Movie You're Watching Tonight

Number 101 in the Top 100 (yeah, I know) MoFo Foreign Language Film Countdown

The Verdict (1982)

This is gorgeous and my litigation strategy is blossoming! Thanks, Torgo.

Wrong Turn (2021)

That is probably what’s at the heart of my ambivalence about the genre. It works when it’s established that it’s the characters’ job or second nature to film, so I didn’t need to always come back to, Have they got nothing better to do?/Like she’d be thinking of that now!

To this end, REC (the Spanish version) was quite convincing. But generally speaking, it’s a balancing act, much like epistolary novels. Some people say it’s up to you to suspend disbelief and that’s fair enough, but I’m quite draconian about it. It’s as if the carefully planted little found footage/epistolary sections work much better, as with the Gone Girl diary. Then, of course, there are brilliant meta-found-footage films, like Man Bites Dog, though I admit to being partial to most things meta.

Right. When the film does a good job of justifying the reason for filming (reporters, filmmakers) OR gives a compelling reason that someone would continue filming (ie "the light from the camera scares the monster away!") it can be okay. And talented directors can do some really interesting things with the forced perspective (REC is a great example of this).

Ha. Good plotting there!

So somehow, after all the talking, I went for this first.

Not a film, but…
Well, this is gorgeous. I think my aversion to period pieces came from all those endless Renaissance-esque courtly love shows where everyone gets married. But this is fantastic.

Do you know if it comes with English subtitles?

dont know what the point of this is yet quirky gallows humor i sappose im getting a lynch vibe denis hopper is in it too dont know if its pulling it off.

Yes, on Netflix it has the English subtitles and there’s also an English dubbed version.

I’m still getting used to that because it’s the actors themselves talking, so everyone has an accent. I’ve already watched Fauda like this a few months ago, it’s a bit distracting at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

I really like this one! A sacrilege to compare to Lynch, in my view, but it sits in that niche of ‘80s teen films that were legitimately morbid, which I’d argue Twin Peaks isn’t.

What did you think in the end?