gerald McRaney), having a difficult, quite testy conversation with French General Charles de Gaulle (George Shevtsov) and conferring with First Army Commander Omar Bradley (James Remar). He has endless back and forth exchanges with British Field marshal Montgomery (Bruce Phillips).

This is all about the war, and has basically nothing to do with Dwight D. Eisenhower's personal life - unless you regard the problems he had with his personal friend, Major General Henry Miller (Paul Gittins), who got drunk one night and let all of the invasion plans slip in front of a crowded bar - much to the shock of his fellow officers, who were aghast. Ike had to deal with punishing someone who was close to him, and it seems to have been something that affected him deeply. That's not to say that sending men to their death didn't weigh on him - a lot of Ike : Countdown to D-Day deals with the man contemplating the ugly truth of war. You'll find nearly one out of every three conversations he has deals with his misgivings about the realities of war. Whenever I sit back and contemplate modern warfare it becomes a concept that seems so bizarre, because killing - one of the most dramatic, horrible and momentous occurrences that can happen in life, and is rarely encountered - becomes commonplace all of the sudden. People in battle have to go through with their activities while at the same time knowing that at any moment they might die. When you really think about it, it's hard to wrap your head around that. I guess that Eisenhower had to have been thinking about that a lot, while not directly experiencing it.

So, Ike : Countdown to D-Day was fine. It went through the motions, but at least contained a lot of information that I didn't know about. In fact, there wasn't much that I did actually know happened, because this really got right into details. Worries about tanks sinking into wet sand on the beaches. A great deal of anxiety about the weather (I knew about that at least). Decisions to be made about how far back paratroopers were going to be dropped (without knowing how fast they could be relieved, it was a gamble.) If you're looking for something more human and personal, you'll be disappointed - this is a very political and historical film, and not at all artistic or humanistic apart from the wringing of hands regarding casualties. I never got used to seeing Tom Selleck bald without a mustache - he would have blended in more if he didn't have such a distinctive, recognizable voice. I don't know if this is accurate, but he did give Ike a very warm, convivial and welcoming countenance. I do enjoying learning new facts and getting better acquainted with history, thought I doubt I'd pick up a book about this exact subject - which is why I wanted to watch this. I heard something about it, and it went into my watchlist - pretty much matching expectations.

Glad to catch this one - filmed entirely in New Zealand with New Zealanders playing the British and Americans playing the Americans. First aired on the A&E channel.

3

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Watchlist Count : 426 (-24)

Next : Bound (1996)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Ike : Countdown to D-Day

Why couldn’t the British play the British? How very odd.

[PHOENIX74]

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FULL TIME (2021)

Directed by : Eric Gravel

I probably understate the importance of a film's score in many of the reviews I write - but it's impossible to overstate the importance of Irène Drésel's pulsating, heart-pounding electronic musical accompaniment to the action in Eric Gravel's Full Time. Without it, I don't think we'd be fully in tune with our protagonist's mental state. She's Julie Roy (Laure Calamy) - a single mother with two overactive little dervishes who lives a high-pressure life, her career, menial job, parenting and social life precariously balanced and in constant threat of careening out of control into outright destruction. She works as a head maid at a serious 5-star hotel for demanding, wealthy clients which requires a lengthy commute each day, but is secretly slipping out for job interviews in the hopes of restarting her serious marketing vocation. Juggling that with raising children is not for the faint-hearted, but when transport strikes hit Paris she finds that getting to and from work while also slipping out for interviews and not completely betraying her overworked nanny - all the while trying to chase up critical alimony payments from an non-communicative ex-husband - is setting the stage for the utter disintegration of everything she's worked so hard for. Facing the prospect of losing everything, Julie has to fight on any way she can and hope that her fortunes don't destroy her altogether. Amongst all the trouble and turmoil, she has to carry on and host her kid's birthday party as if nothing at all is amiss - another stress to add to an almost impossible load as her funds run out.

Sheez. Modern life is completely stupid - the pressures so psychologically draining. I find that most of the people I know hover on the brink of complete financial ruin as if that's the natural state of modern man. These days it takes two incomes to support a family, which means if there's kids then parenting and housework are an added pressure to people who are out burning up all their energy working. Don't even think about losing that job - you might never find another one. Don't even think of moving - rents are sky high, vacancy rates are near zero, and if you're paying off a mortgage than may God have mercy on your soul. Nobody is holding the power company to account for increasing the cost of electricity to absurd levels, and the same goes for the supermarkets who find it necessary to do much less competing with each other so prices can be fixed at nice high ranges. The car that's so essential to all of your life's crucial pursuits costs a king's ransom to run and keep legal as petrol prices skyrocket, and don't forget your phone and internet bill. All of this is why just about all of us can relate to Julie Roy and her battle to just keep it all together without crashing her life into a reef and sinking - being a parent, working a demanding job and simply looking after all the critical elements of her existence. It'd be interesting if a test group could watch this film while doctors monitor their stress levels! I bet they'd go through the roof. As mentioned earlier - the pounding score gives this all a rapid, fight-or-flight level heartbeat of it's own.

Laure Calamy's performance is extremely praiseworthy as well - every emotion writ large on her very expressive facial features. She reminds me of someone I know and kind of regret not keeping in touch with. I found the work maids have to do in 5 star hotels fascinating - there's an exactitude and perfection required that is up at obsessive compulsive levels, and as you can imagine it's the perfect job for Éric Gravel to give the heroine in this story. It ups the pressure by giving her an extremely demanding menial job. He also gives her two of the loudest, most obnoxious kids possible - although they're cute and not monsters, just hard to deal with. Julie's nanny is always on the verge of quitting, and as with her job she's never able to keep her appointments or promises as far as she's concerned. It all makes for an extremely tense and exciting movie - although I kept wondering why Julie had money troubles considering the fact that she had a pretty good job. A hint at some kind of issue would have quelled that constant irking question that kept bothering me. I mean, it didn't look like she lived an extravagant life or had any other avenue that would burn up large amounts of cash - and she even used public transport. I do get it though - from what I learn in movies along with what I hear in the news, life in Paris is expensive. I don't think this is a film I could watch multiple times - but for a one-off it is particularly excellent and timely.

Glad to catch this one - it won a couple of César Awards in '23 - one for Irène Drésel's music (go figure) and the other for Best Editing. Full Time also snagged the Best Director Award and Best Actress for Laure Calamy at the Venice Film Festival. Nice.

4

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Watchlist Count : 431 (-19)

Next : You Can Live Forever (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Full Time

[Stirchley]

⬆️☑️☑️☑️ LOVED THIS MOVIE

[PHOENIX74]

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YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER (2022)

Directed by : Sarah Watts & Mark Slutsky

First love can be a one of the largest deflection points of our lives depending on how it goes, and I don't envy those who happen to land on some kind of "forbidden" romance. Religion often plays a part in this, and it complicates the matter in more ways than one - which is what You Can Live Forever shows us in it's telling and emotionally searing way. Young Jaime (Anwen O'Driscoll) has just lost her father, and has ended up living with her aunt Beth (Liane Balaban) and uncle Jean-François (Antoine Yared) - who just happens to be a devout Jehovah's Witness. Invited to a meeting of the local congregation, Jaime attracts the eye of the daughter of congregation leader Frank (Tim Campbell). Her name is Marike (June Laporte), she's a true believer and the two share a hot and heavy kind of chemistry that's like a humid, overcast day when thunderstorms are forecast. Jaime also finds a firm friend in Nate (Hasani Freeman) - someone she can relate to on a more normal wavelength, because the world of Jehovah's Witnesses is one of head-spinning rules and restrictions. As Jaime's aunt and uncle start to become concerned with the time alone she spends with Marike, life becomes a dizzying, intoxicating paradise just waiting for two terribly different worlds to collide.

