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The Belier family is the story of a daughter that can hear (Paula) and her three other family members who are all deaf. The father is running for mayor, the brother is trying to sleep with Paula's friend and the mother..is a fairly paper thin character.

The movie is fine, even pleasant at points, Paula wants to sing and the music is lovely. The film takes place on a farm and it's a nice enough setting...really everything about the film is nice enough. Paula seems actually kinda of terrible with her teenage angst, in movies like this you try and empathize with the character but I didn't feel much towards Paula. I almost wish the film tried to tell multiple stories than just pad out Paula's for the 2hr run time.

As a comedy I found it to be the biggest failure as I failed to laugh once...and that's a problem. You've got a number of broad "wacky" side characters that I suppose are in place to illicit a laugh but they just felt cartoonish to me. By the end of the film I just didn't find enough to love or hate in this.



Lesson learned? back up everything!
Despite losing a ton of files in the past, I never did learn my lesson about backing up data. I did figure out a way around it though.

I managed to recover important documents from my old laptop (which had a dead operating system) by buying an external hard drive enclosure, removing the hard drive from my laptop, and using my room mate's working computer to copy the necessary files to a usb flash drive. The external enclosure ended up being a decent investment, since I used it a number of times over the following years to recover data from my friends' and room mate's computers in a similar fashion haha.



learned that lesson myself, now I keep ALL my files on a separate drive and only keep programs on the computer itself.
You're a smart man Ed! The silly thing about me was I have a 1.5 tb external USB hard drive with plenty of room...but the only I backed up was movies (it figures) and my zillion photos. But for some dumb reason I forget to back up my documents, including a 300 page plus first draft of a sci fi novel that I wrote. I'll probably never do anything with it but it took years to write that (I did manage to save it, BTW)

Despite losing a ton of files in the past, I never did learn my lesson about backing up data. I did figure out a way around it though.

I managed to recover important documents from my old laptop (which had a dead operating system) by buying an external hard drive enclosure, removing the hard drive from my laptop, and using my room mate's working computer to copy the necessary files to a usb flash drive. The external enclosure ended up being a decent investment, since I used it a number of times over the following years to recover data from my friends' and room mate's computers in a similar fashion haha.
Very smart Cosmic You know at first I kind of panicked when I couldn't boot Windows even in safe mode. So then I though I'd take my computer in to a computer shop to have them recover my files. Then I said to myself, 'to hell with that' I have all my bank account and private info on my computer. Then I remembered I had a Linux operating system on a CD, Linux Puppy. So I ran that from my CD drive and could then copy files to a USB stick. But geez two day of work and I'm still putting back computer programs.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
You're a smart man Ed! The silly thing about me was I have a 1.5 tb external USB hard drive with plenty of room...but the only I backed up was movies (it figures) and my zillion photos. But for some dumb reason I forget to back up my documents, including a 300 page plus first draft of a sci fi novel that I wrote. I'll probably never do anything with it but it took years to write that (I did manage to save it, BTW)

Very smart Cosmic You know at first I kind of panicked when I couldn't boot Windows even in safe mode. So then I though I'd take my computer in to a computer shop to have them recover my files. Then I said to myself, 'to hell with that' I have all my bank account and private info on my computer. Then I remembered I had a Linux operating system on a CD, Linux Puppy. So I ran that from my CD drive and could then copy files to a USB stick. But geez two day of work and I'm still putting back computer programs.
That HAD to be scary. Had that happen with a four book series I wrote. Lost the flash drive for most of the 4th and final book. I had finished it a short time previous along with quite a bit rewrites for the previous three books. (Apparently the books didn't care for the rewrites or the ending too much)
And I'm the same way, doubt they'll ever go anywhere, but it was a great little side hobby for around a decade.



But for some dumb reason I forget to back up my documents, including a 300 page plus first draft of a sci fi novel that I wrote.
Sorry to hear about that. Do you have plans to try writing it again?

That HAD to be scary. Had that happen with a four book series I wrote. Lost the flash drive for most of the 4th and final book.
That must've been really rough. Is that why you keep a separate drive now?





