Polling the films of Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Pusher series, Valhalla Rising, etc.)

"typical gritty 90s gangster film" is a good descriptor. It's quite well done for being on a limited budget etc. As always Mikkelsen is worth your time.

agree w/ most of this. its grit is nicely understated tho. like i love that he goes 2 ask him mom for $ in a v matter of fact, tho not like sociopathically emotionless or anything, type of way

watched pusher 3 today -- good also. milo is sortof a small scale vers of tony soprano imo

Fear X is probably still my favourite Refn. Yeah, it's 'Lynchian' but it's successfully unsettling and nightmarish.

― hewing to the status quo with great zealotry (DavidM), Monday, June 24, 2013 7:07 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea this is otm. mixing lynchian tendancies w/ a palpable emptiness is a good look, i really liked it

"Harry’s impossible quest raises questions, but it all adds to the brave elliptical nature of this film. So did Refn ever get to the bottom of those questions in his own mind? "I can’t answer that," he says bluntly. "It depends on how I feel that day. And of course that pisses off a lot of people because they’re not used to a film without an ending. But what the f**k is an ending, you know?"

nice piece here by refn abt his involvement with the recent bluray release of an andy milligan obscurity:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/jun/14/obsession-andy-milligan-cult-movies

― Ward Fowler, Monday, June 25, 2012

To lead off a Refn series playing here, they asked him to pick one film by someone else and he chose Milligan's Fleshpot on 42nd Street. He had to cancel an in-person to introduce it, so he sent a video intro instead: "The enemy of art is good taste."

The film wasn't quite the ordeal I expected a few minutes into it. Things brightened up once Cherry Lane showed up--her bickering with the Simmons Sisters was great, very Waters/Warhol, and Harry Reems must have just missed his Ryan O'Neal moment--he's very sensitive. Overall, I'm not sure if it was more or less of a mess than the World Series game I skipped. (I've never seen of one Refn's own films. The series programmer urged us to see Bleeder tomorrow night, but I'll be opting for baseball this time.)

Just finished watching Valhalla Rising for the first time. Loved it. Fantastic droning, clanging soundtrack and beautiful cinematography - I've never seen Scotland look like that on film before. The opening sequence makes the Highlands look like a terrifying blasted hellscape.

I assume there's a connection between One-Eye and Odin / Norse mythology but I think I'll need to watch it again before I get a clearer idea of what that might be.

i liked pusher 3, need to see the other ones

didn't like drive much, glad I gave him a second chance w/ valhalla rising cuz yeah amazing

i love how like 5 things happen in VR but it takes 90 mins

Got a real 2001/Stalker vibe from VR in the pacing and the heavily-symbolic journey into the unknown plot. Also in the final scene something about the close-up of One-Eye which cuts to the startling wide reveal shot of the body-painted people standing on the rocks reminded me of the POV cut from Young Dave Bowman to Old Dave Bowman at the end of 2001.

been periodically ~thinking abt~ fear x since seeing it, stumbled upon this -http://www.offscreen.com/index.php/pages/essays/fear_x/

Nicolas Wind-It-In Refn more like

Refn and John Hyams are teaming up to bring a tv adaptation of.... Maniac Cop?

https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/nicolas-winding-refn-brings-maniac-cop-series-to-hbo.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob_afyQgEXQ
This looks great so I'm glad it's only 6 episodes

I guess that Maniac Cop thing isn’t happening? Bummed if so, sounded like a great pairing.

Too Old to Die Young is an unsung masterpiece, stoked for any new series from him.

Do want to watch Too Old To Die Young someday but it's extremely long

Too Long to Watch Soon

Which is fair, I think I watched 1.5 episodes when it came out and still haven’t made it back

TOTDY has a "I dare you to watch this" tone to it that mostly dissipates once you get past episodes 2&3. It's not perfect, but it's not the indulgent mess that some folks insist it is.

A Thread to discuss Too Old to Die Young, an Amazon series from Nicolas Winding Refn has some good comments.