So, yeah. It would be hard enough navigating being gay as far as parents are concerned, but to be part of a somewhat cult-like organisation, with parents like Marike's, I doubt if life would ever be completely okay. My parents sighed with relief that I wasn't gay when I first brought a girl home, and even that reaction was disappointing for me, because they basically let it be known they were at least a little homophobic. What if I had of been gay? Sometimes it's not easy to just say "leave your parents" or "run away" - and when a person believes like Marike does, the whole situation becomes even more complicated. I loved the way You Can Live Forever explored the complexity of family, belief, sexuality and teenage love by mixing so many different elements together and not veering too far into outright melodrama but keeping a steady hand on the wheel. I loved the way it explicitly and patiently showed that see-saw of confusion and uncertainty that often accompanies falling in love at such a young age, and gave it all plenty of time to breath. By the time the film ends you'll have a much clearer picture of our two characters and a deep sense of sadness in general - it glides home like poetry.

Co-director Sarah Watts, who also co-wrote, grew up in a Jehovah's Witness community, so she has first-hand knowledge of the kind of life that can lead to, and the kind of beliefs you either adopt, struggle with or reject. I'll bank on the fact that nobody reading this is one when I say that they're completely ridiculous, and that nobody in their right minds would ever simply adopt these beliefs - but you can instill this belief in children if you bring them up with no alternate beliefs or alternatives. It makes for an interesting situation in a film of this sort however, with a non-believer kind of invited inside a community because of a family tragedy. A great source of conflict - in every single direction you take the narrative. The young performers here really acquit themselves well, and don't overdo anything - a temptation for a drama involving such heightened emotions. Not many of the actors in this are established cinematically, but that often makes for a much more genuine and carefree presentation of real life. Overall it hits a similar tone to Never Rarely Sometimes Always in that regard - and if I'm mentioning a film in comparison with that great 2020s release, then it has for sure done something particularly well. I thought it was an excellent feature.

Glad to catch this one - won best film at the LGBT+ Film Festival in Grenoble, while it's directors were nominated for Best Direction at the Canadian Guild Awards.

4

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Incidental Watch : BUG (2006)

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Watchlist Count : 441 (-9)

Next : Sisu (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch You Can Live Forever

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/3R4MNLhr/sisu.jpg

SISU (2022)

Directed by : Jalmari Helander

Quentin Tarantino would probably like Sisu, and although the dialogue doesn't quite match up, this is a very Tarantino-ish movie. It's an action film set in Finland suring the Second World War, but gets very cartoonish, and won't please you if you're hoping for any kind of realism. It is, of course, ultra-violent, with people getting squished, blown up, stabbed, shot, strangled, drowned and hanged. Our protagonist is Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), a crack commando who has retired from the forces having had enough of war. We meet him searching for gold, which he duly finds, but a platoon of Waffen SS soldiers retreating from Finland cross paths with him - and when they try to steal his gold all hell breaks loose. During Russia's invasion of Finland the Red Army ended up giving Korpi the moniker of "Koshchei" - which means "the immortal", but what really keeps him going is the Finnish concept of "sisu", which has no English translation, but means stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness. In other words, Korpi never gives up and simply refuses to die - his resolve stronger than the Grim Reaper and his ability to kill greater than the Nazis at first realise. When naked, you can't help but notice that this guy has received cuts and wounds you'd only ever expect to find on a corpse after an autopsy has been performed.

The bad guys in this are exceedingly bad - and fair enough, since they're Waffen SS. Just like in Come and See, the platoon has it's own rape van which is transporting a group of half a dozen Finnish women for use as sex slaves and hostages. The men are literally filthy, fed up, scarred, burned, jaded and brutal. Sisu's make-up artists have really put a lot of work into making them look real, but any sense of realism eventually slips away once the action starts in this movie - and that's not necessarily a criticism. It's just a personal preference for me regarding action films that they be more realistic than silly - especially when they concern war. There are moments in Sisu that are blatantly impossible, and the movie doesn't really set itself up as being so frivolous when it first starts, but slowly sinks to that level. I might be overstating that a little - nobody screws their head back on or keeps walking around when they're flat as a pancake - but it was still an issue for me. Surviving because of skill is one thing, but surviving despite taking horrible injury after injury and walking away from incidents that would kill an elephant feels like cheating sometimes. "How did he survive that?" There's no clever answer - he just did. Korpi belongs to that group of immortal beings that include the likes of Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees - except in this case he's only a monster if you're a Nazi.

All that said, Jalmari Helander manages to give his film a fascinating look that often combines utter destruction with surreal beauty. There are some shots in this I'd like to frame and put up on display, they look so nice. The Finnish landscape at different times of the day/ dusk and at night can be magical despite the grittiness concerning the narrative and our characters - and I enjoyed that part of Sisu immensely. At one stage Korpi happens upon a village burned by the Nazis due to their "scorched Earth" policy when retreating from the Soviets and Finns, and the fires are at their peak - a vision that goes beyond what you might think hell would be like. The dialogue is something of a weak spot - and for a great part of the movie belongs solely to the Nazis. Korpi never speaks until the last scene of the film. This movie depends on it's action and look, and the action belongs to the new John Wick school of stylised violence - fast, exacting, inventive and brutal while being a step above what you'd consider a real fight would look like. I'd imagine a very mixed response from audiences depending on taste, and I could easily understand why some people might dislike it while others love it. It caters to a particular audience - and while I was absolutely entertained I do question some of it's more extreme, over the top tendencies.

Glad to catch this one - picked up Best International Film at the Saturns Awards in 2024. The great cinematography from Kjell Lagerroos won at the Jussi Awards and Sitges Film Festival in Spain.

3

https://i.postimg.cc/1tSVByhn/sisu2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 442 (-8)

Next : Peeping Tom (1960)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Sisu

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.ibb.co/nzBhG6J/peeping-tom.jpg

PEEPING TOM (1960)

Directed by : Michael Powell

I have to keep reminding myself that Mark Lewis (Karlheinz Böhm) is a serial killer, because Peeping Tom isn't the kind of film that's going to relegate him to the role of villain or monster. It has other things it wants to do, and as such isn't anything like a slasher or regular horror movie. We meet our main character as he's in the process of stalking and murdering his first victim (or the first that we're privy to), so at first everything seems clear cut - but as we spend more time with him and he interacts with downstairs neighbour Helen Stephens (Anna Massey) we learn much more about him. Mark and Helen seem very sweet on each other, and what complicates Mark's character is that we see how he has the capacity to love, be kind and respect others. His killing is a project born from childhood trauma, but outside of this he holds down several jobs - he's a photographer for local newsagent (and pornographer) Mr. Peters (Bartlett Mullins), however his main job is as focus puller on a film crew. He's shy, hesitant to speak and eccentric - and despite the fact that he is pretty much insane, he's not silly insane. That's what makes it all the more painful that he's doing what he's doing.

Director Michael Powell was obviously one of the more brilliant and intelligent filmmakers of his generation, and Peeping Tom comes heavily laden with tons of subtext and meaning. Nearly every single time we get one of these films about voyeurism, cameras and such we're (the audience) implicated and become part of the film's aura ourselves. Films can't exist without an audience (if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there, does it make a sound?) It's something we rarely question ourselves about - why do we keep wanting to sit down so we can watch other people play out private moments, or at times see people murdered, scared, hurt etc.? Is there something intrinsically wrong with that? Is there something inside all of us that makes us willing Peeping Toms? It's fun to reflect on just how curious Helen and her blind mother (played by Maxine Audley) are with what Mark films in his private moments - they probably aren't expecting snuff films, but is their curiosity not at all morbid? Helen stays keen on Mark even after she's presented with one of his father's films, which consists of him experimenting on his own son using various methods to provoke fear in him.

