Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Sorry, that was part of the conversation a few pages back and my copy-pasting failed.

The first comment is mine:
My own pet peeve is a scene just after they’d arrived at the cult and taken the bunk beds. They are talking about Anna, Justin tells Aaron she might be a paedophile, and when Aaron tries to argue with him, Justin quickly says ‘Go to sleep’. The way he says that, it’s almost like hypnosis, and after the second time, it seems to work and Aaron goes quiet.
This is what @Takoma11 says:*My interpretation of that sequence was that Aaron has always had the submissive personality between the two--something he got from being in the cult. And while Justin rails against the cult, he's not above using forceful commands and domination to get Aaron to do what he wants. It sets up a parallel between Justin and the cult as forces that want to control Aaron.

The first comment is mine:
My own pet peeve is a scene just after they’d arrived at the cult and taken the bunk beds. They are talking about Anna, Justin tells Aaron she might be a paedophile, and when Aaron tries to argue with him, Justin quickly says ‘Go to sleep’. The way he says that, it’s almost like hypnosis, and after the second time, it seems to work and Aaron goes quiet.
This is what @Takoma11 says:*My interpretation of that sequence was that Aaron has always had the submissive personality between the two--something he got from being in the cult. And while Justin rails against the cult, he's not above using forceful commands and domination to get Aaron to do what he wants. It sets up a parallel between Justin and the cult as forces that want to control Aaron.[/quote]

Gotcha AggripinaX, yes, I didn't really know what to make of that, it seemed that Justin was the more strident of the 2 and Aaron was far more suggestible. As stated, it could be that Justin was using that influence and shared experience to just placate Aaron in a way he knew would respond to.

Good film.

Gotcha AggripinaX, yes, I didn't really know what to make of that, it seemed that Justin was the more strident of the 2 and Aaron was far more suggestible. As stated, it could be that Justin was using that influence and shared experience to just placate Aaron in a way he knew would respond to.

Good film.[/quote]

Sure, you guys are probably right.

Sunday's Illness (2018)

Re-watch. Emily Watson amazing & it was her first movie.



Re-watch. Classic of French cinema.



What a strange movie. I enjoyed it.

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Little Joe = 2.5




How To Build A Girl = 3


^ I did do my usual but when I posted my internet went down and lost everything I just put up and can't be arsed to do it all again! Especially on a tablet where it takes forever...

Searching for Ingmar Bergman - 7.5/10

⬆️ Wonder if I’ve seen this? Seen most everything Bergman-related.

Red Sparrow (2018)

⬆️ At least you finished it. I thought it was fairly dreadful.

The Children Are Watching Us, 1944

It's time for some Italian Neorealism, ya'll.

A little boy named Prico lives with his mother and father. His mother, Nina, has taken a lover, and at the beginning of the film she leaves her husband and child to run away with him. While she soon feels remorse and returns, her betrayal fractures the family. The film centers on Prico and his understanding of what is happening around him, as well as the way that the adults in his life put their own feelings before his.

I couldn't help but think of Brief Encounter while watching this film. When it comes to a parent/spouse abandoning a family, there's a particular contempt reserved when mothers go AWOL. Interestingly, we are given very little insight into the relationship between Prico's parents. In the end, it doesn't matter which parent was in the "right" (or, more accurately, if Nina had a good reason to leave), because neither of his parents are willing to connect with Prico. They use him, more often as an emotional crutch. A sequence in which Prico's father manipulates the child into giving away his mother's tryst is painful to watch. The father already knows the answer, so why force the boy to betray his mother's confidence? Later, he brings Prico into his bed with him because "I can't sleep alone". Never a thought or a word about what the child is suffering. Nina, despite her regrets about leaving Prico, also cannot bring herself to prioritize her child. She's willing to leave him unsupervised while she goes off for smooch sessions with her boyfriend.

