Last (x) movies you saw

I try to place the movie in the context of 1972, when things that are taken for granted today weren't then--The Selling of the President was only four years old--but even as judged against today, I'm continually amazed by stuff that happens which seems right out of The Candidate. (One example: I remember an early McCain ad in '08 that might just as well have been Crocker Jarmon.) But the same complaint was raised by Stanley Kauffmann at the time, so maybe it already was a bit dated. Still, I never get tired of it.

One AM (Chaplin, 1916) D+

jer, wtf

Outlander, thing about a space traveller landing in ancient Iceland and having to battle a creature that he'd transported.
He's along with a tribe (clan?) of Vikings and having to stave off attacks by a rival group that the creature had eradicated the village of.
Thought it was pretty good as a bit of hokum. Looking at IDBM it seems it had a far lower budget than it had expected to. I'd been wondering while watching it if it had been a theatrical release or made for TV or what since I saw it on Syfy.

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Well, it's not exactly the greatest Chaplin, is it? He's not really at the mercy of any external forces here, just his own drunkenness. Also, that's a pretty nice house--who wants to see Chaplin as some rich jerk?

saw 'beasts of the southern wild' last night and am mostly in agreement with admrl's assessment upthread

otherwise i think the only film i've watched recently is 'five easy pieces' which i really liked

The Raid Redemption: 3/5
The Doberman Gang: 3/5

killer joe (friedkin, 2012) 3.5/5
the naked kiss (fuller, '64) 3.5/5
rampart (moverman '11) 2/5
about cherry (stephen elliott, 2012) 1/5
peppermint candy (lee chang-dong '99) 2/5
je t'aime, je t'aime (resnais '68) 2/5

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Five Easy Pieces is one of those movies where the first time I saw it I didn't get what was supposed to be so great about it at all, but it's grown on me in tiny increments each time I've seen it. Not ready to declare it a masterpiece yet, but maybe after a few more viewings...

Johnny, didn't Rampart remind you of Altman at all?

u mean like in all the side characters? eh, they all felt v hollow, borderline stunt casting esp ben foster playing the wheelchair vet, eff that

reminded more of a less-skilled tony scott

je t'aime je t'aime => one of the most underrated films ever.

Nostalgia for the Light (Guzman, 2010) - Had a lot of things on mind when I caught this on Tuesday. Even so I am not going see a better film this year. I was dreading it because it hits a lot of my buttons: about the generally very apolitical scientific field (at least over here: sure a lot of profs I used to know know pretty much welcome/do not give a shit about the cuts in the humanities) in a place where politics has touched every corner of life and was then swept under to such an extent as to suppress public conversation. Then again its a Chilean film and the handful that make it over here are about the coup; and films from other countries about Chile also touch on it (Blame it on Fidel).

This ws something else: Guzman is the original coup chronicler in Battle for Chile; Chile's Atacama desert is a good point for obsering the stars - so many telescopes were built at that location (beginning in the 60s). The metaphor of astronomy as a tool to observe the past (light from years away reaching us now, giving us clues to what the cosmos might have been composed of thousands of years ago blah blah) in a country that represses its past comes off. In the end it was a way of sculpting the stories of people looking for remains in mass graves of loved ones, shot and buried away in the same desert: when one of the interviees says they should build a telescope to scan into the ground, you know that this is its core subject. So in someways I would reserve my comments, as I felt creeping lack of balance between gorgeous pictures of the stars and the horror of the camps and the coup. There are questions here of how much material he had in the first place and how much unconcious suppression of things that are too horrifying to see (cf the archival footage of the Katyn massacre in Makavejev's Sweet Movie).

Guzamn's voice is measured, the script had no fat - considerate to its subject, knowing its responsibilities.

The Dark Knight Rises, the latest Spiderman film, and Friends with Kids. This was an absoluetly hiralious rom com - often forget what a crazy genre this is...