Whatever the meaning, I grew to really like Mark, which didn't sit right with me because of what he's doing murder-wise. We just spend so much time with him and he seems so nice! I mean, you can sense something is off about him, but he's so polite, well-meaning, introspective and even handsome. He just needs to see something on his projector screen - and that's where Peeping Tom merges with what's less sanguine about our need to be voyeurs. Our more prurient desires that open up marketplaces for societies ills writ large and repeated endlessly on screens all around the world. That schism which exists in Mark made this film a challenge for audiences in 1960 to accept, and was really way, way ahead of it's time. With the advent of the internet all doors were unlocked (there's a running theme about keys and locked doors in the film) and flung open - society has changed so much as to be unrecognizable to the world of 1960, and Peeping Tom is now a cult classic, revered by film scholars and cinephiles. It's the kind of movie ripe for endless analysis and also one that's hard to classify as horror or thriller - a psychologically complex and searching story about observation and the dichotomy between what we see on a screen and what's real in the moment.

Glad to catch this one - Criterion #58 and in Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Also named the 78th greatest British film of all time by the British Film Institute.

4

https://i.ibb.co/ZYBw31L/Peeping-tom3.jpg

Watchlist Count : 441 (-9)

Next : Corpus Christi (2019)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Peeping Tom

[SpelingError]

Peeping Tom is pretty great. Nothing new for the genre. Just an incredibly well-done film which often gets left out of the discussion since Psycho from the same year overshadows it completely in popularity.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/sfHC6YjG/corpus-christi.webp

CORPUS CHRISTI (2019)

Directed by : Jan Komasa

Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) is a vibrant, resourceful and determined young man - 20 years of age and a wide-eyed force of nature. He's a drinker, he's a drug-taker, he's a fornicator, he's a fighter - and he's finishing a stint in a juvenile detention center. What makes Daniel even more different than he already seems is his passionate yearning to become a priest - a vocation now beyond his reach due to the fact that he has a conviction against his name. He's obsessive about his Catholicism - but his mentor, Father Tomasz (Łukasz Simlat), wishes he'd be more focused on arriving in time to his probationary-period employment at the local sawmill in a distant Polish village. On his way there, Daniel stops in at the local church, drawn there, and can't help but cheekily tell the girl sitting just in front of him, Marta Sosińska (Eliza Rycembel), that he's a priest. This lie will eventually lead to Daniel taking over from the current old priest of the village who needs time away for a medical evaluation - and he'll be holding sermons, taking confession and doing all of the duties a real priest actually does. Nobody has a clue that he's not one. Slowly, Daniel becomes embroiled in the village's recent tragedy -the loss of 7 lives, where one man has been unfairly blamed and the man's wife ostracized and bullied - an injustice he can't let stand, despite the fact it might be something that blows up in his face.

What's right and what's wrong might be clear once all facts have been determined, but in this world both emotion and politics can twist everything so completely that all is clouded over and over again. Daniel comes up against the local mayor, who has all of the power - never mind if the young man is right or wrong. Daniel also comes up against the grieving relatives of those lost, who in their torment cannot bear to consider if their rage is misdirected - never mind if the young man is right or wrong. The whole matter becomes so engrossing that only occasionally do we again become aware that - "oh hell - this guy isn't really a priest", and that's one big bomb sitting there waiting to go off. What's frustrating though is that Daniel is a superb priest - probably even more suited to being one having seen many of the darker sides of human nature first hand. He takes his role super seriously, and loves the position so much he doesn't take advantage of all the free booze that comes his way by dint of who he now is - instead throwing himself wholeheartedly into bettering the community, and connecting with all of his parishioners. Can he last out his time before it's discovered that he was only pretending to have been ordained?

Based on a true story this one - although I have no idea how illuminative or illustrative the real-life events were. The characters in Corpus Christi did behave how real people often behave though - especially Marta's mother Lidia (Aleksandra Konieczna), who is disdainful of Daniel mostly because of his age, and refuses to see any other alternative to her grief other than what her preconceived notions will allow her to. A look and a sigh can say so much. In the meantime Bartosz Bielenia is electric and an actor with real talent because it's hard to fake the kind of belief, passion and enlightened fervor Daniel displays in the movie - while also willing to take detours into being sexual, getting high, and being downright mean. The movie really rests on his young shoulders. There's one other cool thing about this movie that really resonated with me - it was directed at (by being set in) the politically conservative right-wing portion of Poland, where certain brotherly and forgiving aspects of Christianity get payed lip-service to by older priests who go through the motions. It takes an odd interloper to show up the status quo. Very good movie this - it has a lot to say and does so in a wonderfully indirect way, while telling an interesting story nonetheless.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for Best International Feature Film Academy Award at the 2020 Oscars (the year Parasite won.) Also won 11 awards at the 22nd Polish Film Awards, including Best Film.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/3wnR7fSQ/corpus-christi2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 441 (-9)

Next : Straight Time (1978)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Corpus Christi

[Takoma11]

I LOVED Corpus Cristi (thoughts HERE (https://www.movieforums.com/reviews/2406841-corpus_christi.html)).

I was watching an interview that a young Polish YouTuber was doing with Jim Cummings, and Cummings said his favorite film of the year was from Poland, which was the first time I'd heard of the movie.

It was such a pleasant surprise. I hope more people check it out.

[PHOENIX74]

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STRAIGHT TIME (1978)

Directed by : Ulu Grosbard

Where has Straight Time been all these years? I remember once, as a kid, seeing a scene from this film. It's the scene where recently paroled Max Dembo (Dustin Hoffman), who has just been put through the ringer in a harsh and dehumanizing way, is travelling in a car with his parole officer Earl Frank (M. Emmet Walsh). In a fit of fury Max commandeers the car, drags Earl out and handcuffs him to a fence next to a highway only to then pull his pants down and leave him stranded. That scene (and I remember just catching it, but not seeing the whole film) has been stuck in my mind for years and years. The only problem was, for most of that time, I've been thinking that the actor playing Dembo was Jack Nicholson. A misconception has been put right. Anyway, this is a searing tale about how hard the system makes it for criminals to go straight in the United States. Once out of prison, parole conditions can be severely restrictive and humiliating, jobs impossible to get, old friends forbidden and any semblance of pride or dignity ground down into dust. Dembo tries hard to go straight - he gets a job at a cannery, his own place, a girlfriend (Jenny Mercer - played by Theresa Russell), and he plays everything straight with parole officer Frank. It's Earl Frank though who jumps on a minor transgression, sending this film careening over the edge into a very dark place indeed.

Honestly though, I wasn't on Dembo's side in this film. As much as I'd like to be a rebel, I'm afraid I have to admit to being a (probably overly) conscientious rule-follower. Max has just finished a 6-year prison sentence - but he's not free and clear yet. He should be more careful. Is Frank too overbearingly strict though? Maybe, maybe not. Where Frank does go wrong though is in taking away Dembo's dignity at every opportunity, humiliating him and treating him like he's a child, goading him, teasing him and in the end burning him. Dembo is so isolated and alone in his new world on the outside that the temptation proves too much when it comes to calling an old friend - obviously strictly prohibited. Meet Willy Darin (Gary Busey), his young son Henry (Jake Busey) and wife Selma (a young Kathy Bates). Later on we meet another friend of Dembo's who is going straight - Jerry Schue (Harry Dean Stanton). There's something terribly amiss in the straight world for these characters. The lack of excitement. The daily grind, where you're always under someone's thumb. All of the rules and regulations which stop an enterprising person from getting anywhere. The lack of the kind of camaraderie you get when you're undertaking a criminal enterprise. In some ways, for these people straight time is worse than prison.

In Straight Time Dustin Hoffman proved that he could play the other extreme to his Benjamin Braddock character in The Graduate - he's completely convincing as the hard-edged, dangerous and very masculine Max Dembo. We're cheering him on at first, and I guess it's up to the individual viewer as to whether they're still with him by the time the film ends. Did society not cut him enough breaks? Or does he genuinely want to go back to jail - a place he wistfully describes as one that provides it's inmates with a degree of certainty in their lives? That the film manages to explore so much of the issues concerning criminality, the justice system, the dehumanization of that system when it deals with criminals and so much else makes it a standout feature no doubt. It gets right in there - and obviously none of the actors here let us down. There are a few brutal body-blows and a final image that's going to stick with me (reminding me a little of the end to The 400 Blows.) Oh, and very notably this not only features a short cameo performance from Eddie Bunker, but it's based on his novel - No Beast So Fierce. That only adds to the feeling of authenticity that girds and strengthens the film's shape and tone. It deserves a much bigger presence than it currently has.

