legally blonde - totally fine rom-comlegally blonde 2 - abomination
have never seen #1 but #2 is the worst movie I have ever watched all the way through. meeting up with friends in the city on a visit to Brisbane during a 42° heatwave (107°F), it was the only thing starting at a time that we desperately needed to escape into airconditioning. on walking out, all three of us admitted that we had wanted to walk out, but hadn't wanted to break the stony silence in case the others were enjoying themselves.
― Elon's musk (sic), Monday, 4 May 2020 03:18 (three years ago) link
No streaming service in our home. Pulling out our DVDs.
Viva Las Vegas - in which Elvis unexpectedly out sings, out dances and out acts Anne Margaret. Cesare Danova , as a sexy Italian race car driver, competes for Anne's hand, and dies in a fiery crash at the end, but two minutes later nobody notices or cares and the audience leaves the theater in an ecstatic conga line. Schlock was never schlockier, but, hey, what's an Elvis for if not schlock?
Pat & Mike - in which Katherine Hepburn appears to be surprisingly athletic and falls in love with Spencer Tracy for no discernible reason. Aldo Ray also appears, speaks words, moves about. A good time had by all.
North by Northwest - in which Cary Grant creates a deathless monument to the Cary Grantness of Cary Grant. Hitchcock plays with the audience as deftly as a cat plays with a mouse, plays with the camera and lighting like a maestro, and gets away with murdering plausibility with a truncheon. No one minds. Eve St. Marie is also excellent.
― A is for (Aimless), Monday, 4 May 2020 04:03 (three years ago) link
beg pardon, Eva Marie Saint.
― A is for (Aimless), Monday, 4 May 2020 04:10 (three years ago) link
full moon features odyssey pt 1:
trancers (1984, dir. charles band) - 8/10 -- blade runner/terminator/back to the future rip all at once, cool sets, cool story, ridiculous '80s action movie energy, helen hunt, the workstrancers ii: the return of jack deth (1991, dir. charles band) - 7/10 -- same director yet this shit looks like a soap opera. someone on letterboxd mentioned every shot/reverse shot conversation has each character looking directly into the camera. it's true. it's mesmerizingly inept. one of the funniest scripts ever imo, there's even an exploding hamtrancers iii: deth lives! (1992, dir. c. courtney joyner) - 7/10 -- you can tell it's good because there's an exclamation point in the title. the time fuckery gets weirder and stupider and the plot centers around this weird futuristic military compound connected to a strip club in the year 2005. more competent and visually interesting yet less funny and weird than trancers ii. still, hell yeahsubspecies (1991, dir. ted nicolaou) - 7/10 -- early '90s direct-to-video horror pretty much hit its peak here as far as i can tell, the perfect balance of hokey and creepy, and really boring in the best way. i wish i were watching this on a really dark and distorted pan-and-scan vhs, i think it would come off as intendedbloodstone: subspecies ii (1993, dir. ted nicolaou) - 10/10 -- were full moon suddenly flush with cash in '92-'93? i ask bc trancers iii and this feel like theatrical features, this especially, there's this incredible murnau-esque lighting in EVERY scene, the story is interesting, the characters matter... idk this is basically a '70s horror film to me, a creepy visual poem
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 4 May 2020 04:23 (three years ago) link
oh and the movie that started it all for me
dark angel: the ascent (1994, dir. linda hassani) - 10/10 -- very difficult for me to describe the vibe of this movie to anyone. it is a... vaguely christian... horror... romantic... comedy... morality play... from hell. it is lit and shot wonderfully and makes the most out of its absolutely nonexistent budget and is just so charming. it's about a demon angel ascending to earth from hell in order to cleanse the earth of sinners such as rapists, racist cops, and corrupt mayors whose housing policies drive people out of their homes! five stars
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 4 May 2020 04:30 (three years ago) link