When i went to see Nostalgia For The Light there was a guy's head blocking the first two words or so of the subtitles. Rather broke its spell

Why didn't you move seats? Was the cinema full?

yeah, it was a small cinema and it was a sell out

Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman, 1997) 4/5
Goon (Michael Dowse, 2011) 3/5
Fahrenheit 451 (Francois Truffaut, 1966) 4/5
Freedom Writers (Richard LaGravenese, 2007) 3/5
The Burning Plain (Guillermo Arriaga, 2007) 2/5
God Bless America (Bobcat Goldthwaite, 2012) 2/5
California Split (Robert Altman, 1974) 4/5
Friends With Kids (Jennifer Westfeldt, 2011) 3/5

Three Women
Cabaret
Welcome to L.A.
Satantango
Week End
Paul Williams Still Alive
Shoah
Mulholland Dr.
Vivre sa vie
Breathless
Imitation of Life

I'll skip ratings so as not to agitate anyone by giving films I liked 4/5 instead of 5/5. The only one that most definitely wasn't for me was Cabaret, which I hadn't seen since soon after it came out. I did spot someone with another one of those Paul Ryan haircuts.

http://www.movieactors.com/freezeframes33/cabaret249.jpeg

Escape From New York - not half as good as I remember. Kind of bad, actually.
Big Trouble In Little China - This one is *still* a lot of fun.
He Got Game - occasional hints of a great movie buried under sledgehammer point-driving and some truly shitty acting.
Remorques - fantastic. I'm a recent convert to Gremillon.
Madame Bovary (Chabrol) - Aghh! could've been so great but not a patch on Renoir's amazing, bleak version. Huppert never more lovely, though.

Agree with you about Chabrol's MB.

Any discussion of A Separation anywhere?

there was some in the iranian film thread

S & D: Iranian film

Safety Not Guaranteed is a weird one--slight, precious at times, but pretty interesting. No point in tracking all the things that defy credulity. Great Facebook joke from the lead character's father.

- Johnny Carson: King of Late Night: really enjoyable. Nice overview of his career, a lot of good footage.
- The Descendants: I hated pretty much every character in this movie. But the scenery was great. Shrug.
- The Ballad of Genesis & Lady Jaye: More of a spectacle piece, there's not a whole lot of storytelling which is what I had hoped for. It almost felt like Genesis made it himself. Which is sad, it makes it kind of hard to recommend
- Godfather Part I- yay, of course
- Godfather Part II- yay of course

Rushmore
The Tree of Life
In The Mood For Love - saw this last night and was thinking about it all day at work. and wow it left a deep impression on me. the bit where they act out confronting their partners is so good.

I need to see In The Mood For Love again. Left zero impression on me when I watches it years ago and this is one case where I fully believe that the problem was me, not the film.

watched 'bachlorette' on vod (Leslye Headland, 2012) - 1/5 is so bad, esp as compared to bridesmaids; has like every conventional tic possible, idk, will prob be a big hit actually & we will have a nat'l debate abt cocaine use

'we won't grow old together' (pialat, 72) 3.5/5 & 'loulou' (pialat '80) 3.5/5 - are like skewed cassavetes & sorta painful 2 endure @ times but both p true & timeless

the medusa touch (jack gold '78) 3.5/5 - p good & suspenseful, telekinetic richard burton, what more do u need?

'cutter's way' (ivan passer '81) 3.5/5 - love the ambiguity, bridges is really handsome in this; heard has some cool scenes, perf is a lil ott

love "cutter's way" but , yes, a bit ott but somehow it works (?)

bridges is like a greek statue lit by its own rig of california sunshine in cutter's way. so pretty.

The Lodger (Hitchcock, 1929) - still getting into silent film language, so at this stage I'm trying to judge what is or isn't overacting. The last 10 mins were laughable in the way it went from witch-hunt to a happy ending but it has one of the great screen kisses.

Before Sunrise (Linklater, 1995) - great dialogue leaves you wanting more with the holes in intention of lack of that are left hanging and this had some of that. A bit like the Brief Encounter of that generation, which sounds much cornier than I want to. Love the final shots of Austria and all the places the couple walked by.