Glad to catch this one - the critics lauded this film but interestingly the creative control Dustin Hoffman had (he was originally slated to direct and have final cut) led to the film coming in over-time and over-budget. The studio took control, Hoffman sued the studio and the bad press meant this wasn't as big a hit as it should have been.

4.5

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Watchlist Count : 443 (-7)

Next : Five Came Back (2017)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Straight Time

[SpelingError]

Straight Time is really great and underseen. That it takes its sweet time to get going ultimately works in its favor since it manages to trick us into sympathizing with Max, only for his true colors to gradually reveal themselves in the second half.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

Straight Time is amazing, but I haven't seen it in years. Is it streaming anywhere?

[PHOENIX74]

Straight Time is amazing, but I haven't seen it in years. Is it streaming anywhere?

All over the place. Amazon, Apple, YouTube and Google being the more standard kind of places where it's available.

[iluv2viddyfilms]

All over the place. Amazon, Apple, YouTube and Google being the more standard kind of places where it's available.

OK, sorry I guess I was thinking without paying additional charges. I have Criterion, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. It is on youtube and apple but costs and it's not streaming on Prime. Thank you though!

[Captain Quint]

They have the DVD on the shelf in my library district... which helps you not at all. But that might be a local source worth checking on.

[Wooley]

Honestly, I think Hoffman was a better actor than DeNiro or Pacino.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.ibb.co/gmy7YZg/Five-came-back2.webp

FIVE CAME BACK (2017)

Directed by : Laurent Bouzereau

Excellent three-part documentary for film nerds this - a comprehensive account of what five famous filmmakers went through when they joined up after America became embroiled in the Second World War. It all adds up to 195 minutes of history mixed with a recounting of the personal lives of John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens - five of the most prominent directors of their day, who would go on to make propaganda films and documentaries as well as compiling a visual record of the brutal conflict. Their tales almost feel like fictional creations, such is the drama, suspense and general arc of their experiences. Ford - the gruff and most rough of the five was a self-admitted coward, but put himself directly in harms way. He was sent home after his experiences during D-Day broke him. Wyler was rendered deaf while filming Thunderbolt! - he only ever recovered partial hearing in one of his ears. Many of Huston's films ended up being censored despite his determined efforts to portray war as it truly was. Capra's Why We Fight documentaries are still famous today, but less so are the likes of Know Your Enemy, which portrayed the Japanese in such a negative light that it was deemed as going too far, and never saw release - in any case, the war was nearly over. Stevens helped prepare Holocaust footage for the Nuremberg trials - he directed comedies before the war, but in the years after never made another comedy again.

Something that really struck me here is how these filmmakers made some of the greatest films of all time upon returning home after the war. Wyler came out swinging with The Best Years of Our Lives, which swept the Oscars the following year. For Huston it was The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, if you don't count the excellent documentary Let There Be Light, which was controversial and ended up being banned and not released until the 1980s. In the meantime Frank Capra ended up making his much-revered classic It's a Wonderful Life. I don't know whether these men made such enduring classics because of what they'd been through or simply because their domestic output had been stifled for so many years that they'd all been refining ideas in their minds all this time. Added together, these five have made so many films that I love that I really don't have room enough to mention them all in this review. It's a little astonishing that they were all at the front lines during America's fight against the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Five Came Back gives us more than their personal stories though - it includes a general background on propaganda films in general, and how the Americans were awe-struck by the Nazis ability at this (Leni Riefenstahl gets a special mention) and how they learned from what the British were doing before they really got their footing. The initial films from these guys fell way short of the mark, and many were flops.

So, all of what we learn is really interesting - doubly so for me, because I love history in general and of course I'm a film lover. Narrating is Meryl Streep, and at first this struck me as odd, but from the very beginning her voice is somehow a natural fit for what we're seeing - so much so that you soon forget it's her doing the talking. She ended up winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narration. The various talking heads include many current-day filmmakers of note, and that includes Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Lawrence Kasdan and Paul Greengrass. Jeremy Turner's score is so damn good it's something I could listen to apart from the film itself - especially if I needed some kind of inspiration, with it's heart-pounding, stirring force and presence. Loved the music. I came away from Five Came Back thoroughly entertained and more knowledgeable about these filmmakers, and that's what I call value for money (especially because this is a Netflix film so basically didn't cost me anything.) It gave me perspective on a number of movies that I otherwise didn't have as much context for, and that I think will make seeing them all the more enjoyable, as I'll understand them more. I might actually look into getting myself a copy of the Mark Harris book of the same title, to fill in even more of the picture. Really strong presentation all-up, with few weak spots - and definitely recommended.

Glad to catch this one - apart from Streep's win, composer Jeremy Turner was also nominated for an Outstanding Music Composition Emmy Award, very deservedly. (Jeff Russo won that year for his work on the series Fargo.)

4

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Watchlist Count : 445 (-5)

Next : Sanctuary (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Five Came Back

[Takoma11]

I loved Five Came Back and recommend it whenever documentaries come up. It's fascinating to see how the different men interpreted their traumatic experiences into their films. It's also shocking to see some of the footage they shot during the war: the part where the men are hosing blood and gore off of the deck of a ship, or the part where a man clearly having a breakdown is trying not to be too vulnerable even though what he clearly needs is to have a good cry.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/pVf02pqX/Sanctuary.webp

SANCTUARY (2022)

Directed by : Zachary Wigon

Being a big fan of Christopher Abbott's talented range and ready for more Margaret Qualley after her breakout role in The Substance, I was of course interested in what Zachary Wigon and Micah Bloomberg's Sanctuary had to offer - but this is one I should have been really excited about. It is true that I happen to love movies like 1972 thriller Sleuth - two characters alone during a psychologically intense situation really do it for me, and while that Joseph L. Mankiewicz classic was based on a play, I'm surprised to learn that Sanctuary wasn't. Not that it matters at all - this intense psychosexual deep dive into the dynamics of a professional relationship between Hotel magnate Hal Porterfield (Abbott) and top-rate dominatrix for hire Rebecca Marin (Qualley) does a lot with the limited space it has to work with, but would be just as compelling as a radio play or even novella. The bonus is just how well Abbott brings to life the powerful but weak-willed and uncertain heir to a Donald Trump-like dynasty and Qualley equally shines as the psychologically astute game-player who is all-in for a reason we can't quite fully discern. Does this woman want money, or Porterfield? Or is this all just a complex consensual game?

I thought I had a firm handle on what Sanctuary was going to throw down as it's final card, but I was pleasantly surprised to have been proved wrong in that this film isn't so intent on tricking us with some clever twist. Instead the intensity of the experience is simply set to reveal layer underneath psychological layer concerning the two characters in it. Here we have on the very surface a masculine and feminine person who defy all gender expectations as soon as we start digging under the surface. It doesn't take too long to start that digging, but it also doesn't take long for what we'd consider more "normal" gender roles to start imposing themselves on what is meant to be a professional relationship - and this dichotomy, mixed with normal human emotions, large sums of money, mistrust, the nature of the game these two play and all the other elements which make up this strange relationship is set to cause some highly charged, unusual drama for us to watch as Porterfield tries to put an end to his and Marin's role-playing sessions so he can concentrate on succeeding his father after the "win at all costs" Porterfield Snr's death. The two often veer into extremely dangerous territory as Porterfield's hotel room starts to resemble a battlefield.

