Re: Movies you have watched thread.
542Tremendous film, that one.gaetano dimita wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2024 3:59 pm Just finished watching Come and See (1985), which narrates nazi atrocities in Belarus during WW2.
It has the most beautiful cinematography I have ever seen, all in service of terribly violent imagery.
The pacing is purposefully slow, gradually luring you into the finale, which is a sudden and vicious assault on the senses. Yet the movie never revels in its blood, on the contrary, it appeals to the higher self of its audience.
It's free to watch on youtube, and I humbly recommend it.
at war with bellends
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
543Saw recently:
Night of the Hunter, finally, it was really something.
Barbarian, which was ok
Civil War, did not take, it's insane to put this much effort into making a war movie seem neutral in the year of 2024.
Men. It was allegorical, which is not something I'm crazy about. It's one thing when a film has that dimension, but when it's purely that, not so good.
The Card Counter. It was no First Reformed
Night of the Hunter, finally, it was really something.
Barbarian, which was ok
Civil War, did not take, it's insane to put this much effort into making a war movie seem neutral in the year of 2024.
Men. It was allegorical, which is not something I'm crazy about. It's one thing when a film has that dimension, but when it's purely that, not so good.
The Card Counter. It was no First Reformed
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
544One of my very favorite movies. The sequence when the kids head down the river might be my favorite five minutes in the entire history of cinema.
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
545Saying this after seeing Night of the Hunter tells me the use of allegory wasn't the main problem here. I'm guessing that there were bigger issues that forced the allegory of the film to break under strain. I have not seen it, but I have seen Ex Machina, and that was dumb enough to convince me to ignore Alex Garland indefinitely.Bernardo wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:59 amMen. It was allegorical, which is not something I'm crazy about. It's one thing when a film has that dimension, but when it's purely that, not so good.
(Heads up- depending on your viewpoint, what is said below might be considered spoilers but nothing below is outside of what is in the trailer)
On the other hand, yesterday, I watched what was for me the first really good/great film of this year- Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. It's a fun blast of sardonic disgust from Romania, aimed at the gig economy, worker exploitation, the manosphere, hustle culture, weaponized politeness, and the indignities of work and driving. The first two-thirds of the movie follows a production assistant working a contract gig with a furniture company, as she drives around town filming interviews with people that have had on-the-job accidents at said company. The company's HR flack (Nina Hoss as the great-great-great granddaughter of Goethe of Proustian bargain fame) is overseeing a safety PSA video and has our main character scouting for the perfect victim of their corporate carelessness to promote the idea of employee safety and responsibility. That the spot comes with a hefty one-time paycheck has a handful of physically damaged ex-employees yearning for sudden windfalls. This is a black comedy for sure, but it has other layers. There are scenes from an older Romanian movie interspersed, about a woman taxicab-driver’s travails during the Communist 80s that compare/contrast with the current film until everything dovetails. There are also the weird Tik-Tok videos that the main character makes, discussions of books and film and commerce, a digression about a road with more memorial crosses lining it than it has kilometers in length, and just because why not, a Ewe Boll cameo. Free-wheeling, acidic, funny, enraging, Do Not Expect Too Much... ends with poems and quotes embedded in the credits, one of which is the following Issa haiku that perfectly encapsulates the film itself-
in this world
we walk on the roof of hell
gazing at flowers
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
546I haven't read the post above in full in order to avoid too much info going in, but I want to see that really bad. I am assuming it will end up on MUBI pretty soon, but would also imagine it will have a run at my favorite place here. Excited to see it.
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
547If I ever throw a party, you're getting the first invite.caga tio wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:36 am ...I have seen Ex Machina, and that was dumb enough to convince me to ignore Alex Garland indefinitely.
at war with bellends
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
548Just got tix for a screening of this with a Q&A with Ilinca Manolache!jimmy spako wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:50 am I haven't read the post above in full in order to avoid too much info going in, but I want to see that really bad. I am assuming it will end up on MUBI pretty soon, but would also imagine it will have a run at my favorite place here. Excited to see it.
