Films Recently Watched

Watched Bruno Dumont's "Flanders" for the first time last night (currently steaming on The Criterion Channel). Have to say...this one was a miss for me. The main protagonist is a classic "blank slate with a touch of brutality" Dumont archetype and frankly  not much else. The best thing I can say for the woman protagonist is...her part is underwritten. The war scenes were undercooked. I definitely think Dumont's intentions was ambiguity but I'd argue this wasn't executed well. It almost feels like Dumont's first foray into self-reference (he has a habit of it). He got better with this over time (see Lil' Quinquin).

After that, I needed to see what I'd classify as "good" Dumont, so I re-watched Camille Claudel 1915 (also on The Criterion Channel). What an underappreciated film. I'd argue this movie may be Dumont's masterpiece. Bruno Dumont's first time working with a well-known actor (Juliette Binoche) and she delivers an all-time great performance.  Her stop-on-a-dime emotional shifts which feel very real. Dumont's framing is perhaps its most refined here. If you appreciate "chamber" style films/acting, I recommend this highly.

minding the gap - a docu about about three skater friends from a shit town and shit families and their transition to adulthood. superbly edited, shot and paced, but loses all steam and becomes a very one dimensional drag when it decides to focus on "the issues"™ (mostly bad dads) rather than the actual lives of those three guys. a big missed opportunity because the dude collected a lot of great material and has a skill to convey a lot while wasting little with his very intuitive editing skills.

watched human traffic (1999) recently and thoroughly enjoyed it

"i've got the tarzan and jane of jungle mate"

  On 8/4/2019 at 5:09 AM, bit-map said:

"i've got the tarzan and jane of jungle mate"

Hey all,

i'm trying to find a movie i saw a trailer/review of on YouTube a few months ago but cannot remember the title.

It's a pretty low budget horror movie about a knight in armor that fights monsters if i remember correctly.

Pretty dark and atmospheric, i think there was only one actor.

The reviewer was really positive about it.

Maybe it did some festivals and  should be out by now i guess.

So, someone??.

Thanks!!

mlon

  On 8/4/2019 at 7:12 PM, mlon said:

Hey all,

 

i'm trying to find a movie i saw a trailer/review of on YouTube a few months ago but cannot remember the title.

It's a pretty low budget horror movie about a knight in armor that fights monsters if i remember correctly.

Pretty dark and atmospheric, i think there was only one actor.

The reviewer was really positive about it.

Maybe it did some festivals and  should be out by now i guess.

So, someone??.

Thanks!!

 

mlon

 

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This? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6469548/?ref_=tt_urv

Midsommar was brilliant.

Saw "Duel" by Spielberg.  It was really good. Better than Jaws imho.

‘Night is Short, Walk on Girl’ - My girlfriend was in the mood for an animated film so I frantically searched for something half interesting before she settled on some Pixar shit. Aside from the love interest being a stalker this was genuinely funny, quite odd, and the style of drawing was cool. Recommend.

  On 8/6/2019 at 11:16 PM, Squee said:

Midsommar was brilliant.

agreed. Fucking loved it

  On 8/10/2019 at 9:33 AM, hello spiral said:

agreed. Fucking loved it

I want Midsommar to join the Marvel universe 

It's too good for that nonsense. I was howling when that bloke was running about in his birthday suit.

  On 8/10/2019 at 9:50 AM, tec said:

It's too good for that nonsense. I was howling when that bloke was running about in his birthday suit.

 

Yeah, lots of funny parts. But you could still take it seriously as a film. That first 3-5min pre-credits part was horrifying and a short movie in itself.

I'd say the movie fits into the 'ambient horror' subgenre that I just made up, and it's a very high quality entry.

once upon a time was good

  On 8/10/2019 at 3:44 PM, dr lopez said:

once upon a time was good

In Hollywood? I enjoyed many parts of it and was kind of skeptical mid-watch, but when I left the theater, I wanted to watch it again soon. 

I feel the exact same

keen to see this. regardless of how it turns out I'm glad Richard Stanley's back with a full-length fiction, only his third since Dust Devil way back in 1992.

^oooOOOOOooooooh

I don’t like any of his previous films but he seemed nice in that Dr Moreau documentary. Also, Nicholas Cage.

And here's the first still...

  On 8/12/2019 at 11:38 AM, tec said:

I don’t like any of his previous films but he seemed nice in that Dr Moreau documentary. Also, Nicholas Cage.

you don't like Hardware? that thing's the screen equivalent of a juicy burger smashed at 3am while pissed up.

Watched Jan Troell's "Emigrants" and "The New Land" over the weekend. Impressive scope, great performances all around, and wonderful cinematography. With that, really disliked the music in both films. Liv Ullman is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, but she was still better in Persona than here.

Also watched Bergman's "Sawdust and Tinsel". I get why this film is so polarizing. The film has a nasty outlook from start to finish. With that said, it would be a pretty great double-feature with Pabst's "Pandora's Box" (the Pabst film imo is far superior but they're an interesting comparison).

edit:  The Blomdahl score for Stardust and Tinsel is wonderful. My favorite part of the film.

  On 8/11/2019 at 1:15 PM, Candiru said:

In Hollywood? I enjoyed many parts of it and was kind of skeptical mid-watch, but when I left the theater, I wanted to watch it again soon. 

I also really liked it. there were some parts I thought that dragged in the middle, but the ending was pure Tarantino magic! the atmosphere and the effort they went to re-create 1969 LA was pretty impressive.

apparently there's talk about releasing a 4 hour cut for when it comes out on netflix.

amazing how netflix can manage to fuck up a comedy film about dolemite starring eddie murphy

I’m a dolemite fan and I think it looks fun, the cast is pretty ace and his voice isn’t far off Rudy’s. Give it a chance.