Received the Criterion of Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy this week and re-watched it yesterday. Probably my favorite of Leigh's films.

iembalm wrote: Fri Nov 28, 2025 10:49 am Received the Criterion of Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy this week and re-watched it yesterday. Probably my favorite of Leigh's films.

Mine too. I loved how it de-glamorized the creative process.

Klute. Good one.

Saw Exorcist II: The Heretic yesterday, it's a great italian horror film born in the wrong country. Very recommended, though it drags a bit with talky shit and exposition, I can imagine a shorter cut that would be untouchable. The fact that it is a sequel is merely to help establish a plot, it's entirely unimportant.

Saw Walter Hill's The Driver today. Incredible.

enframed wrote: Fri Nov 28, 2025 3:22 pm Klute. Good one.

Whatever you want to say about Jane Fonda, that scene where she is listening to the recording and the camera just focuses on her reaction...holy shit.

iembalm wrote: Fri Nov 28, 2025 5:01 pm

enframed wrote: Fri Nov 28, 2025 3:22 pm Klute. Good one.

Whatever you want to say about Jane Fonda, that scene where she is listening to the recording and the camera just focuses on her reaction...holy shit.

I have no issue with her. Yes, that scene is great, she's fantastic in the whole thing. What an interesting way to tell a love story.

Just watched Punishment Park (1971), which I'd not heard of, nor of Peter Watkins, the director. I have some catching up to do.

"In this fictional documentary, U.S. prisons are at capacity, and President Nixon declares a state of emergency. All new prisoners are now given the choice of jail time or spending three days in Punishment Park, where they will be hunted for sport by various police forces, as practice. Prisoners almost always choose the latter option, but learn that, between the desert heat and the brutal police officers, their chances of survival are slim."

Apparently much of the dialogue was improvised.

zircona1 wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 4:23 pm

andyman wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 3:12 pm

zircona1 wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 8:36 am

Yeah, I saw it a few weeks ago. I'm kinda on the fence regarding how I felt about it, it's weird even for Yorgos L. (and I generally enjoy his films) I may need to watch it again when it gets to streaming.

It's not like Poor Things, though. If that annoyed you, this might be more your bag.

Is it weird like his first films? They rocked

Yeah, I'd say so. It's a remake of a Korean film, Save the Green Planet.

I thought the first half was pretty good (especially Plimmons), then got completely silly by the second half and into crap territory.

I've caught a cold so it's movie weekend!

So far today:

Capricorn One (1977). About a faked NASA mission to Mars. Hefty suspension of disbelief required, but not a bad film altogether. I recommend skipping the trailer.

Oh yeah and yesterday, Telefon (1977) featuring Charles Bronson. Not very good, but the premise at the time must have been exciting.

Also yesterday, Sisu. Quite fun.

Bernardo wrote: Sun Nov 23, 2025 12:59 pm Also saw and enjoyed, but didn't love, Frank Henenlotter's Bad Biology (he's in near John Waters territory here) and Bava's Rabid Dogs (this one was hurt by shitty subtitles).

Can never remember the name "Bad Biology" until someone else brings it up. It's been years since I've seen it but a couple of sequences hauntingly weirds me out and I appreciate it.


Finally watched Bones and All and thought it was great. Loved the wide open landscapes, glacial pacing, and proper grisly imagery. The sequence in the woods with Jake and the cop was unsettling - Stuhlbarg was fantastic.

Watched a made-for-Netflix movie called In the Shadow of the Moon in which a cop tracks down a serial killer who is jumping through time. It was so silly but I watched it in its entirety. Hard to talk about without spoiling so I'll just comment on one of the ways the passage of time is shown is by giving the cop a moustache. Cool action sequences tho.

Blue Sunshine (1977). The premise is that ten years after anyone took "Blue Sunshine" acid at Stanford in 1967 end up with chromosome damage that causes balding and psychotic behavior including murder. Basically, a warning about flashbacks. The postscript is awesome. It says there "are still 267 hits of Blue Sunshine acid unaccounted for." Trailer is pretty great.



Also, Peter Watkins's The War Game. Essentially a documentary about what would happen in the UK if nuclear war happened. Won an Academy Award but was banned in the UK, or something.