i should say for fans of decker, i bet tim heidecker has seen and loves trancers ii, it is verrrry jack decker
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 4 May 2020 04:31 (three years ago) link
recent-ish (rewatches marked with asterisks):
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) -- 10/10The Lighthouse (2019) -- 7/10The Lure (2015) -- 8/10Blow the Man Down (2020) -- 6/10Escape From New York* (1981) -- 8/10Peterloo (2018) -- 8/10The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) -- 6/10Gilda* (1946) -- 9/10The Lady From Shanghai* (1947) -- 8/10
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 4 May 2020 05:17 (three years ago) link
going back to two days ago, Rohrwacher’s The Wonders seemed inconsequential story-wise but I thought it was beautiful, I saw it a while ago now and still have an imprinted visual memory of it
and going back two weeks ago, I liked that Hamaguchi’s Heaven Is Still Far Away didn’t shy away from its inexpensive home video quality, it had a lightness and transparency that felt really new to me
― Dan S, Tuesday, 5 May 2020 23:48 (three years ago) link
looking forward to seeing Happy Hour and Asako I & II
― Dan S, Wednesday, 6 May 2020 00:32 (three years ago) link
77 Minutes (6.0)Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (8.0)Breaking the Waves (8.0)I Shot Andy Warhol (7.5)Jesus’ Son (7.5)Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (7.0)American Honey (9.0)Melvin & Howard (8.5)Single White Female (5.5)Dazed and Confused (8.5)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 12 May 2020 05:22 (three years ago) link
*McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Altman, 1971) - 6/10Wild 90 (Mailer, 1968) - 2/10*Some Like It Hot (Wilder, 1959) - 9/10*Ariel (Kaurismäki, 1988) - 9/10*Katzelmacher (Fassbinder, 1969) - 9/10La Religieuse (Rivette, 1966) - 9/10Betty Blue (Beineix, 1986) - 6/10*The Match Factory Girl (Kaurismäki, 1990) - 9/10The Lincoln Lawyer (Furman, 2011) - 8/10*A Mighty Wind (Guest, 2003) - 8/10Rocco and His Brothers (Visconti, 1960)Suddenly, Last Summer (Mankiewicz, 1959) - 9/10Mr. Thank You (Shimizu, 1936) - 8/10Come On Children (King, 1973) - 8/10*Wagon Master (Ford, 1950) - 9/10I Live in Fear (Kurosawa, 1955) - 7/10*Love is Colder Than Death (Fassbinder, 1968) - 8/10The Masseurs and a Woman (Shimizu, 1938) - 7/10Lured (Sirk, 1947) - 8/10The Rock (Bay, 1996) - 8/10My Cousin Vinny (Lynn, 1992) - 5/10Sorry We Missed You (Loach, 2019) - 9/10Monkey Business (Hawks, 1952) - 8/10*Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton, Faris; 2006) - 7/10The Big Country (Wyler, 1958) - 6/10Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Nichols, 1966) - 6/10
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 12 May 2020 05:58 (three years ago) link
Lourdes (Hausner) 8/10Teorema (Pasolini) 6/10Ema (Larrain) 7/10Diary of a Country Priest (Bresson) 10/10The Old Dark House (Whale) 6/10Panic (Bromell) 4/10The Wonders (Rohrwacher) 8/10The Nude Vampire (Rollin) 7/10Ghost World (Zwigoff) 8/10Showgirls (Verhoeven) 7/10Mulholland Drive (Lynch) 9/10Chloe (Egoyan) 7/10Mr Klein (Losey) 8/10Eva (Losey) 7/10
― or something, Tuesday, 12 May 2020 08:58 (three years ago) link
Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes), 2017, Damián Szifron, 6/10, predictable, though consequent entertainment, +1 as episode-movie-bonuspoint The Drop, 2014, Michaël R. Roskam, 7/10, Gandolfinis last film; surprise fact: Tom Hardy *is* a serious actorThe Library Music Film, 2018, Paul Elliot & Sean Lamberth, 7/10, a satisfying watch & listenNow You See Me, 2013, Louis Leterrier, 3/10, tried to watch with good intentions, but has much to high production value for a trash movieWild Mouse (Wilde Maus), 2017, Josef Hader, 7/10, people of Vienna are escalating things in a charming way, always skewed never evilThe Gruffalo (Der Grüffelo), 2009, Max Lang & Jakob Schuh, 8/10, short & infantile fairy tale with some gloomy undertones
― meisenfek, Tuesday, 12 May 2020 11:52 (three years ago) link
two more weeks; both South Mountain (Brougher, 2019) and América (Stoll and Whiteside, 2019) are IMMENSELY recommended, especially the latter.