Assassination /
암살
(2015)
Directed By: Choi Dong-hoon
Starring: Jun Ji-hyun, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Jung-jae

While there is a heavier focus on espionage and drama in the film's first act, the tone of Assassination was significantly lighter than I was expecting it to be. There's a lot of comedic elements throughout the film, with action sequences that are lively and energetic rather than being intense or overly violent. These scenes are choreographed and shot really well, which I always appreciate. I'm not sure why hectic action editing became so popular, since I find it incredibly difficult to follow. Luckily there's none of that here.

Initially there seems like there may be too many characters, subplots, and time skips happening, but the story becomes more focused in its second act, as it shifts attention to a smaller group that it follows for the remainder of the runtime. The more complicated set-up at the start allows their story to flow more naturally. Even though that introduction removed any mystery regarding character allegiance, there are still plot twists and elements of revenge to keep things interesting.

The set design and costuming are great, and very authentic looking. Many of the performances are quite impressive as well, particularly those of Jun Ji-hyun. She is a very compelling actress, and was a pleasure to watch. Unfortunately I don't really have much else to say. The film was quite different than I was anticipating, though that may be in part due to Age of Shadows looking so similar at face value. While there were a number of parallels between the two films in the beginning, they are ultimately quite different films with dramatically different tones.


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Five times...five times I started and stopped watching this "film". The Leopard is proof positive that no matter how many pretty locations and sets or monologues you still need to have an actual story. I can understand why critics love this film, Visconti treats every shot like a painting, unfortunately the pacing is similar that of paint drying.

Burt Lancaster won an Oscar and decided to try and get this film made, while I typically love Lancaster watching him ramble on about the senate, church, love etc...that's not a film it's a podcast.

I suppose their is a place to tell these minor stories amongst massive backdrops but the love of an Uncle towards a nephew, that's a tough sell when you have a story and this film does not have one.

I'm just happy to be done with this...



movies can be okay...
I'm hyped! The picture reminds me of Cries & Whispers and Barry Lyndon, so I'll be thrilled if it is as much of a visual feast as they were.
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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."
- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke



“I was cured, all right!”
The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) - Wojciech Has (as Wojciech J. Has)

About comedy: 1.a play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion. [...] 2. For ancient Greeks and Romans a comedy was a stage-play with a happy ending. [...]

As soon as the black and white takes over the screen and you can read: "Music by Krzysztof Penderecki" I was instantly excited! Without knowing the genre or the duration of the film, I entered into this complex (often bizarre) narrative, along with characters full of surprises. So, to my surprise, the movie was a comedy (I could swear it was a drama, I don't know why), and what a wonderful comedy it was!

The theatrical performances and the script (that in no way resembles a comedy film of the 21st century) were by far the aspects that I loved the most. The characters do not act as if they are in a comedy, they act as if they have to deal with absurd circumstances. Black magic? Witches? Resurrection? I found myself in the midst of many stories, various points of view, various situations. When I realized, I was already totally hypnotized by the world and the characters. The three hours passed like lightning, so fast that I was startled when the word "THE END" appeared on the screen.

Difficult to describe my final feeling. But it looked like I had gone to the theater to watch a stage-play comedy! Oh, how I wish more and more comedies like this were made, real comedies, not today's atrocities where actors want to tell you they are in a comedy, and that sex or body exposure are the jokes they want to sell.
★★★★★




Samsara (2001)

I liked this it was quite unique...The best part was the deconstruction of the wise & virtuous Buddhist monk myth. By that I mean, our boy, the former monk becomes a dumb ass when he ventures out into the real world. It's a world he knows nothing about because he's been sequestered in isolation on top of a mountain monastery. But when he gets the chance to call the shots, he makes just about every blunder that he can. And the film is not afraid to show that either, which I found refreshing.

Some might think of this film as a serene & peaceful meditative look at wise Buddhist and how a safe life in a monastery is much better than the real world. But IMO that would be missing the point of the film maker. That point is: you can't know wisdom if you ain't experienced life. I realized that when the former monk falsely accuses a villager of setting the wheat on fire and the villager tells him, he would never do such a thing and has told him that he doesn't understand life in the valley and that he needs to grow up.

But he's incapable of understanding the consequence of his own actions as he goes into town and falsely accuses the grain buyer of starting the fire, and then later seduces the farm girl despite the fact that he loves his wife and she loves him. He's a dumb ass.