The absolute strength of the film is the way that it captures a child's perspective and logic. In one scene, angry at his mother, Prico goes to a train station to try and buy a ticket home. Later, Prico encounters a drunk man on the beach--an annoyance for an adult but a horror for a small child. Prico can only ever have partial understanding of the dynamics between his parents. He loves them both, and it tears him apart as they repeatedly put him in the middle of their marital difficulties. You can practically watch his trust erode as he realizes that seemingly innocent actions or questions might actually be landmines. It's hard to watch, because you just know that this boy is going to grow up to be a man with some serious issues.

This is a very solid, heartbreaking film.

Waking Ned (1998)





What a gem. It’s so unlike anything I usually watch that I don’t really know what to say about it. Fionnula Flanagan is a pleasure to look at, and so is Susan Lynch and the entire cast. Really heart-warming and great all round. I am a sucker for dark comedies, and though this leans more toward ‘comedy’ than ‘dark’, it still belongs with them somewhat. Shout out to @Chypmunk for recommending.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Variety, 1925

--Knock, knock.
--Who's there?
--*swirling kaleidoscope of eyeballs*
--*swirling kaleidoscope of eyeballs* who?
--

The film starts with a prisoner being called to the warden's office where the man must make a decision about whether to grant clemency. The prisoner tells how he came to be in prison. A man named Boss Huller is a former acrobat who, after a serious injury, becomes the head of a shady carnival (the main draw is a "beauty pageant" which is like the saddest strip show ever). Against his wife's wishes he takes in a young woman, Bertha-Marie, and it's not long before she's throwing herself at him and he's not exactly resisting that much. Soon he leaves his wife (and baby!) to be with Bertha-Marie, and the two begin touring as trapeze artists. After a while, however, Bertha-Marie's attention wanders to a young, handsome trapeze artist.

It was a funny coincidence to watch this film after The Children Are Watching Us. I made a remark about women/mothers being judged more harshly for leaving their family and it was interesting to see that in this film. Huller is positioned as a highly sympathetic character, even as he abandons his wife and child, even as he hits Bertha-Marie when she flirts with him. It was the only criticism that I had of the film, where Bertha-Marie is seen as the evil one, while she is significantly younger than him and he is the one who has commitments to a family.

It's the story of a man falling from grace, but I felt that the film leaned into Bertha-Marie a bit too much which puts the weight of the conflict on her as opposed to where it belongs (hint: on the person who actually broke wedding vows). The wife and baby are completely forgotten, by both the movie and the main character. The abandonment should be more of a crime than the seduction, but that's not how the film sees it. And this is complicated even more by the treatment of Bertha-Marie, who not only is hit by Boss, but whose first encounter with the young trapeze artist is an assault--he locks her in his room, pushes her down, and literally puts her in a choke-hold. Despite this (and, you know, the fact that her mother died on the boat and she was basically sold to a carnival), her character is never afforded any sympathy.

Those minor quibbles aside, I really enjoyed this film. The performances are strong and the story is compelling. We know from the framing device that Boss is going to kill Bertha-Marie and/or her lover, and the last 25 minutes or so is pure suspense. The film toys with the viewer, repeatedly setting up moments when Boss might snap and lash out. I kept thinking "this is it!" only for him to reconsider.

And on a visual front the film is stellar. The sets and framing are super cool, right from the very beginning as Boss walks down a prison hallway of shrinking square wooden frames. Films that take place in a performance environment have a great advantage, and Variety pulls out several stunning sequences of circus/carnival acts, including excellent trapeze scenes. The trapeze scenes use a moving camera and a dizzying alternation of close-up and far-away shots, which heightens the suspense every time.

This was just an excellent film. Dupont is not a director I've seen much from, and I'm glad he's now on my radar.

I found this on Prime. It was a cute little romance movie until they started talking about God's forgiveness. There are some religious movies I don't mind but it really didn't need that in this one.

If this is the same movie as Waking Ned Devine, someone recommended it to me many years ago, and he even gave it to me on a VHS tape, but I never got around to watching it. It sounds like it might be worth digging out the tape and giving it a try.

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City Lights (1931)

Ha, you watched it
Glad you liked it, it's a nice little fillum. Best of luck with the ticket

It is and you should