Films Recently Watched

His daughter said Kinski also abused her sexually. He must have been a terrifying father, even more so than Leland Palmer.

upstream color (nf instant in the us) - what's the term, abstract? surrealist? lynchian? jodorowskiesque? excellent sound design. at any given moment there is awesome sound. excellent mics used, excellent mixing and music. really the sound is at the forefront, it plays like a visual companion to an audio work. definitely good if you like those kinds of movies.

  On 1/27/2015 at 5:08 AM, very honest said:

upstream color (nf instant in the us) - what's the term, abstract? surrealist? lynchian? jodorowskiesque?

Up its own ass.

I'm down with surrealist film any day, but for me this one was just too obtuse and I'm not sure it actually had anything to say underneath all the abstract symbolism.

I'm amazed anyone managed to watch the whole of that film. I mean it does look quite nice so I'm not even sure why I can't do it.

the proposition - i dunno 'sagi, it's really well done and well acted but in its core it's just very hollow. like, oooh violence, oooh racism, ooooh family; but so what? 6 bad teeth/10.

Watched Taken 3 the other day... what the fuck was that?

Then I watched Leviathan. Russia's chance of an Oscar for best foreign movie. Man, that was one boring ass movie. It started out ok, then nothing.

  On 1/25/2015 at 9:19 PM, Danny O Flannagin said:

 

  On 1/23/2015 at 8:07 AM, Squee said:

Birdman - 8/10

Really good, but I think it's one of those movies that gets better each time you watch it.

Definitely, kinda bittersweet to watch it in theaters because you know it'll be a while until you can watch it again... legally

 

Recently rewatched No Country for Old Men with a friend who had never seen it. Brilliant film, one of their best imo and I was picking up on some themes I missed the first few times I saw it

 

I saw Birdman the weekend and agree, really good.

  On 1/27/2015 at 12:27 PM, Squee said:

Watched Taken 3 the other day... what the fuck was that?

 

Then I watched Leviathan. Russia's chance of an Oscar for best foreign movie. Man, that was one boring ass movie. It started out ok, then nothing.

Why would you watch that??? Did you not see the other two and realise that cunt Neeson is in it?????

  On 1/27/2015 at 12:19 PM, eugene said:

the proposition - i dunno 'sagi, it's really well done and well acted but in its core it's just very hollow. like, oooh violence, oooh racism, ooooh family; but so what? 6 bad teeth/10.

Nick Cave wrote it, and I think understanding Nick Cave makes it easier to get this movie. he's obsessed with Australian history, the people, the outback, etc.

on the surface the movie's a classic, terse western, and like them it doesn't lay everything out for you. things just play out and you're left to take what you want from it. like say the Seven Samurai, which is a Japanese 'western'. you could argue that similarly there's no grand meaning or resolution in the end ("we've lost this battle, it's the villagers who have won") but I'd disagree. however I wouldn't be able to tell you what specific meaning to take from it either. I dunno, I think if you spent some time in the outback and understood some of the historical characters this film was built with it would cut through to you more.

personally the thing that resonates with me most about this movie is the danger and difficulty of trying to impose order in black and white terms in a new and savage world ("I will civilise this place"). I thought it said nothing overt about racism btw but simply depicted the time. there was a black guy in the gang too (the same guy who played Jimmie in The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith, no coincidence that casting) who killed one of his own for tracking with the whites.

I think the reason The Rover didn't work for you is part of the reason this movie also doesn't work for you. me, I love both those movies for the same reasons. lots of space and mood between the words.

  On 1/27/2015 at 12:35 PM, Grain Bastard said:

  On 1/27/2015 at 12:27 PM, Squee said:

Watched Taken 3 the other day... what the fuck was that?

 

Then I watched Leviathan. Russia's chance of an Oscar for best foreign movie. Man, that was one boring ass movie. It started out ok, then nothing.

 

Why would you watch that??? Did you not see the other two and realise that cunt Neeson is in it?????

 

I did. I didn't mind the first one, but didn't understand the hype around that movie. The second one was bad. But this one... hooooly crap. Seriously, I couldn't tell what the fuck was going in most of the action scenes because of the editing.

regarding upstream color, you just need to get through the first 30 minutes, which i found kind of unpleasant in a squeemish way, then after that it's pretty palatable, and the sound design alone should keep you interested

regarding what it's about, i like my theory that

The Devils (1971), Ken Russell's epically surreal and grotesque vision of medieval France. Everything about it is visceral & visionary, from Derek Jarman's delicious sets to the performances of Oliver Read & Vanessa Redgrave. If you can find the restored version you're in for a real treat & in a strange sense i dont think that kind of film would even be made today. Regression?