Consistently Pretty Good to Very Very Good:Sorry We Missed You (Loach, 2020)Nina Conti: Talk to the Hand (Conti, 2013)Driveways (2019, Ahn)Nina Conti: Make Me Happy (2012, Eastall – https://vimeo.com/49714692)
Almost Okay to Occasionally Pretty Good:Spaceship Earth (Wolf, 2020)How I Came to Hate Maths (Peyon, 2012)
Deeply Flawed to Barely Watchable:Greed (Winterbottom, 2020)The Land of Steady Habits (Holofcener, 2018)
No:Raising Buchanan (Dellis, 2019)How to Build a Girl (Giedroyc, 2020) - I lasted six minutes
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 14 May 2020 17:23 (three years ago) link
Greed was the last movie I saw in theaters 😔
― flappy bird, Thursday, 14 May 2020 17:42 (three years ago) link
It’s... not good
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 14 May 2020 18:46 (three years ago) link
Got tired of assigning arbitrary numbers to things (not that I don't enjoy it when other people do it). I definitely like some of these films (PlayTime) better than others (Bloody Mama), but the only thing here that flat out sucks is Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
*Dial M for Murder (Hitchcock, 1954)Wicked Woman (Rouse, 1953)*The Grifters (Frears, 1990) Saint Jack (Bogdanovich, 1979)Where'd You Go, Bernadette? (Linklater, 2019)PlayTime (Tati, 1967)Mildred Pierce (Curtiz, 1945)Stars in My Crown (Tourneur, 1950)Bloody Mama (Corman, 1970)The Decameron (Pasolini, 1971)
― A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Thursday, 14 May 2020 18:50 (three years ago) link
Neil Young Trunk Show (2009) 3.5/5Shin Godzilla (2016) 3.5/5* Clue (1985) 3/5La Haine (1995) 3.5/5Capone (2020) 2/5Fearless Hyena (1979) 3.5/5The Fog (1980) 2.5/5* Throne of Blood (1954) 4/5Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (1978) 4/5Gloria (1980) 3.5/5* Beyond the Mat (1999) 3/5Ball of Fire (1941) 4/5Bad Education (2019) 3.5/5
― Chris L, Monday, 18 May 2020 02:21 (three years ago) link
Ghost in the Shell cos it was on tv a couple of days ago.Hadn't seen it when it was in the cinemas. NOt sure waht was out at the same time but probably a lot of things i wasa lot more interested in.Just about enjoyable but i think other things have used some of its elements a lot better.
― Stevolende, Monday, 18 May 2020 11:21 (three years ago) link
MUBI:
Mr. Klein (Losey, 1976)The Go-Between (Losey, 1971)Woman in Chains (Clouzot, 1968)Le Corbeau (Clouzot, 1943)The Most Important Thing: Love (Zulawski, 1975)Nona. If they Soak Me, I'll Burn them (Donoso, 2019)From the Life of the Marionettes (Bergman, 1980)
Prime:
Amazing Grace (Elliott/Pollack, 2019)
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 21 May 2020 21:08 (three years ago) link
Go see 'The Painter and the Thief' immediately. It's unpredictable, clever and pretty much unique in its approach and structure. Highly recommended.
Also, Norwegian jail is much better than several studio apartments I have lived in. They take your liberty there; in America, they take your dignity too.
Current 2020 top ten:Desert One (Kopple)The Whistlers (Porumboiu)The Truth (Kore-eda)Bacurau (Filho, Dorneles)Bad Education (Finley)South Mountain (Brougher)América (Stoll and Whiteside)The Painter and The Thief (Ree)
and then pick one:Fourteen (Sallitt)Koko Di Koko Da (Nyholm)Saint Francis (Thompson)Bellbird (Bennett)Driveways (Ahn)
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 23 May 2020 17:22 (three years ago) link
Go see 'The Painter and the Thief' immediately.
brb
― Bleeqwot (sic), Saturday, 23 May 2020 18:47 (three years ago) link
Was reading about that (The Painter and the Thief) the other day and it sounded v. interesting. Is it streaming anywhere?
