Last (x) movies you saw

Mulholland Drive (decent)
Punch-Drunk Love (pretty good. interesting score)
Passion of Joan of Arc (awesome. an amazing emotional display from falconetti)
The Elephant Man (love it. my fave lynch)

October (Eisenstein, 1928) - love this, the massacre of the crowd is as visceral as the Odessa sequence, if not as imagintaevely done but then again what is? The portrayal of the provisional govt as statues is not as hysterical in tone as that of the factory owners in Strike. Has that partic way of looking at people as a full of joy as Glumov's Diary (the party before the Palace takeover), and then the sombre mood of the night before (the early hours, ships passing, the calm threats for evacuation)...and then there is Shostakovich's music.

The Long Farewell (Kira Muratova, 1971) - possibly the Russian new wave classic that never was. Most probably banned not only because of its formalism, but also the sequence where the kid shows disrespect to the functionary, although he shows him up to be an adolescent full-of-nothing.

Bitter Rice (De Santis, 1948) - this film shows the crappy labour conditions of workers in the midst of the rice harvest. Has a proper lustful dance sequence (probably inspired by Gilda I'm guessing), which is probably why it was attacked by the Italian Communist Party, who were lame.

The Human Bullet (Okamoto, 1968) - a soldier's story as WWII draws to a close in Japan's surrender - done in an absurdist style. Made as part of the Art Theatre Guild group and you notice how characters keep running around towns, bombed roads, deserts...in film after film they are confused by events, or the times they are in. That feels right.

Can be hard going though...

The Paperboy (2012) - despite the couple of O_o scenes it's actually not a bad little crime-thriller. Zac Efron spends 90% of the movie in his tighty whiteys, and has buffed up considerably since I last saw him so ...hmmm...wait what were we talking about again? *sigh*

Cinema:

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012) - The central performance in this (Quvenzhané Wallis) was one for the ages, the expressions and intensity conjured up made for a tough watch that you couldn't look away from. The rest was of course Malick like as all the reviews put it; and the central relationship made me recall Empire of the Sun in its toughness mixed w/tenderness.

Youtube finds:
Cairo Station (Chahine, 1958) - Neo-realism, Egyptian style!
Los Olvidados (Bunuel, 1950) - Neo-realism w/surrealist touches!!
Rocco and his Brothers (Visconti, 1960) - epic from a former neo-realist master whose roots never left him!!!

Two shorts: Two Men and a Wardrobe (Polanski, 1958)
O Dreamland (Lindsay Anderson, 1953)

wreck-it ralph

jesus, i really am the anti-xyzzzz__ on here.

lol Scott, am thinking of watching Skyfall next week.

The passion of Joan of arc (watched this again. Lovely stuff)
Ran
The kid with a bike
The great ecstasy of woodcarver Steiner
Paths of glory

Should've said a bit more but sooo tired: Cairo Street would actually make a gtr dbl bill with Bitter Rice. Both feature a mix of a sexually charged atmosphere (the first scene in CS are a bunch of females talking about hot it is in Cairo!) mixed w/local politics. The characters in CS were trying to organise a union to campaign for a living wage. How times, etc.! Both also have a great musical and dance number, and characters that commit crimes that bring the population in that contained universe together.

In the end that combo seems to be missing from cinema. Must've been something in the air. Striking that the De Santis was mde in '48 (w/Italian communism at its political peak) and Chanine making CS post-revolution, just after Suez.

Bunuel would make a contrast w/400 Blows at times, but also Germany Year Zero with kids walking around the poverty of the slums (as oposed to a runied Germany but still) and no hope of anything, but beng kids in all their kindness and cruelty nevertheless, some living day-by-day, others just barely escaping shocks, zig-zagging between 'criminality' and trying to make something more 'honest'...lines that barely blur. The statement that "all characters are real and the story is true" was surrealism that worked for me, as much as the (v great, but surrealism as you see it) dream sequence.

Rocco... chronicles the move of a family from the country to the big town to make ends meet. The one note that rang false was Delon's casting as a reluctant, thoughtful boxer. This has a most shocking rape scene (not in its depiction, more in ts timing...I certainly never saw it coming). Visconti has an incredible feel for living conditions of the working poor, is ruthless on the irrationality and human hypocrisy, and moments of compassion.

