Swan's 2017 Movie Adventures

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I miss talking to you Swan. Sorry for being distant lately.

I was going to try making a pursuasive arguement about Logan, but I just saw you gave Batman v Superman
. So I'll just give you horror recs instead.

I had a blast in October. Oh and coincidently saw They Live which was a more unpleasant experience than getting a root canal.

Actually you know what I just realised. I have a lot of fun critically analizing terrible movies, and it makes me really sad when people get offended by it if it's a movie they love. So screw it. Remember that video you posted about Logan and genre deconstruction? I hope you don't take any offense to this.



The video described what genre deconstruction was, demonstrated that Shane was a deconstruction of the Western genre, and then showed how Logan blatantly copied Shane. Finally it merely asserted that Logan was a deconstruction of the superhero genre. If anything that made Logan a deconstruction of the Western genre, not the superhero genre. But since Shane already deconstructed the genre, Logan isn’t actually deconstructing anything. It’s just reafirming Shane. Hollywood only makes remakes and soft reboots. That is all Logan is, a remake of Shane in a different setting. I often hear people assert that Logan is a deconstruction, but I never see an actual argument with facts and examples pointed out. At the end of the day it’s just another simple story of clear-cut goodguys fighting bad guys with barely more personality than slice of life anime full of tropes like long drawn out melodramatic deaths and a plot that makes no sense. What, Mexicans don’t know what comic books are? It’s premise is retarded and nothing in the movie makes sense. Indestructable off-road limos, a man coming back from the dead, a mute who can actually talk fine and then won’t shut up and learns English through osmosis, and messed up distortions of space and time.

It is only heralded as a genre deconstruction because it’s rated R, but Deadpool already did that so it doesn’t even have that leg to stand on.

I don’t care if you like it more than Watchmen. Watchmen is a better movie, and a real deconstruction of the superhero genre. Feelings do not matter more than facts.


And now for the horror recs. If you've already seen some I'd love to hear your thoughts on them. I give them all
.

Possession
The Addiction
Train to Busan
Bedevilled
The Wailing

Possession and The Addiction are both artistic films. The Addiction is intilectual, shot in black and white, and explores Vampires in a unique way. Possession is disturbing and explores insanity and the demonic. Both have incredible writing, cinematograohy, and acting.

The bottom three are South Korean. Train to Busan is about zombies, Bedevilled is about being pushed over the brink of insanity. The Wailing though is undoubtedly the most creepy and atmospheric of the lot. It's a mystery full of unpredictable twists and left me bathing in an aura of chills long after the credits finished.

Hope you get some good thrills out of them.



Sex addiction gets talked about with this film a lot and yeah, that’s a part of the main character, but to me that stuff is more just a jumping off point to explore dysfunctional people and relationships in the modern world
I haven't seen the movie, but I have a treat for you.

I was taking a class on substance use, and the prof showed us a clip from the movie as a piece on addiction. He loved the movie and detected that there was something more to it which wasn't actually revealed in the narrative. He contacted the director on Facebook and asked her what the movie was about. She told him, and he told us, and now I'm telling you. The brother and sister were her neighbours. When they were kids their father would lock them in a shed in the back yard and sexually abused them. That is why they were so messed up and had such addiction and sexual problems. At the end of the movie he leaves a message on his sister's answering machine saying they weren't bad people, they just came from a bad place.



Possession
The Addiction
Train to Busan
Bedevilled
The Wailing
I'm in the camp that really likes Possession. I haven't seen the others, but they are all on my watchlist. When I watch them, I'll send you a message and tell you what I think.

-----

I have watched some movies recently, these are how I rated them right after watching (the ratings may have changed as I digested them). Grill me about whatever you want.

Chappie -

Gerald's Game -

Frances Ha -

Magnolia

Days of Heaven -

Boogie Nights -

Lady Bird -

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb -

Beauty and the Beast (1946) -

Bringing Up Baby -

To the Wonder -

Requiem for a Dream -

12 Years a Slave -

Eyes Wide Shut -

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri -

Coco -

The Shining -

2001: A Space Odyssey -

Song to Song -

The Witch -

Don't Look Now -

Hard Eight -

In the Mood for Love -

Cries and Whispers -

Lost in Translation -

The Disaster Artist -

Zootopia -

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story -

Star Wars: The Force Awakens -

Star Wars -

Star Wars: The Last Jedi -

Fargo -



2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ
I'm in the camp that really likes Possession. I haven't seen the others, but they are all on my watchlist. When I watch them, I'll send you a message and tell you what I think.

-----

I have watched some movies recently, these are how I rated them right after watching (the ratings may have changed as I digested them). Grill me about whatever you want.

Chappie -

Gerald's Game -

Frances Ha -

Magnolia

Days of Heaven -

Boogie Nights -

Lady Bird -

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb -

Beauty and the Beast (1946) -

Bringing Up Baby -

To the Wonder -

Requiem for a Dream -

12 Years a Slave -

Eyes Wide Shut -

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri -

Coco -

The Shining -

2001: A Space Odyssey -

Song to Song -

The Witch -

Don't Look Now -

Hard Eight -

In the Mood for Love -

Cries and Whispers -

Lost in Translation -

The Disaster Artist -

Zootopia -

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story -

Star Wars: The Force Awakens -

Star Wars -

Star Wars: The Last Jedi -

Fargo -
I want some more thoughts on Lady Bird, Billboard, and Coco!



I want some more thoughts on Lady Bird, Billboard, and Coco!
Lady Bird - liked it a lot, first gave it four stars but have settled on three and a half. It has a LOT of personality, which would be Gerwig's personality. And if anyone has seen Greta Gerwig's personality, you would know she brought it into movie form amazingly well. I *do* think it goes into cliche coming of age territory at times, but that's a minor criticism considering most of it works extremely well. Fun fact: I grew up right near Sacramento, and recognized a few places in the movie.