It was the ending that sealed the deal for me - in every regard. It happened to be a confirmation of all what I hoped this movie might have really been about, and I hope my wishes remain vague enough for that to not be a spoiler. I have to emphasise again - Abbott and Qualley are so good in this, and although the film isn't at all sexually explicit in it's imagery, there are of course a truckload of personal revelations which unveil the utter peculiarity concerning Porterfield's likes and mores - hence the fact that he hires this dominatrix to play out his bizarre fantasies and needs - something I find hard to contemplate when imagining myself as an actor. There'd be an urge to play that in a comical way - as pure farce, instead of opening up and becoming as vulnerable as his character is. It's a tough role, and so is Qualley's - for she's a master seductress, and as Porterfield keeps saying, "very good at what she does" - a role that needs the kind of perfecting that any actor needs when portraying a talented professional of some particular field. From my perspective, she aced the part of Rebecca Marin - crucial for the film to work. Anyway - this would make an interesting double feature with Dogs Don't Wear Pants, and I mean that as the highest praise.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for the Knight Marimbas Award at the 40th Annual Miami Film Festival - only 6.2/10 on the IMDb, with which I've become increasingly distant considering what gets good ratings there.

4.5

https://i.postimg.cc/Fzt7XM47/sanctuary2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 444 (-6)

Next : Valdez Is Coming (1971)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Sanctuary

[Stirchley]

⬆️ Good movie.

[Takoma11]

I didn't read too much of your review, as I am very interested in Sanctuary (for the same reasons you were) and am trying to stay as spoiler free as possible. Your rating makes me all the more interested.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/jjTpqZs6/valdez-is-coming.jpg

VALDEZ IS COMING (1971)

Directed by : Edwin Sherin

When you meet Constable Bob Valdez (Burt Lancaster) you're in for a surprise, and not just because Lancaster is going full Mexican much like Charlton Heston did in Orson Welles' classic Touch of Evil. No, it's mostly because this protector of law and order is somewhat meek, and deferential to the white people he's surrounded by - and yeah, it makes his Rambo transformation more powerful, but I wasn't expecting so much attention being payed to the racial factors at play in this movie. Unfortunately, I haven't read Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name, so I can't make a comparison as to how movie and book compare - but it's no coincidence that the narrative opens up on an African American man and his Native American wife holed up in a shack that's under siege by a posse led by corrupt and powerful rancher Frank Tanner (Jon Cypher). It's Valdez who will end up killing the African American, in self defense, but the blame is not his - and the man turns out to not be the one Tanner was originally looking for. From this moment on, Valdez sets his sights on justice, which is brave considering just how alone he is amongst the movers and shakers he travels amongst - and it won't be long before Valdez must seek justice not for the widowed woman left behind in the killing's wake, but for himself and his friends also.

Valdez might seem meek and be extremely deferential to the white men who possess wealth and power, but as the film continues he exhibits his fearlessness and integrity in situations that are extremely tense. Eventually we'll see his ability as a dangerous man - for it turns out that Valdez was once a crack U.S. Cavalry soldier, and it was then that the film started to resemble a Wild West version of First Blood a little - apart from the fact that Valdez takes Tanner's fiancé Gay Erin (Susan Clark) as a hostage. Completing the cast is a young Richard Jordan as R.L. Davis, a sharpshooter Tanner hires, Frank Silvera as Diego, a good friend of Valdez and Héctor Elizondo as one of the Mexican riders. Originally, Marlon Brando was going to play Valdez with Burt Lancaster playing Tanner - but the latter's involvement in Airport led to too much of a delay, and that version never happened. The movie seems gritty and violent in a way that seems to be a response to movies like Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, which had come out just a few years prior - although some of this violence happens offscreen, or is cut away from at the last moment. Something I'd never seen before was the "crucifixion", where someone is tied to a cross but still able to barely walk - a very cruel position to put a person in, especially when there's nobody around to help.

I really liked Valdez is Coming, and I'm genuinely surprised at the middling reviews it often gets - I think Lancaster fits the lead role perfectly despite the obviously difficult to square fact that he's playing a Mexican. If I didn't know the actor, I would have been fooled into thinking this was a Mexican. He suits roles where his character sums situations up with only as many words as are absolutely necessary. He'd played an American fur trapper in The Scalphunters a few years previously, and wasn't nearly as captivating or convincing. The villain, Tanner, might be a little one-note but I have no trouble believing in the cruelty of men when acting in concert with each other, and how easy it comes to some when racial boundaries cause others to be seen as completely separate. The location work in Spain is crisp and clear, and if you're a fan of revenge flicks then no doubt you'll love just how far the main character is pushed and how much he deserves payback in some form or another. Lancaster and co must have been really disappointed at the reception this one got, but I gather there are a few people like me who simply really enjoy the basic, gritty bright and bloody snap this one delivers. I also have to say that Richard Jordan impresses as the hyperactive shooter who is crassly enthusiastic about the bad he does, but also feels moved to help Valdez when he's at his lowest.


Glad to catch this one - it was originally meant to be directed by Sydney Pollack, but that fell through for the same reasons that had Marlon Brando have to pull out.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/ZnqCtshq/valdez-is-coming2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 446 (-4)

Next : The Woodsman (2004)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Valdez is Coming

[WHITBISSELL!]

Watched that when it first came out. The brownface wasn't all that egregious and the novel is pretty darn great too. Elmore Leonard's early western novels were as good as his later works, just different genres. This also has a lot in common with Hombre. Another superb adaptation of a Leonard western.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/fTRfy6T0/the-woodsman.jpg

THE WOODSMAN (2004)

Directed by : Nicole Kassell

Tough subject - paedophilia. It's something I rarely talk about, if ever, and I'm lucky enough to have never been abused during my childhood. When I think about it, I think about those poor cops and investigators who have to view images and videos of kids being harmed for prosecution and investigative purposes. I'd be traumatized for life - and I guess some of these guys do get traumatized for life. The topic is disquieting, and as such so is The Woodsman, in which Kevin Bacon appears as Walter - a child molester who has just served 12 years in prison and is readjusting to the outside world again. He sees a counsellor (Rosen, played by Michael Shannon), is checked up on by a cop (Sgt. Lucas, played by Mos Def) at regular intervals and has been given a job where none of his coworkers know his secret. Despite starting a relationship with fellow outcast Vicki (Kyra Sedgwick), Walter still has constant urges and at times tests himself while around children. For some strange reason he has an apartment overlooking a school, and he starts to notice a fellow paedophile trying to groom students with candy and talk - all the while trying to lure the kids into his car. It's a day to day struggle, with Walter hating himself nearly as much as others hate him - and when people find out, their reaction is often violent and tinged with fury.

Brave doesn't seem a strong enough word to describe Kevin Bacon's commitment to this role - one in which he often creeped me out. If I were a famous actor, I doubt I'd have had the strength and confidence to take this part - but Kevin Bacon takes it and when you watch him he seems a natural fit just because he's putting effort into it. There's some great support as well from Kyra Sedgwick and surprisingly Mos Def/Yasiin Bey, who shines in his small role as the cop given the task of keeping an eye on Walter, and who tells him in no uncertain terms what he thinks of him. As good as the performances are however, this is a dour and dark movie which succeeds in being unsettling - and is certainly not for those hoping for a fun, happy and comedic knee-slapper. The film's subject is one that demands a certain level of respect and has to be treated seriously - so there are absolutely no moments of levity and there isn't much relief to be had as far as the film's tone is concerned. Walter is a deeply unhappy man and it's interesting to notice how even his relationship with Vicki brings him little real joy in life. It seems that for him, his struggle to not act on the urges he has creates an obsessive condition which is relentless and dominates his thoughts from day to day. As such, this isn't a movie I could really watch multiple times.

Filmmakers rarely tackle this subject head-on (an exception to that has to be Todd Solondz, who often returns to the subject of paedophilia and child abuse in his films), especially in a way that shows some sympathy for the perpetrator whose life is usually destroyed because of their own impulses and actions. There's some truth to the arguments of those who wouldn't have had Walter released - for the chances of him reoffending are high, and children must be protected, and as such what are we to do as a society? Hand these people life sentences? When I hear about arrests on the news, I simply want them put away and I feel a great deal of anxiety when I hear about repeat offenders being released. I don't have any answers - but The Woodsman did make me think about it all, and I have to admit that I rarely do think about it. It's grim, upsetting and seems all too common. Director Nicole Kassell has only ever made one other film - A Little Bit of Heaven, released in 2011. Otherwise she mainly works/worked in television. She really had something to say here though, and I'm guessing people will keep rediscovering The Woodsman and Kevin Bacon's most daring career choice. A difficult but memorable watch.