Devi (Ray, 1960). Never quite got on w/Satyajit Ray (apart from the middle film in the Apu Trilogy) but this is his best where a woman is "mistaken" for a goddess by the father-in-law and then the village. He constructs a tone where believers and un-believers are paralysed as they are driven to their fate once the course has been set that really packs a punch.

I watched Cairo Station last week. Great film!

Wake in Fright (1971): 4/5
Blank City (2010): 4/5
Bright Leaves (2003): 3.5/5
Argo (2012): 3.5/5
Wreck-It Ralph (2012): 2.5/5

el ángel exterminador (luis buñuel). sister movie to the discreet charm, both illuminate each other.

nazarin (luis buñuel). priest dude tries his best to do his job to textbook definition lengths in the super hostile world of early 1900's mexico. there are echoes of jesus and maybe diary of a country priest. this movie is flawless and profoundly moving.

ensayo de un crimen (luis buñuel). black comedy this time, the murderous adventures of a somewhat effeminate upper class dude. highly recommended.

la batalla de chile (patricio guzmán). more than four hours of documentary covering the activities of the US-sponsored fascist chilean right during the marxist government of salvador allende in chile. the director takes side with the workers, the images are there, you have to make a decision. I have to admit that this film is deeply problematic but judging by gut reaction alone and the way it makes the blood almost literally boil it is an instant classic.

wolves what do you find 'deeply problematic' about Battle for Chile?

So far this week (youtube):

Vive L'Amour (Tsai Ming-Liang, 1994) - a bible for all of those fond of static cinema. Has a great last 9 min sequence. The BFI have got to stop dicking around and screen some kind of season for these type of films...needs concentration that I just can't summon from looking at it via an youtube screen.

And Life Goes (Kiarostami, 1991) - The second of his Koker trilogy. Gonna watch the third one this weekend.

At the cinema:

Peter Nestler films at the Goethe, and it was the best evening I've had at the cinema this year. I would say Being Gypsy stands alongside Night and Fog as an achievement. An account of gypsies who were captured and put into concentration camps and were still not treated with the remotest shred of humanity after their release. Moves seamslessly toward a serious indictment of Germany and her institutions.

Its full of integrity: not single tear was filmed.

Also really enjoyed Bernard Eisenschitz's intro to the evening, really shaped it.

this is for you xyzzzz__. watched Tommy Boy last night with the kids.

http://highdefdiscnews.com/screenshots/tommy_boy_3.png

people very possessive of their Tommy Boy screen shots apparently. Tommy Boy very big in France, I believe.

http://todaymade.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/tommyboy-719742-560x344.jpg

So is Jerry Lewis I believe ;)

If I watch Tommy Boy you will have to watch Out 1 for me. Its about 10 hours, plz check the Jacques Rivette thread.

Anderson Tapes, the (1971, Lumet) - surveillance fascination before watergate. bleep-bloop score by quincy jones and ancient recording tech have both aged very well. A
Boyz N the Hood (1991, Singleton) - has many weaknesses (dad supposed to be the perfect role model, but he doesn't seem that great to me; first appearance of racist cop comes out of nowhere; angela bassett's acting curiously terrible) but it pulls it together in the end. B+
You Only Live Twice (1967, Gilbert) - plot makes no sense; DVD featurette confirms that the Bond movies were by-the-numbers assembly line jobs at this point. D

xyzzzz__: I have no doubt that his account of the story is correct but if you take most of the images just for what they are (general disorder, lack of food, unions protesting, student riots, ladies helping miners, etc) you can just as easily interpret it the way the right view the events, that unidad popular was breaking the country apart. there are these little parts here and there that are not explained and would make you question the veracity of the narration if you had the interest ... you could also go the other extreme and claim that allende almost betrayed his people by not giving them full control over factories, by refusing to close the parliament, you can see the disconnect between the bureaucracy and the workers at the final stages, it's the most tragic thing.

huge night and fog fan, will prob check being gypsy.

I saw Beasts Of the Southern Wild yesterday. Beautiful film, not sure how idealised (or the opposite/flip) that poverty was. Never been to the South of the States probably never will now.