Billboards - again, there are MINOR points where it delves into cliches, which seems contrary to the rest of it. I that McDormand and Rockwell's characters were the highlights, very interesting characters that pretty much made the movie, alongside an engrossing storyline. Seems people don't want humor in their movies anymore, because I keep hearing complaints about humor in movies like this.

Coco - for most of it I was pretty bored and wanted to leave. Definitely picked up near the end. Not much more to say. They did a good job with the fingers on the guitar frets?



PS I don't mean to imply cliches can't work well, and these films are testaments that even when they don't it's not a big deal if the rest is grand. It's just - I specifically remember one cliche moment in Three Billboards near the end that I've seen a million times before, and it took me out of the film because the rest felt new and inspired. In other words, it felt out of place.



All i've heard about Three Bilboards are bad to mediocre things from people i trust. Hope i feel closer to how you did as i thought it looked really good from the trailer.



All i've heard about Three Bilboards are bad to mediocre things from people i trust. Hope i feel closer to how you did as i thought it looked really good from the trailer.
Yeah, I was surprised people like seanc didn't like it. Hopefully you like it. It's very good, in my opinion.



Welcome to the human race...
Generally agreeable or understandable ratings across the board, but the real stand-out is a 2.5 for Dr. Strangelove. What's up with that?
__________________
I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Generally agreeable or understandable ratings across the board, but the real stand-out is a 2.5 for Dr. Strangelove. What's up with that?
I really tried to - and thought I would - like it this time. But even though I can appreciate it technically, it was a struggle to get through for me. I'm just not as impressed with a lot of Kubrick's stuff anymore like I once was, aside from The Shining, which blew me away this time. It is definitely a bummer to feel this way.



...it was a struggle to get through for me. I'm just not as impressed with a lot of Kubrick's stuff anymore like I once was,
My boy! He's all grown up.

aside from The Shining, which blew me away this time
Meh, there's still time.

It is definitely a bummer to feel this way.
No! Embrace it. Feel the power of the dark side.
__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.



Fargo -

(The Coen Bros, 1996)

[REWATCH]



My favorite thing about this flick is how well it balances Frances McDormand’s wonderful, humble, happy character with the very dark story elements that would seem to contradict her character but actually fits with her perfectly. And it all feels very well-contained in the world of the film.

The Empire Strikes Back -

(Irvin Kershner, 1980)

[REWATCH]



It kinda pains me to give this a *slight* edge rating-wise to A New Hope, because they are basically equal to me. But my goodness. Every time I see this film - actually, every time I watch the original trilogy - it just gets better. Every viewing. Without exception. Phenomenal blockbuster filmmaking.

The Fly -

(David Cronenberg, 1986)

[REWATCH]



I stand by what I have thought ever since I first saw this: it’s one of the most heartbreaking films ever made.

The Shape of Water -

(Guillermo del Toro, 2017)

[NEW WATCH]



Loved it. I hope to like it even more as I revisit it. Emotionally powerful, and del Toro took on a pretty big risk here story-wise. It could easily have been too strange to work, but it works - and in spades!

--------

Absurda -

(David Lynch, 2007)

(SHORT FILM)

[NEW WATCH]

Very unsettling short film that frankly, I loved. Felt Lynchian and still different from anything else he’s done.

The Alphabet -

(David Lynch, 1968)

(SHORT FILM)

[NEW WATCH]

Fascinating as well, gives me a greater appreciate for short cinema, something I’m delving into now.



I've never watched any of Lynch's Short Films for some reason, should do that. The Grandmother is the one i always hear about. It was made before Eraserhead and it sounds hilarious but it will probably penetrate my soul instead:

A young boy plants some strange seeds and they grow into a grandmother.



Tangerine -

(Sean Baker, 2015)

[NEW WATCH]



I’ve noticed sometimes I get really inspired by a director before I’ve even seen what exactly has inspired me about their work or process. Perfect example: Sean Baker and his use of the iPhone for filming Tangerine. It has been one of the main inspirations for my own iPhone filmmaking as of late, even though I had never seen the movie.

I figured I would like it anyway, because I have seen Baker’s most recent flick The Florida Project, which is an awesome movie. Baker’s definitely an idiosyncratic modern auteur if ever there was one, and I hope Tangerine represents the beginning of a revolution in guerrilla filmmaking.

In interviews Baker has talked about how the film, in retrospect, couldn’t be made with anything but the iPhone. And I agree. It becomes such an integrated part of the aesthetic that you become drawn into the world, and had you known about what it was shot on prior to watching, you completely forget after a while. Baker has done what might have been unthinkable before: he made a movie where being shot on a phone enhances the film, not detracts from it.

It’s entertaining and well-crafted throughout, but becomes downright stunning during the last twenty minutes. The Donut Time scene is so amazingly choreographed and full of energy that it gives an old Jackie Chan action flick a run for it’s money. Of course I realize a scene where bunch of people argue might not appeal to everyone, but the way everything is staged, edited, etc. - the way it cuts between the various characters in a way that flows so naturally - is pretty brilliant. After that climactic scene, you get hit with an emotional gut-punch that lingers until the end and reveals what the film is really offering.

The final scene, and I could even condense that to the final shot, is a brilliant summation of what good narrative filmmaking is in my eyes. The smaller, quieter character moments you don’t need many words for. A bond between two friends had just been temporarily broken. So sit them down and amplify who they are on the inside - and how both those cores connect to one another.