I liked the actor as he often looked a little loss in the world outside of his monastery, I think he fit the part well and did a good job. The actress that played his wife was beautiful, almost too much for the movie, but she was very good at being strong especially in the end scene.

Mostly the movie looked good and the locations and cinematography were good too. The rock dropping on the goat was lame. I hate the cliche of invoking a reaction by killing an animal in a movie, it's a tired idea that needs to be retired from use.

I didn't like how several times when people left the scene, they just disappeared, as the film was edited so that they poofed out of the frame, which made me think it was suppose to be a dream sequences, but it wasn't.

The first love scene was oddly done! It was all close ups, fast edit shots of body parts. It looked like home made film done with someone's phone. The second love scene with his wife was beautifully shot from a distances and with the soft fire light was quite sensual-romantic. The third love making scene with him and the farm worker girl with the sarong hanging from the ceiling beam..holy cow! That was the most visually sensual and erotic love making scene I've seen in any film. It was very creative and powerful. I'd give that scene 5/5 and that's for artistry and originality and because that scene fit the movie so well.


@MijaFrost A very worthy nomination, thanks for choosing it.





Five times...five times I started and stopped watching this "film".
Never been able to finish this movie.
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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
You definitely got me even MORE intrigued by The Saragossa Manuscript, @Ultraviolence!

And a great lil review on Samsara, @Citizen Rules. I'll be considering that aspect you mentioned regarding "you can't know wisdom if you ain't experienced life" (which I'm a firm believer in) as a possible focus of the film.
Should be pretty cool.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé



Thelma (Norwegian)

With a well blended mixture of Drama, Thriller, Romance and the Fantastical we have a rather pleasing concoction from Norway.
From the get go, with snow encased landscape and young Thelma and her dad on a hunting venture as they cross over a frozen lake (the significance coming into play much later) we have a climatic scene that opens the eyes and prepares us for the visual and emotional ride ahead.

Eili Harboe does quite the splendid job as the lead role of Thelma with her new friend on campus, Kaya Wilkins. Together making a beautiful and sensual romance that becomes the trigger that releases Thelma's old "talent" causing, of course, some severe difficulties.

The darker origins of that talent, (psychokinetic powers) are brought to the surface in the Third Act of the film. Which, to avoid spoilers, I'll restrain from and simply express my appreciation of the entire premise and it's execution.

The pacing of this film, much like the romance as a sensual gait with those occasional moments of intensity that round out things rather nicely.
I found the mixtures of the genres nicely done. Each playing off the other and creating something broader than if it was simply one or another.





Umbrellas of Cherbourg
is the story of a store clerk who falls for a mechanic in France. The clerk works for her mother while the mechanic takes care of his sickly godmother. They fall in love, he's drafted into war, they make love before he goes and she ends up with a problem. Eventually he returns from war somewhat broken while she's moved on with her life, he eventually moves on with his life and they meet up years later.

All the dialogue is told in a sing song style with one melody. It's a haunting and melancholic one but man did I need some variation. I feel like with a musical you either buy into the music or you don't and when you have no variety in tempo or style it was a bit of an ask to make it through the entire hour and half runtime.

But even if the music becomes tiresome and the story is somewhat predictable the film is still great mostly due to the use of color and visuals. The movie could almost be told as a silent film with no dialogue or music and it would still be a masterpiece.

I liked this one quite a bit, it's taken the lead of the noms I've seen so far.





Pan's Labyrinth was a rewatch for me and for me this is a film that demonstrates the value of practical effects and makeup over CGI(though I'm sure their is a little CGI) you can tell most of the film was made with practical effects. For me this is Del Toro's best looking film it's in essence a fairy tale and a fairly grim one. Set in the back drop of the post Spanish civil war Ofelia travels with her sick mother to met he new stepfather Captain Vidal.

The wicked Step-father is a nice twist to the typical Disney formula and Sergi Lopez is wonderfully terrifying and terrible in the role. I don't know if Del Toro ever had a more menacing villain like Lopez in his following works. But the stars of the film really are the monsters that Del Toro comes up with. It almost feels like a Hayao Miyazaki film brought to life though it replaces whimsy with dread.



I'm looking forward to my rewatch of Pan's Labyrinth. I loved the visuals, but never really cared for the story. I'm hoping this time around I like the film as a whole a lot more.