Glad to catch this one - nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004, the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival the same year and Best First Feature at the 20th Independent Spirit Awards for Nicole Kassell.

4

https://i.postimg.cc/XvDBcg5Q/the-woodsman2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 449 (-1)

Next : Dreamgirls (2006)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch The Woodsman

[Takoma11]

I agree that child abuse is a very hard topic to take on, especially from the POV of an abuser. The overall philosophical question of what to do with people who commit sex crimes is so hard because it's a crime so likely to be repeated (I believe the statistic is that the average rapist has something like 7 victims).

And I think that The Woodsman taps into the idea of just how precarious it is, because there is no cure for pedophilia. I read a letter to an advice columnist once that was from someone who was attracted to children, asking how to handle a situation where they had been asked to babysit by a family friend. And the columnist (in addition to being like YOU MUST NEVER BABYSIT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!!) wrote something very empathetic that really stuck with me: that there must be a lot of people out there in the world whose main (or only) sexual attraction is toward children, and yet they go a whole lifetime without acting on that drive. I think that The Woodsman does strike the right notes in terms of being disgusted with his prior actions, but also sympathetic to the idea of how challenging it would be to thrive in society with such a mental burden.

I may need to rewatch this at some point. My only experience watching it was seeing it with a group of college-age guys who spent the whole movie laughing at every part of it because heaven forbid they engage in emotional vulnerability.

[PHOENIX74]

https://i.postimg.cc/FR9gWvbS/dreamgirls.jpg

DREAMGIRLS (2006)

Directed by : Bill Condon

I'm not too proud to admit that I just learned a new term thanks to Dreamgirls - "Film à clef", which means a movie about real-life events and figures that basically switch around names and have fictional-type characters playing people that actually existed. The Great Dictator provides one of the best examples of this, with Charles Chaplin playing "Adenoid Hynkel", ruthless ruler of "Tomania", basically standing in for Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. In Dreamgirls the history of Motown and the popular group the Supremes glide by in a fictional context where the likes of the Jackson 5 are "The Campbell Connection" and the Supremes become "The Dreams", with Beyoncé Knowles as Deena Jones (the Diana Ross of the group), Jennifer Hudson as Effie White, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson and Sharon Leal as Michelle Morris - the singer who replaces White after she's let go. Also featured is Jamie Foxx as Curtis Taylor Jr (based on Berry Gordy Jr., founder of Motown), Eddie Murphy as James (Jimmy) "Thunder" Early (based on a combination of James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye) and Danny Glover as Marty Madison - Jimmy's manager before Curtis Taylor arrives on the scene. The Dreams initially get their toe into the business as backup singer for Jimmy Early - and the film is at it's most fun when Eddie Murphy hits his stride as a flamboyant performer, and most dramatic when Early is sliding into serious drug addiction as his career bottoms out.

Now, this might be Film à clef, but that's the only tweak which stops Dreamgirls becoming a full blown musical biopic - a genre I'm well and truly fatigued by. To be fair, the tweak does make the movie more interesting, and allows it to go in whichever direction it wants - but the tweak also has it's own headaches and drawbacks. When you listen to "You Can't Hurry Love" you understand why the song became a massive hit, but when you listen to one of the songs the Dreams sing in Dreamgirls, you serious ask yourself "would that really have become a hit?" The songs sound more like B-sides and lack the hooks and brilliance of numbers like "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Baby Love". They break the illusion by not living up to what they're achieving for the artists in the reality of the movie. Some of them come from the 1981 Broadway musical, and four new ones have been added - and who knows, maybe they weren't doing it for me because it was the first time I'd ever heard any of them. I do always think though, that you can't simply fake a phenomenon, no matter how much talent you have. Perhaps, also, I'm not a big enough fan for this to really grab me - I remember thinking, when The Campbell Connection sang at a concert that "I want to see a movie about these guys!" The Jackson 5 get me moving whenever I hear their music, and in the end it all comes down to personal taste.

I did like who we got for this film though - I really did. I'd like to see more of Jennifer Hudson - please. I'm always on Eddie Murphy's side, and have been since the 1980s and I wish he'd take more roles like the one he managed to nab for himself here (he really should have nabbed another Oscar nomination for his knockout performance in Dolemite Is My Name.) I'm also often concerned when I hear that Danny Glover isn't doing so well, so it's nice to see him get another decent role in a high profile film. Jamie Foxx is well and truly capable of playing hero and villain in the one movie. I was rather surprised when Dreamgirls crossed over into outright musical territory as characters began singing during dramatic scenes about what they were going through - the film seemed to have set itself up as a straight faux-biographical (Film à clef!) drama, but eventually it mixes in non-diegetic music and you have yourselves a movie with a little bit of everything. It didn't live up to the hype I'd been hearing about it for such a long time, and it's one that I really missed around the time it was being released - curiously, because with Eddie Murphy being nominated for an Oscar that sort of buzz should have pricked my ears. I don't think 2006 was a really great year for American films, and I was probably not fully plugged in. Here's to another overlooked acclaimed movie that I've now seen.

Glad to catch this one - Dreamgirls was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including for Best Supporting Actor (Murphy), Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson - who won), Art Direction, Costume Design, original songs "Listen", "Love You I Do" and "Patience" along with Sound Mixing (which it also won). Eddie Murphy did end up winning a Golden Globe for his efforts here.

3

https://i.postimg.cc/LskZZm4G/dreamgirls2.jpg

Watchlist Count : 449 (-1)

Next : Love According to Dalva (2022)

Thank you very much to whomever inspired me to watch Dreamgirls

[Stirchley]

⬆️ Would love to watch Dalva, but unavailable here in America so far. It’s in my watchlist though.

[jackkyy]

I haven't watched Dreamgirls 2006, thanks for the review.

[PHOENIX74]

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER RUN-THROUGH

That cracking pace I kept up during most of the year couldn't be kept up - I simply had too many responsibilities and things to do, and as such I decided that a feature of my watchlist threads would be a slight winding down in November/December to allow me to catch my breath, pay some more attention to my DVD collection and rewatches, and get ready for next year. I decided that 250 is a pretty nice target for a year's worth of watchlist movies watched - and this year, having seen and reviewed 17 movies over the past 2 months I nudged up to 249, so lets see if I can squeeze in one more bonus watch at some stage, but if not I'm happy with falling only one film short. I wanted to catch up by 150 movies on my watchlist, and much to my absolute amazement my watchlist is at 450 films. Exactly the number I started with at the beginning of the year! I didn't arrange that purposely. If you include incidental watches, that means I've added nearly 300 films to my watchlist this year - really heavy going, and I do not add movies to my watchlist lightly. I have to have a very urgent need to see any I add, and I generally don't add new releases because so many of those I end up seeing soon after adding them. I must have become so watchlist-focused that I rarely forget to add titles I find - many of them thanks to you good people at Movie Forums. I thought I was really up to speed on film before I came here, but there's an ocean of quality under the surface that makes a kind of "great movie iceberg", with those that are most visible only the tip of an amazing array of wonderful, unforgettable cinematic treasures. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to read, and now it's on too making a few lists based on the 249 movies I checked out in 2024.