Altered States - now i've done all kinds of substances over the years, but i never came round with a bloodied deer hoof in bed. Its quest/morality-tale/psychedelic vision all rolled into 1 searing midnight movie. Just dont ever watch it b4 any shroom ingestion....

also Blue is the Warmest Colour = c'est magnifique....and not just for the cornucopia of slice-licking intensity. Brilliant love story (if you're not feeling too cynical) & Adele Exarchopoulos drives the story on with her presence, personality and admittedly superb derriere. Not that i'm objectifying,,,,,,,,

nightcrawler - pretty damn good, gyllenhaal was simply amazing, his character was literally out of this world. something of a mix of anton chigurh and tim and eric from billion dollar movies and their "dobis p.r.", both deeply disturbing and somewhat hilarious at the same time. i sort of understand what their were trying to do with the soundtrack but it was still like biting on the lemon most of the time, especially the ending with that guitar solo..oh boy. there's really something fascinating about night time l.a. it's like a microcosmos of prime american sleazbaggery and immorality mixed with capitalism, it's like this area simply radiates it. which makes it such a great settings, especially when shot so well.

^^^ The Devils is a great film! Russel is a gem. (Altered States was a little bit of a let down for me, seemed to go on longer than it should and obsessed about the techno babble details rather than purely embracing it's strong imagery and performances)

Ex_Machina:
Really good! Intelligent, minimal, sleek. Great to see top sci-fi in the cinemas.

Naked sex robots/10

Whiplash:
Also very good! Great to see so many decent and strong original films in the cinema at the moment.
Mad tempos/10

my mind was blown by this documentary (which is mostly nsfw) about prostitutes in 3 regions of the world (thailand, bangladesh and mexico) and how they view their destiny. the "glory" in the title is obviously a misnomer considering the unfortunate and often poetic conclusion most of the girls reach besides the 'making the most of it' attitude that they have which i suppose, is the only thing that stops them from splitting their cables

r.i.p. michael glawogger

Locke 7.5/10

Very good but the one location thing does grind after a while despite a great performance.

  On 1/28/2015 at 11:15 PM, IrisAndTheLens said:

Locke 7.5/10

 

Very good but the one location thing does grind after a while despite a great performance.

I totally disagree I loved it visually but that film could totally work as a radio thing

  On 1/28/2015 at 1:57 AM, TRiP said:

^^^ The Devils is a great film! Russel is a gem. (Altered States was a little bit of a let down for me, seemed to go on longer than it should and obsessed about the techno babble details rather than purely embracing it's strong imagery and performances)

 

 

Ex_Machina:

Really good! Intelligent, minimal, sleek. Great to see top sci-fi in the cinemas.

Naked sex robots/10

 

Whiplash:

Also very good! Great to see so many decent and strong original films in the cinema at the moment.

Mad tempos/10

 

Whiplash was good but it didn't give you much to chew on after it was over. It's like one of those films that feels really good in the moment then after its over you just sort of forget about and go about your day

I really want to watch Ex_Machina

But fuck movies and games with underscore in their titles

I watched Blackhat because a friend "Hey, New Michael Mann film,let's watch it." I learned a lot about international police work done by convicted hacker hunks with guns while impersonating Jason Bourne and romance. I also learned about bros' and the inside of computers. There must've been so much cocaine flowing when this script was financed. I also liked how it was able to inconsistently look like a cheaply shot television show.

A generous 2/10, MMs worst.

I've called Blackhat "The Beautiful Hacker" ever since I saw the first trailer.

Dead Man (J Jarmusch).....watched again last night......def one of the better modern westerns. Love the rich b&w, the chunky Indian, that wee sequence with the native's faces popping up mid-hallucination,,,,,and with lashings of William Blake references, whats not to like. 10/10

Sleuth - - - Michael Caine & L Olivier in a claustrophobic battle of nerves/wit/who/what/how......they seriously dont make em like this anymore 11//10

Marina Abramovic/The Artist Is Present.....if you're in the creative arts &/or looking for inspiration/insights this girl has it in droves.....superb insight into what makes this particular human tick. 9/10

Fire in Babylon......outstanding doc on the evolution of West Indies cricket....you dont have to be a sports or cricket fan to enjoy this. The clips of Holding/Garner/Roberts/Marshall bouncing every cunt in sight out of their way is a sight to behold and salute......twelfty5006/10

  On 1/17/2015 at 9:59 PM, Nebraska said:

 

i own this documentary, but now showtime is showing a different cut which (imo) is extended and more informative. WTF? anyhoo- that's what i'm watching... again

not even sure what's happening anymore because i found out there is a reloaded version of this documentary which is exactly as explained above except.... it has different scenes from the original and the version i mention above.

Ex_Machina was pretty good. Very pretty and I dig the small setting/cast but it wasn't amazing. Also lol at the hot knife through butter, what was with those effects?

Whiplash was really good.

2001: A Space Odyssey.

I'm shocked that I haven't watched it until now. I had this cryptic sensation through the whole film. Was it a film? It felt more like a trip to some place of unknown. I was scared. It's a shame that after I watched it, I looked up some discussion of it on the internet. Everything makes sense now (almost), it's not as mystic as it was. meh