Did wonder how that would look as a play having discovered at the credits taht it started off as one. Left me wanting to ask questions about some of the characters but they're too tied up in spoiler.

& I wonder if Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) is going to go on to act in other things she was pretty good. I take it this was a debut for her? I also wondered if anybody in it had been in anything else, it does seem pretty naturalistic.

wolves lacan: really appreciate your explanation.

My interpretation was not that Allende was breaking the country apart - just that its divisions and tensions came to the fore due to his victory. That really came across in the material he collected, such as that amazing debate between the student and the suit on TV.

As to whether Allende could have taken control of the factories is interesting because I think he gives his reasons - via one of his party in that debate (among a bunch of miners) basically talking about the risk of an embargo by other countries and the markets, or the need for coorperation with the international community. Read a good article on him a while back and what the international community feared the most was of a radical government such as Allende's that was actuall willing to work within a parliamentary system and stand for elections - and the ultimate fear that it would be returned again and again.

But again that isn't exactly explored in the doc, it doesn't try to make those analysis -- but it has those 'lessons learnt' in the 3rd part, which I remember in equal parts exhilarating and depressing.

The Magnificent Ambersons
Bicycle Thieves (this had the worst subtitling ever. only about 50% was subtitled, and often the subtitles would flash up for a milisecond. i lost concentration half way through)

Cocksucker Blues (1972, Robert Frank) 3/5
Holy Motors (2012, Leos Carax) 3/5
Genghis Blues (1999, Roko Belic) 4/5
The Live Wire (1925, Charles Hines) 3/5
Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977, Robert Aldrich) 4/5
The Innocents (1961, Jack Clayton) 5/5
Sans Soleil (1983, Chris Marker) 4/5
Abraham Lincoln (1930, D.W. Griffith) 3/5
Wake in Fright (1971, Ted Kotcheff) 4/5
The Limey (1999, Steven Soderbergh) 4/5
Room 237 (2012, Rodney Ascher) 3/5
Le Grand Amour (1969, Pierre Etaix) 4/5

You're kind of an easy grader, aren't you?

Abraham Lincoln (1930, D.W. Griffith) 3/5

not heard of this, does he set out to make him out to be a tyrant/dictator? Associations with other things Griffith did would tend to suggest he might do.

Examples, Eric? I do go out of my way to avoid things I suspect will be absolute shit.

That's a very 21st-century-lazy take on Griffith. The Lincoln movie treats him in a p standard heroic way, and no Hollywood film would've done otherwise in 1930.

lol clemenza giving Knuckleball! the same rating as La Jetee and better than Hearts and Minds. (I saw it and it's a good sports doc, but come onnnn.)
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977, Robert Aldrich) 4/5
Sans Soleil (1983, Chris Marker) 4/5
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Friday, November 16, 2012

Do I have a problem with your ratings? Not in the least--I struggled through Sans Soleil, and I haven't yet seen Twilight's Last Gleaming. But in terms of canon vs. idiosyncratic favourites, different rules for different people, right?

no, rate what ya like

yeah, only give 'canon' movies 4 or 5, that's obv what I meant. :/

Let's drop Sans Soleil to 3/5, agreed.

5/5

Examples, Eric? I do go out of my way to avoid things I suspect will be absolute shit.

That's a very 21st-century-lazy take on Griffith. The Lincoln movie treats him in a p standard heroic way, and no Hollywood film would've done otherwise in 1930.

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Saturday, November 17, 2012 12:33 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just thinking in terms of things like the Birth of a Nation and thinking that wouldn't fit well with something showing Lincoln to be a hero would it? Expecting absolute consistency across an ouevre after all.

last watched:

robocop
night of the hunter
singin' in the rain

probably some other things, can't remember. can't convince bf to watch ozu with me. maybe during the holidays.