BEST OF THE BUNCH

I may not have been as prolific, but that didn't stop me from getting to some pretty awesome movies to add to a new pile of favourites - and it makes me positively giddy to look back at how many great movies I know about and love after this project. These three are extremely different from each other, and were an absolute joy to watch (La Commune's length was a challenge! I have to say that!) Not only are the movies so very different, but with release dates of 1978, 2000 and 2022 they have a kind of beautiful 22 years apart symmetry to them.

https://i.postimg.cc/gkx9vg70/commune.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/sXH6xrs4/straight.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/3wsjcx86/sanctuary.jpg

BEST OF THE REST

I actually had way too many movies to include in the "Best of the Rest" category, and really, some of them come awfully close to be deserving of a place in the "Best of the Bunch" section - especially The Eternal Daughter, which haunts me in an emotional way to this day. A very high proportion of the movies I watched over the last few months turned out to be great (and the rest were never any lower than "average"), so it gives me great impetus for next year, which I'm really looking forward to a lot. I remember being sad, thinking that once I've caught up on all my watchlist films this will all be over. I never, ever, ever, ever could have guessed that I'd still have as many films in my watchlist despite seeing and reviewing nearly 250 movies from it, and also catching 20 or so by accident without realising they were on the refill-machine of a list I have. I'm starting to think that the number of great movies out there is in fact infinite.

https://i.postimg.cc/nr191vhF/eternal.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/bNkp4zxn/blacker.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/xCz4qdTy/full.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/J465VLR1/you-can-live-forever.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/nhKV9HMx/peeping.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/qvZr3z09/valdez.jpg

There are very honorable mentions in The Woodsman, Five Came Back and Corpus Christi - they are seriously good films and it's absolutely crazy that they didn't make either section in this run-through. I think this small collection had a really great spread of quality about it. Anyway, for now it's on to looking through the year - the highs and lows and my votes for the best of the year and such!

[PHOENIX74]

MY 2024 TOP 25

Okay - time for a bit of a countdown here. I've compiled the entire list of all 249 movies I've watched and reviewed for this thread, and I've also put together a Top 25 list that pretty much reflects how I feel about the best of them. These are the ones I liked the most, and what a list it makes.

25

FALLEN ANGELS (1995)
Directed by Wong Kar-wai

https://i.postimg.cc/wMPCB0cT/angels.jpg

This film is what finally prompted me to get the gorgeous Criterion Collection boxed set of Wong Kar-wai films, which is like no other packaged collection of films I've ever bought. Already loved In the Mood For Love, and seen enough of this filmmaker to realise that I have to have all of his films.

https://i.postimg.cc/ncTJ7GF2/fallen.jpg


24

LE BONHEUR (1965)
Directed by Agnès Varda

https://i.postimg.cc/QMdJ65Tj/le-bon.jpg

Exactly the same went for Agnès Varda after I saw a couple of her films that were on my watchlist - I went out and bought Criterion's "4 by Agnès Varda" which includes Le Bonheur and another 3 movies (I've yet to see La Pointe Courte.) A great introduction to her work, which is amazing. Another great set.

https://i.postimg.cc/KYc4BDgD/le-bonh.jpg


23

LOVE EXPOSURE (2008)
Directed by Sion Sono

https://i.postimg.cc/6qSt2dxz/love.jpg

Third Window Films released a really nice 2-disc Blu-Ray of Love Exposure - a 237-minute long Japanese film that equal measures bonkers and brilliant. Very happy to have that in my collection now, because I absolutely adored this crazy movie.

https://i.postimg.cc/Jz46stQH/love-ex.jpg


22

LE CHAT (THE CAT) (1971)
Directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre

https://i.postimg.cc/PrhdNGFv/cat.jpg

I had to go as far afield as Spain to get my hands on a Blu-Ray edition of The Cat for my collection, but as long as El Gato has English subtitles (it's a French film anyway, so any version I would have bought would have been watched with English subtitles) I'll get it and include it. The transfer is nice and the movie itself is a searing melodrama I'm not likely to forget any time soon.

https://i.postimg.cc/662nhPwQ/le-chat2.jpg


21

PONETTE (1996)
Directed by Jacques Doillon

https://i.postimg.cc/XJFNr9Sn/pon.jpg

I'm sorry to say I don't have Ponette in my collection yet, but that will be remedied fairly soon. It's such a sweet, sad film and what a pint-sized performance from 4-year-old Victoire Thivisol - miraculous really, and something that simply must be seen.

https://i.postimg.cc/gjFrrKgK/ponette.jpg

[PHOENIX74]

20

JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (1975)
Directed by Chantal Akerman

https://i.postimg.cc/7660kXft/jeanne.jpg

I ended up adding Jeanne Dielman to my Criterion Collection - another movie in my Top 25 that has a running time exceeding 200 minutes (and not the last.) This was a title impossible to ignore after the 2022 Sight and Sound poll included it as their Number One film. It is indeed mysterious and very unique.

https://i.postimg.cc/PJfw4ykQ/dielman.jpg



19

THE DEVILS (1971)
Directed by Ken Russell

https://i.postimg.cc/wMKmKzJF/dev.webp

A friend of mine happens to have this on just about every media format there is, and yet I don't have a physical copy for my collection. I will do, it's just that I haven't found a copy that isn't exorbitantly priced. It's nearly worth the price though, because it's such a powerful, and at times horrifying, movie.

https://i.postimg.cc/HLgWCLPr/devil.jpg



18

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (1929)
Directed by Dziga Vertov

https://i.postimg.cc/4dBBgBsm/man.jpg

I've put an order in for a neat Blu-Ray of Man With a Movie Camera - a great piece of Soviet documentary filmmaking. Really inventive and so transfixing, and although it's easy enough to find online I do like having all of my favourite films on physical media with extra features and a place in my collection.

https://i.postimg.cc/SK6b4FnV/movie-cam.jpg


17

DEEP CRIMSON (1996)
Directed by Arturo Ripstein

https://i.postimg.cc/5th5wTpc/deep-crim.jpg

Deep Crimson isn't the easiest film to get your hands on DVD-wise, but HVE and Mk2 released it and I simply had to have it. It's relatively bare-bones but includes the theatrical trailer and a booklet with an essay by film expert Jorge Ruffinelli, which is enough for me, especially considering how fond I am of this great, great movie.

https://i.postimg.cc/T1LpC3PC/crim.jpg


16

LA COMMUNE (PARIS, 1871) (2000)
Directed by Peter Watkins

https://i.postimg.cc/L6vXdWqz/comm.jpg

I've also ordered this 345-minute long behemoth which I'm sure to get stuck into some time in the nearish future, because with a film this huge I have to admit that there are probably parts I really need to see again - but obviously it's something I'll need to break up into several sessions. It's a film that's extremely relevant, and only gets more so the more time passes.

https://i.postimg.cc/sDKpnwsL/la-com.jpg

[crumbsroom]

I've had Deep Crimson sitting unwatched in my house for about ten years....maybe it's time.


Isn't it based on the same story as The Honeymoon Killers? I think my attitude was..."what are the odds its better than that?" so never bothered.

[SpelingError]

I need to get to Love Exposure at some point. It's a fairly big blind spot.

[Takoma11]

I've had Deep Crimson sitting unwatched in my house for about ten years....maybe it's time.


Isn't it based on the same story as The Honeymoon Killers? I think my attitude was..."what are the odds its better than that?" so never bothered.

It is based on that same story. It's the third film I've seen of the story and it's definitely worth checking out.