― brain (krakow), Saturday, 23 May 2020 19:44 (three years ago) link
hulu, at least in the UShttps://www.hulu.com/movie/the-painter-and-the-thief-f1d7d371-36c0-4e1d-9230-5e391651eb82
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 23 May 2020 20:18 (three years ago) link
thanks for the heads up, it's screening in some of my local theaters' virtual programs. ill check it out
― flappy bird, Saturday, 23 May 2020 20:44 (three years ago) link
it is super goodthere is at least one moment fairly early in the film (you'll know it when you see it) that is so unvarnished and powerful, just absolutely floored me.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 23 May 2020 20:50 (three years ago) link
Leave No Trace (Debra Granik, 2018)The Juniper Tree (Nietzchka Keene, 1990)The Net (Lutz Dammbeck, 2003)The Uncanny (Denis Héroux, 1977)Enthiran (S. Shankar, 2010)L7: Pretend We're Dead (Sarah Price, 2016)100 Rifles (Tom Gries, 1969)Edge City (Alex Cox, 1980)4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)Blackout (Douglas Hickox, 1985)The Hospital (Arthur Hiller, 1971)Sword Of Trust (Lynn Shelton, 2019)Humpday (Lynn Shelton, 2009)Strange Intruder (Irving Rapper, 1956)Coming Apart (Milton Moses Ginsberg, 1969)They Came to Cordura (Robert Rossen, 1959)
Leave No Trace didn't get much theater traffic? It's very good
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 23 May 2020 22:43 (three years ago) link
was #1 on my 2018 film poll ballot iirc
― Bleeqwot (sic), Saturday, 23 May 2020 22:53 (three years ago) link
yea I saw it it was great
― flappy bird, Saturday, 23 May 2020 23:22 (three years ago) link
Finally got round to Full Metal Jacket, I'd seen bits before. It has an undeniable accumulative power in the first 3rd but that's almost entirely down to R Lee Ermey's incredible performance. After that it just seems like a bunch of (quotable/memorable) set-pieces in search of a film. Probably my least favourite Kubrick I've seen
― or something, Saturday, 23 May 2020 23:32 (three years ago) link
love Leave No Trace. Go see Winter's Bone if you haven't already.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Sunday, 24 May 2020 03:26 (three years ago) link
Already saw (and really liked) Winter's Bone. I somehow missed LNT until word got out that Kendra Smith had a new song on the closing credits.
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 24 May 2020 03:58 (three years ago) link
Frownland: Admirably, unflinchingly gruesome. 70s/80s low budget urban decay cinema aesthetic applied to a character study without much in the way of leavening agents. Was surprised and not surprised that this guy co-wrote the last two Safdie movies. It’s kinda brilliant. Also probably don’t want to ever watch it again.Last Tango in Paris: It was on HBO. Utterly embarrassing. Even discounting ~problematic~ as much as you can, it’s such an insufferably pompous cartoon of the dick swinging macho “Artist”. Smart people rated it at the time, maybe had to be there, but fuck if it hasn’t aged terribly on nearly every level.
― circa1916, Sunday, 24 May 2020 04:27 (three years ago) link
frownland was interesting as insight into where the safdie bros came from, bronstein had a lot to do with them getting their start iirc. a crude version of their trademark abrasive synth soundtrack was present in it
― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Sunday, 24 May 2020 06:43 (three years ago) link
I think it’s more than just a footnote. It’s crude but it all seemed very intentional. It was like a Troma movie shedding the thrills and leaving the rotten core. The lead actor was genuinely impressive. Made me feel some new things.
― circa1916, Sunday, 24 May 2020 08:40 (three years ago) link
Leave No Trace is coming to Netflix UK on Thursday.
― brain (krakow), Sunday, 24 May 2020 09:34 (three years ago) link
Many xp... thanks ulysses. I'll need to keep looking out for it here in the UK.
