The Women Directors Hall of Fame

The reason i thought you were saying that was you said you didn't think Samantha Morton was great because she didn't get to you emotionally. That to me suggests you wanted the film to try and make you either like or hate her. You're saying it's not i know that now, just confirming why i thought that.

I don't think she is a murderer. My preferred narative is that she felt deeply hurt by him killing himself and leaving her so she destroyed his life work by taking the recognition for herself as revenge. He left that manuscript with his name on it, he wanted it published and to hopefully be remembered for it. It's completely ambiguous though, as i said that's my preferred narrative. I 100% believe he killed himself, i think that's the one thing in the film that's not ambiguous. At the time when i wrote that review i had just watched it and hadn't took the time to think about it so i was just thinking out loud. As i said it's not a good review, it's a mess and not representative of my actual feelings as my thoughts were scattered at the time and i'll do something proper if i see it again.

My narrative is basically both as it's her being deeply hurt by it then doing something twisted and nasty rather than taking sadness like anyone else would.

That song is 'Death' by the band White Lies, one of my favourite songs of the last few years (Wow, actually nearly 10 years old, that shows I'm getting old...). Interesting video too - there are some similarities to the movie.

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Letterboxd

I like that, what you said...I hadn't ever thought of revenge as her motive, but yeah I could see that happening.

Here's something odd that I thought during the movie: when she changes his name to hers on the novel manuscript, I thought 'hey that's a smart move'...I figured she should get the money for the manuscript, why not? Sure it's a bit risky but hey, 100,000 is a lot of money. I liked the scene where she talks to the editors and answers their questions. It seemed honest in the way she answered and what she said.

Though it made me feel bad when she got the 100,000 check for the novel, because I've been working on a novel for decades and it's done except I need to rewrite and proof read it...And that scene made me feel like I was letting time pass through my hands. And I realized I had given up on something I once wanted to do. Sadly I don't have the time to do work on my novel, or maybe it's just an excuse I make.

Damn that was heartbreaking haha. Thought you were going to say this movie has made me realize i should get back to it haha. I mean life is short is definitely something the film says although it doesn't really have a central message. Hope you find the time to get back to it someday.

For those who haven't seen Morvern Callar yet don't read any of these posts spoiler tags or not. We started off using tags then someone dropped it and there's spoilers left untagged. It's a minefield haha.

Carry on

Really glad this got a decent amount of discussion even though it's had pretty mediocre reactions.

I need to see Morvern Callar so I can read this thread

The hilarious thing about the spoilers is the majority of the stuff we're talking about happens in the first 20 minutes of the film or something, can't remember exactly as i saw it in February. The rest is basically plotless.

Orlando

This was a strange film. Visually sumptuous and with an interesting premise but at the same time very artificial and detached. It was a bit like watching a Peter Greenaway film. But once I got into it I enjoyed it quite a bit and appreciated its weird and artistic nature. Tilda Swinton was excellent, as always. I can't imagine who else could have played the title role. I liked Queen Elizabeth, too.

I enjoyed the roll through time and the change of monarchs towards the beginning, but was a little disappointed with the way time sped up towards the end as it just seemed even more distancing. There are a few smart points made about gender but on the whole it’s rather superficial. I’ve never read the book and wonder what that is like. The film is certainly unique and I’m very glad I finally watched it.

5/12 have started and a third have watched Morvern Callar

This is not a rule or anything just my opinion. I know some don't post their reviews until they've watched them all at the end, if you want to do that then it's up to you. But i think it's much better posting them within a few days of seeing the film. Firstly because the film is fresh on your mind and you'll be able to recall specifics better. Mostly though if you post it all right at the end you've probably missed all the discussion and people won't feel up to rehashing stuff. Again just my opinon.

That is SERIOUS American all right lol
I usually hit IMdb when I'm curious about a movie and for some reason never did with this one so it was pretty cool reading everything you found out about

and I had forgotten about the spaghetti western music

The Last Supper (1996)

Really this movie has no shot at winning this Hall of Fame I mostly nominated it for the countdown to get some exposure to a fun little indie that was made during the post-Pulp Fiction indie boom.

90% of the movie takes place in a little home where a collection of grad students live while working on their masters. Every Sunday they have a big meal and often invite a special guest. When Ron Ellard's rich boy gets into car trouble he is brought home by MAGA posterboy Bill Paxton.



Needless to say things don't go to well for Paxton's character and the group have to come to an understanding. Each Sunday they bring someone whose politics they don't agree with and they try and change their mind...or else.

It's a riveting little stage play style film, the dialogue crackles the characters are well defined as they go on their own little journeys. Annabeth Gish and Courntey B Vance are stand out characters to me. The humor doesn't always work and the character arc doesn't make complete sense but the joy is in the dialogue. Like a message board or Youtube comment section brought to life the back and forth is just fun.

And the conclusion feels very precedent, as Ron Pearlman shows up as a Bill O'Reilly sort and gives a caustic and through awakening to the liberal grad's.

Orlando

The day after my first watch of this, having fallen asleep for most of the second half, I felt more than a little worried that I would be unable to find the words regarding this beyond: It's like experiencing poetry and reading a painting.
And then, having expressed that, how do I explain myself?

This is, at its heart, poetic. More precisely, there is an ambiguous wandering through the passage of time and of the leading character's life of 400 years. Where, at many moments throughout, the character Orlando would turn to the camera and simply gaze at us. Many times saying very little, if anything. Which seemed pretty confusing to me at first. What was the character sharing with us? Beyond the moment's reaction, I mean. Perhaps I've watched FAR too many films with narrations that I was primed to hear a soliloquy, only to be given the next scene.
It was on my second viewing, catching everything I had fell asleep through did I catch the possibility of these extended glances shared between the character and us, the audience. Perhaps, like we, ourselves, would do in any given situation, how we would look to a friend in the very midst of it; our uncertainty of what was happening left there in the air.

Or perhaps I fall short of it's artistic satire. Which this film has more than it's share of. And I must say it is done with a sublime wit. There is a bumbling awkwardness to many of those within this movie without there causing an awkwardness to our viewing. Finding a bemusement to much of it instead as they go about with a kind of uncertainy.
The only time that the awkwardness was stricken from Orlando was in the arms of a lover played with a Romantic's Dream by Billy Zane. And from there on, there was only a sensual confidence.

I do agree with Thursday regarding how the passage of time seemed accelerated near the end, though, regardless, it was quite an enjoyable meander through a poetic painting.

Orlando, frustrating, beautiful and somewhat disappointing. The first two acts of this story are truly beautifully rendered scenes with great characters and then everything just sort of peters out. I think had Oscar Wilde written the story it would have been more focused or if Mark Twain could have inserted better satire but Virginia Woolf is just so dour.

By the end of the film it almost felt like I watched a half a story. It's only 93 minutes long and I don't know if we fully grasped the character of Orlando because it moved through time too quickly.