Lincoln's assassination is dramatized as a tragic event in The Birth of a Nation. Things are complicated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmmjPHlj3NA

on a run of very good movies lately

Ararat (Egoyan, 2002) 3/5
Cairo Station (Chahine, 1958) 5/5
Date Night (Levy, 2010) 4/5
A Kind of Loving (Schlesinger, 1962) 4/5
Cache (Haneke, 2005) 5/5

I'm still an easy grader today:

Argo (2012, Ben Affleck) 2/5

Do The Right Thing (this was excellent. funny, beautiful and profound. a delight.)
Men in Black 3 (the baddies hand was sooo gross! eww lol)

perks of being a wallflower (4/5)
the girl (hbo film) (2/5)

Du rififi chez les hommes (Jules Dassin, 1955) - excellent
The Conversation (I've seen it before, it's on netflix instant now)

Haven't seen a film by Dassin yet but I've discovered a lot of French film (pre-New Wave/Left Bank/w/a few bits of Renoir on the side) this year. Will chase.

youtubing away:

From the Clouds to the Resistance (Straub-Huillet, 1979) - an adaptation of Pavese's The Moon and the Bonfires but nowhere near straight or off, its like nothing you've seen. Fagged out so can't go further at the mo.
Arabian Nights (Pasolini, 1974)
A Man Vanishes (Imamura, 1967)

Looper (2012; 3.5/5)
Suicide Club (2002; 3/5)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939; 4.5/5)
Cabin Boy (1994; 3/5)
Life Without Principle (2011; 4/5)
Billy Liar (1963; 4/5)
Crossfire Hurricane (Stones doc; 2012; 2.5/5)
Holy Motors (2012; 3.5/5)

The last week or so ...

Rise of the Guardians -- 2.5/5
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 -- 2/5
Life of Pi -- 3/5
On the Road -- 2.5/5
Hitchcock -- 2/5
Skyfall -- 3.5/5

how would you rate Lincoln, Eric?

Conservatively, 3.5/5 but I expect another viewing to nudge it up to 4+ territory.

I feel like Letterboxd makes me rate everything like the Rolling Stone album review section.

I had the same reaction -- and a second viewing might bump it half a star. I'm just not as enamored with DDL as everyone else is.

Same. Lucky he's surrounded by the supporting cast of the year/ever.

I never thought I'd write this sentence: Sally Field for Supporting Actress nom.

Hal Holbrook has gotten so Hal Holbrooky that I just want him to be my mommy.

I've made a concerted effort to watch more films starting the last year or two -- got Hulu Plus for Criterion access. The last couple I've seen in the theatre were Looper (4/5) and Skyfall (2.5/5).

Online/DVD/TCM, the last x -- hmm.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Zéro de Conduit
Eyes Without a Face
Clean, Shaven
Summertime
The Vanishing
The Magician
Summer With Monika
The Lady Vanishes
Blue
Quadrophenia
The League of Gentlemen
Kwaidan
La Bête Humaine
The Conversation
Eating Raoul

I tried watching 8 1/2 again (1st tried 20 years ago) and still couldn't get through it -- I hate every character so much that the filmmaking can't draw me in. Watched The Shining again when it was on a couple of weeks ago but it was on a channel with commercials, muted dirty words and blurs over naughty bits, so I don't really want to count it.

I'm somewhere between the 3 and 4 ratings for Perks of Being a Wallflower above. Haven't read the book, and couldn't figure out when it was set--the mix tapes probably put the early 2000s as an end-date, but if there were any other clues that narrowed that down, I missed them. The music interested me. Tone-Loc, the Smiths, and all those mix tapes--I wonder what Rob Sheffield thinks of this. I missed "Teen Age Riot" altogether--must have been when I was glaring at bright-cellphone-woman in the next aisle--but liked hearing "Pretend We're Dead." Something that stretches credulity: high school students who know the Shaggs and Nick Drake but have never heard "Heroes." Something else: the lead guy is supposed to be in grade 9? Because he looks just as old as his wallflower friends, and doesn't act like a 14-year-old, you accept that, but if you start thinking about the plausibility of him getting involved with high school seniors, well, it was too big a leap for me. I've got other nitpicky complaints, but some of it worked fine. Taking the Smiths off the turntable at a party and putting on Tone-Loc reminded me of Quadrophenia. The gay character struck me as 1,000 times less of a caricature than the equivalent in Scott Pilgrim. Didn't foresee where everything was headed.

i just refuse to write "nom," ever