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
549Napoleon
There's something liberating about streaming something that you've been told by so many people is not great. There won't be any disappointment so you just kind of check out what they did. I also really enjoy watching big budget, mixed bags from talented film makers and trying to figure out what doesn't work.
I'm not smart enough to be a producer that gives notes, or an editor that makes choices that rescue something from disaster. But a few things came up for me:
First- the story of Napoleon is most interesting because of its scope. The awe-inspiring geography of his campaigns, the unimaginable numbers of the armies and casualties, and the absurd ambition he had as a leader. The film fails to capture that. It's possible a single film would fail to capture that. At 2 hours and 45 minutes with an almost breathless pace it leap frogs noteworthy battles (totally skips the Louisiana Purchase!) to try and fit an unwieldy military history into a three act structure. It just kind of falls flat. They try and personalize his beef with Austria, Russia and the Brits but that's more than dialogue with their leaders. It's large numbers of battles that add up to a seemingly endless war.
Second- Joaquin Phoenix. He seems like the kind of actor a lot of folks around here can dunk on to great critical and comedic effect. He has been well used at times, especially in Beau Is Afraid. I'm not really sure what he wanted us to see in Napoleon, but he definitely didn't disappear into the role. There is a level of petulance that worked for the character. Most humorously when he pouted "These British think they're SO GREAT because they have BOATS!!!". But I also wanted to see Napoleon as someone who could be intimidating, or have a level of genius that was unmatched on the battlefield. Instead he seems to bounce between whiny and clever.
But holy shit, I need to read more about this period in French History. Any public school kid gets the Cliffs Notes on the French Revolution. "Let them eat cake!", guillotine, fledgling democracy etc. But it seems like a revolving door of leaders and a constant shit mess with lots of dead citizens for years and years. No wonder the modern French are so politically feisty. Their heritage is a nation that has never been afraid to toss a leader, but seem to have been saddled with one stupid bastard after another.
There's something liberating about streaming something that you've been told by so many people is not great. There won't be any disappointment so you just kind of check out what they did. I also really enjoy watching big budget, mixed bags from talented film makers and trying to figure out what doesn't work.
I'm not smart enough to be a producer that gives notes, or an editor that makes choices that rescue something from disaster. But a few things came up for me:
First- the story of Napoleon is most interesting because of its scope. The awe-inspiring geography of his campaigns, the unimaginable numbers of the armies and casualties, and the absurd ambition he had as a leader. The film fails to capture that. It's possible a single film would fail to capture that. At 2 hours and 45 minutes with an almost breathless pace it leap frogs noteworthy battles (totally skips the Louisiana Purchase!) to try and fit an unwieldy military history into a three act structure. It just kind of falls flat. They try and personalize his beef with Austria, Russia and the Brits but that's more than dialogue with their leaders. It's large numbers of battles that add up to a seemingly endless war.
Second- Joaquin Phoenix. He seems like the kind of actor a lot of folks around here can dunk on to great critical and comedic effect. He has been well used at times, especially in Beau Is Afraid. I'm not really sure what he wanted us to see in Napoleon, but he definitely didn't disappear into the role. There is a level of petulance that worked for the character. Most humorously when he pouted "These British think they're SO GREAT because they have BOATS!!!". But I also wanted to see Napoleon as someone who could be intimidating, or have a level of genius that was unmatched on the battlefield. Instead he seems to bounce between whiny and clever.
But holy shit, I need to read more about this period in French History. Any public school kid gets the Cliffs Notes on the French Revolution. "Let them eat cake!", guillotine, fledgling democracy etc. But it seems like a revolving door of leaders and a constant shit mess with lots of dead citizens for years and years. No wonder the modern French are so politically feisty. Their heritage is a nation that has never been afraid to toss a leader, but seem to have been saddled with one stupid bastard after another.
Re: Movies you have watched thread.
550Nice! Give us an update afterwards.jimmy spako wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2024 10:32 amJust got tix for a screening of this with a Q&A with Ilinca Manolache!jimmy spako wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:50 am I haven't read the post above in full in order to avoid too much info going in, but I want to see that really bad. I am assuming it will end up on MUBI pretty soon, but would also imagine it will have a run at my favorite place here. Excited to see it.