― brain (krakow), Sunday, 24 May 2020 09:36 (three years ago) link
Foxy Brown (Hill, 1974)*The Straight Story (Lynch, 1999)The Nun (Rivette, 1966)The Whole Town's Talking (Ford, 1935)Extraction (Hargrave, 2020)Betty Tells Her Story (short - Brandon, 1972)Guerillère Talks (short - Dick, 1978)My Lucky Stars (Hung, 1985)The Fits (Holmer, 2015)Dis-moi (Akerman, 1980)The Human Factor (Preminger, 1979)Cowboy (Daves, 1958)
Quay Brothers shorts:--- The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (1984)--- This Unnameable Little Broom (1985)--- Stille Nacht I: Dramolet (1988)--- Stille Nacht III: Tales from Vienna Woods (1992)--- Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You (1993)
The Pawnbroker (Lumet, 1964)The Canterbury Tales (Pasolini, 1972)The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Gilliam, 1988)*The Limey (Soderbergh, 1999 -- with director + screenwriter commentary)À nos amours (Pialat, 1983)Kuroneko (Shindo, 1968)
― herds of unmasked cletuses (WmC), Monday, 25 May 2020 01:40 (three years ago) link
I really liked the depiction of Brooklyn teenagers in both of Eliza Hittman’s previous films, It Felt Like Love and Beach Rats. I thought they realistically and empathetically showed the elements of danger and chance and naïveté involved in teenage sexual experiences
I haven’t seen it yet but I take it that Never Rarely Sometimes Always is somewhat different, and it seems like it has been a step up in prestige for her as a filmmaker, so I’m glad
― Dan S, Monday, 25 May 2020 22:42 (three years ago) link
man it is a TREMENDOUS bummer for the first half hour, just relentless bleak and abusive. I quit and am not sure when or if I wanna go back.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 25 May 2020 23:49 (three years ago) link
Doctor Sleep. Quite enjoyed it. I had thought it avoided referencing the Kubrick film before I saw it but seems to be pretty full of visual references . Wondered if there was one actual clip from the film.
Passed the time anyway. Was going to watch Motherless Brooklyn but tv wouldn't play the file.
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 26 May 2020 01:01 (three years ago) link
man it is a TREMENDOUS bummer for the first half hour, just relentless bleak and abusive. I quit and am not sure when or if I wanna go back.― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, May 25
re: Never Rarely Sometimes Always, I avoid reading too much about new films I’m looking forward to seeing, but I wasn’t expecting to hear this, since her other two films were ultimately very kind toward the characters I thought
my first though when reading a headline summary of the plot was that there was a similarity to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
― Dan S, Wednesday, 27 May 2020 00:34 (three years ago) link
even the title reminds me of it to some extent
― Dan S, Wednesday, 27 May 2020 00:40 (three years ago) link
Oh yeah I love NRSA... Such a stunning performance by Sidney Flanigan. It's bleak but very real and very common, it has a light touch and I'm a fan of her films in general. She's really good at showing people deciding to act on desires/needs that may be dangerous, always related to love gone wrong or misunderstood.
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 27 May 2020 00:53 (three years ago) link
it is thorough and, on its face, "blank" like The Assistant, though not as austere as that one (also excellent)
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 27 May 2020 00:54 (three years ago) link
Ready or Not (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, 2019)Lured (Sirk, 1947)The Crimson Kimono (Fuller, 1959)Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Abrams, 2019)The Out-of-Towners (Hiller, 1970)The Canterbury Tales (Pasolini, 1972)Meek's Cutoff (Reichardt, 2010)*House by the River (Lang, 1950)Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Hitchcock, 1941)Coming Home (Ashby, 1978)
― A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 16:52 (three years ago) link
(since I'm not doing ratings anymore, I'll just say that the Sirk, Fuller, Lang and Ashby (!!) were the ones I liked the best)
― A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
Based on the extreme goodwill I'd seen in multiple reviews for Barantini's 2020 film Villain, I was hoping it would be something above and beyond the typical UK gangster flick. It's not.
It is provisionally not bad "rough and tumble proper geezer" stuff but the direction is disjointedly confusing (dream sequences and flashbacks are filmed in the same way), vaguely grindhouse in its visuals but lofty in its goals. It's filmed well enough and the lumpen ultraviolent protagonist Fairbrass, who I've never seen before, is convincingly sympathetic and makes the most of an underwritten part. Unfortunately the script needs about fifteen minutes worth of cuts and some heavy reworking to join various untied ends... and oh lord do they ever botch the ending terribly. Likely worth skipping unless you're a genre aficionado.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 17:09 (three years ago) link
Motherless Brooklyn enjoyed this , foun dit quit emoving i places.MIght be a bit gimmicky to some.& i think I heard taht the main plot points have changed a lot from the book which I have somewhere and still mean to read. Saw a good documentary on the guy the Alec Baldwin character is based on and the woman opposin him.Did mean to see this at the cinema and then missed it so glad I've seen it now.
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 27 May 2020 18:13 (three years ago) link
I've fallen out of updating this thread, but I watched The Out-Of-Towners at some point during lockdown, and very nearly gave up fifteen minutes from the end after being stoney-faced up until that point. Nothing improved.
― Bleeqwot (sic), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 21:27 (three years ago) link