[PHOENIX74]

15

NOBODY KNOWS (2004)
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

https://i.postimg.cc/cHrWx8Gm/nobody.png

I'm becoming a bigger and bigger Hirokazu Kore-eda fan the more of his films I see, and Nobody Knows was an absolute (so many Australian slang words come to mind, and I try not to make what I write incomprehensible) joy to watch. I'm sure I'll see it quite a few more times, and the DVD was very easy to find and buy - released and distributed by Madman who are one of the more prolific labels these days here in Oz, and aren't just restricted to physical media having become huge internationally.

https://i.postimg.cc/kXjk4gwY/knows.jpg


14

THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (2004)
Directed by Víctor Erice

https://i.postimg.cc/tTxx1Jh3/beehive.jpg

The pain of an entire nation wrapped up in a child's perspective and inspired filmmaking - I can't say no to that, and I had to get the Criterion edition of Spirit of the Beehive on DVD, which is well worth having. Because I'm getting older, my own childhood memories have the aura of myth around them - like they happened so long ago that they never really happened at all. Instead, they're the dream that lingers first thing in the morning.

https://i.postimg.cc/3wBKtTYs/spirit.jpg


13

MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ (1971)
Directed by John Cassavetes

https://i.postimg.cc/5yGvjzrS/minnie.jpg

Now Cassavetes joins a very esteemed group of filmmakers on this list. I had to go as far afield as Holland to get Minnie and Moskowitz on DVD - seeing as the subtitles are optional, it's fine with me because I can sure understand what everyone is saying. I've yet to watch a Cassavetes/Rowlands collaboration that I didn't thoroughly enjoy, and I doubt they ever made a film together that I won't like. This one was simply brilliant, despite being one I don't hear that much about.

https://i.postimg.cc/xjxdrHBc/mo.jpg


12

WHAT HAPPENED WAS... (1994)
Directed by Tom Noonan

https://i.postimg.cc/Wzmk24Z5/what.jpg

Well, wasn't this one a bit of a surprise? Tom Noonan's independent feature bowled me over, and Oscilliscope's DVD release has a whole slew of special features as well as in an-depth essay by Sheila O'Malley on the inside cover (which necessitates taking the slip out of the plastic case) which reads quite well. It's funny how boutique releases like this are so very, very good but if you go to your local store selling movies the shelves are loaded with popular tripe. Loved this movie.

https://i.postimg.cc/7LvJT7NK/happ.jpg


11

CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS (1966)
Directed by Jiří Menzel

https://i.postimg.cc/ZKBrBTSK/close.jpg

I've ordered the Criterion Collection DVD of Closely Watched Trains - it really is a must have, and I look forward to adding it to the collection which keeps growing and growing. Can I outpace the rate Criterion releases their films and possibly catch up? If I keep watching films as good as this one I'll be compelled to.

https://i.postimg.cc/bwnWTcQq/wat.webp

[WHITBISSELL!]

It is based on that same story. It's the third film I've seen of the story and it's definitely worth checking out.Seconded.

[PHOENIX74]

10

SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (1965)
Directed by Sergei Parajanov

https://i.postimg.cc/nLCsgBqJ/shadows.jpg

Artificial Eye, now Curzon, who I'm getting more and more films from overseas and particularly Britain, have released Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors on DVD and I plan on getting myself a copy soon - it's pricey so I'm waiting a while, but I absolutely need this film for my collection. Simply brilliant Soviet-era Ukrainian film that is a masterpiece - particularly visually. Unforgettable, and a real pleasure to watch.

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2ZwzgCF/ances.webp


9

THE HEIRESS (1949)
Directed by William Wyler

https://i.postimg.cc/4dG1gWPc/the-heiress.jpg

This one is on Criterion and it was a very easy decision to buy it as part of my collection, because I thought The Heiress was absolutely brilliant. What else can I say? If I were compiling a 1940s Top 10 it'd probably slip in their somewhere, but even though it received 8 Oscar nominations it was a box office bomb. Maybe audiences are wary of period films, or perhaps it was up against stiff competition or was marketed poorly. Sublime masterpiece.

https://i.postimg.cc/KvxNKG6M/the.jpg


8

BLACK RAIN (1989)
Directed by Shōhei Imamura

https://i.postimg.cc/YSdNZZ8y/black.webp

Something nearly too awful to contemplate, but of course 1989 Shōhei Imamura film Black Rain is poetic and awesome in it's power to help us digest what happened all those years ago when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. I'll get myself a copy of this on DVD soon, it's an absolute must-have and I'm surprised to have overlooked this important addition. Great, great film.

https://i.postimg.cc/0j4KCqk7/rain2.webp


7

UMBERTO D. (1952)
Directed by Vittorio De Sica

https://i.postimg.cc/8Phtzytt/umberto.jpg

Classic film, and criminal that it took me so long to get to it. I immediately bought the Criterion Blu-Ray which was an absolute no-brainer - pardon the expression. Will I watch it again without stopping it early and saving myself the emotional intensity of it all? I guess it's the whole point, so no. There's something about people and their dogs that just gets to me. Vittorio De Sica was a cruel genius!

https://i.postimg.cc/J7Q8vWkQ/u.jpg


6

MARKETA LAZAROVÁ (1967)
Directed by František Vláčil

https://i.postimg.cc/BZHPRtS1/marketa.jpg

Another great Criterion release and I wasn't going to miss out on this one - it's fantastic. I don't know how it's not number one, but I just saw too many brilliant movies this year and as such here it is. A new favourite film, and possibly the best Czech film ever made.

https://i.postimg.cc/SN5sshxp/laz.jpg

[crumbsroom]

I need to revisit Marketa Lazarova. When I read about the positive experience people have with it, it sounds like exactly the kind of thing i would love, but unfortunately I never quite remember the movie in the way that its fans seem to write about it.


I'm sure my slight ambivalence towards it is completely wrong.

[SpelingError]

Plenty of great films so far. I'll be sure to check out what I haven't seen yet.

[WHITBISSELL!]

Wow. I've actually watched 5 of the previous 10.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-02-2016/Z7HG1D.gif

[PHOENIX74]

My Top 5, from this thread, for the year.


5

IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
Directed by Nicholas Ray

https://i.postimg.cc/LXPSBjy8/lone.jpg

I didn't know much about In a Lonely Place until recently. Bogart could really play good or bad, and here he gets a good dose of both to extremes, playing a complex and pitiful character that only he could bring to life in such a vivid and startling way. I wasted no time buying the Criterion DVD and I'm very glad I'm up to speed. Superior film that's one of Bogart's best, and that's really saying something.

https://i.postimg.cc/bNmQjnTJ/bog.jpg


4

A TOUCH OF ZEN (1971)
Directed by King Hu

https://i.postimg.cc/2y7KQNt2/touch2.jpg

I was really not expecting to love A Touch of Zen as much as I did. Easily the best wuxia film I've ever seen in my life - sheer brilliance in a cinematic sense and a must-see even for people who aren't fans of the genre! Incredible movie that surprised the heck out of me. Eureka! released a "Masters of Cinema" 2-disc edition of the film which is absolutely wonderful - booklet, endless special features and beautiful presentation for a film that really deserves it.

https://i.postimg.cc/Qt4Rw3mC/zen.jpg


3

FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES (1969)
Directed by Toshio Matsumoto

https://i.postimg.cc/kMS73GVK/funeral.jpg

Funeral Parade of Roses is a tough film to find on DVD, and I was made to feel particularly silly when I found out that the German copy I'd bought doesn't have English subtitles - a shame, because it came with a whole bunch of postcard-sized stills from the film. The biggest pity though is the fact that I found it brilliant and absolutely love it. The Blu-Ray will cost me, but I have to have it, and as such will order it one day soon - before it's too hard to find itself. What an amazing yet non-prolific filmmaker Toshio Matsumoto was.

https://i.postimg.cc/MT4hTCTv/roses.jpg


2

TASTE OF CHERRY (1997)
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

https://i.postimg.cc/tTNn0v0f/cherry.jpg

Taste of Cherry has been reissued by Criterion and I now have the Blu-Ray - Abbas Kiarostami is a genius, and Certified Copy (which I also bought on Criterion) came so very, very close to making my Top 25 of the year. Obviously, I thought Taste of Cherry was an exceptional masterpiece.

https://i.postimg.cc/x1Wq7DZg/taste.jpg


1

THE TURIN HORSE (2011)
Directed by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky

https://i.postimg.cc/VvcvD3Kp/turin.jpg

A real "woah" piece of work - of course I bought this one on DVD, and thank goodness that proved exceptionally easy (Artificial Eye/Curzon released it) - I don't think I watched anything as impactful as this for the entire year and it nabbed my number one spot as it swept me away with it's power and desolate intensity!

https://i.postimg.cc/BZd0drfw/horse.jpg

Will next year be as good as this? We shall see....

[TriggerFalcon]

You have a good list!

[Stirchley]

Loved The Turin Horse.

[SpelingError]

I might revisit The Turin Horse soon.

Overall, it seems like you've had a great year of first-time watches.