I am the Son of America...and I am Indebted to it (Alvarez, 1973) - propaganda document of Castro touring Cuba, giving speeches, mingling with the crowds and later meeting Allende. Ends with Allende's promise to be a martyr if that's what it takes. Ruthless in the effect it wants to create, yet there is room for the unplanned: Castro's imcompetence with the microphone that is exposed in Marker's Grin Without a Cat.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams [2D] (Herzog) -- not sure if they were going for the languorous mood or if they just didn't have enough material. still enjoyable.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (F. Coppola) -- crazy, full of invention, never boring, one of my new favorite movies

The Stranger (1991; 4/5)
Our Beloved Month of August (2008; 3/5)
Starship Troopers (1997; 1.5/5)
Margaret (2011; 4/5)
Il Posto (1960; 2nd viewing; 5/5)
Cure (1997; 4/5)
Forty Guns (1957; 3.5/5)
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968; 2/5)
Sound of the Mountain (1954; 4/5)
The Grey (2012; 4/5)
Red River (1948; 4/5)
Partie de Campagne (1936; 4/5)
The Mercenary (1968; 3/5)

Il Posto is one of my favourite films--glad someone else thinks highly of it. (I used a still of it during a music countdown once and solicited guesses, and there wasn't a single one.)

I just got a membership to the IFC center and have been watching a lot of movies lately.

In the past two days:

Spellbound - Hitchcock
First time seeing it on a big screen, totally great, duh. Lots of the plot points don't age so well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZP2lIrWvk0

Detective Dee and The Mystery of the Blue Flame - Tsui Hark
Tremendous fun of the Indiana Jones variety. Men fistfighting with magic deer. Readily available on Netflix Instant but what do you know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZiu2jqa3f0

Elephant in the Living Room - Michael Webber
Also Instant Netflix and totally worth the trouble; people are batshit crazy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMoZFFa33Vg

Toys in the Attic - Jiri Barta
HIGHLY recommended for kids. Deeply bizarre and dark as hell but perfectly fine for any age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4awggme2Mg

Gangs Of New York - bit of a revelation on Blu-ray. Epic, messy, consistently fascinating. The level of detail is always remarkable as is Day-Lewis. Really the last great Scorsese in my mind - have never understood the love for much of his stuff post this though "Hugo" was charming in parts.

Dark Mirror - Great performance(s) by Olivia de Havilland, steady Siodmak direction but something was missing here. Tension?

Get Real (Shore, 1998) B
Pillow Talk (Gordon, 1959) D
Thunderball (Young, 1965) C
Into The Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life (Herzog, 2011) B+
The Poseidon Adventure (Neame, 1972) B-
Wizards (Bakshi, 1977) B+
Oliver! (Reed, 1968) D-
Melancholia (Von Trier, 2011) D-
The Descendants (Payne, 2011) B+
Geronimo: An American Legend (Hill, 1993) D-

Gangs Of New York is such a silly movie

Holy shit, Neighboring Sounds was so damn good.

My opinion while watching Melancholia:

first half: I can't believe Lars von Trier still gets away with making the same movie over and over again.
second half: This is just bullshit. (does crossword puzzle while "watching")

Mine:

First half: Wow, this is fantastic! I can't believe I'm gonna actually wind up loving a LvT film!
Second half: nvmd

i can't conceive of watching any more lars van trier, fuck that guy. trading him off my team on madden as soon as i get home.

Iron Sky - this was so so bad. disappointing.
Paul
Inglorious Basterds
Point Break
Children of Men
In The Mood For Love (again)

xpost

yeah, as soon as I heard he had a new one coming out this year I was like, ugh I just know I'm gonna get talked into watching this eventually.

And then I saw that Shia LaBoeuf was in it and my resolve strengthened.

too many in the last month

most recent rewatch: Decalogue eps 1, 8-10

My Man Godfrey (La Cava, 1937) B+
The Boondock Saints (Duffy, 1999) C
Vampire's Kiss (Bierman, 1988) I have no idea, B-?
The Woman in the Fifth (Pawlikowsku, 2011) B-
The Station Agent (McCarthy, 2003) B
Daybreakers (Spiering brothers, 2009) B-
Jamon, Jamon (Luna, 1992) C+
Le Havre (Kaurismaki, 2011) B
Hiroshima Mon Amour (Resnais, 1959) A-
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (de Bont, 2003) D

Why A- for the Resnais? Grumble grumble

Colossal Youth (Pedro Costa, 2006) - Still working this one through - one the level of filmmaking 'talent', Costa blows them all away. I think my issues with static films has been talked about here and elsewhere; I can see it on the level that you are documenting (word deliberately used) static lives, and you have the device of the letter to a loved one (a deeply felt letter from a man of basic literacy) that never makes an appearance (a ghost) and its repetition is a device that makes the thing work by handing some forward movement.

The extras are erratic: the essay by Jacques Ranciere seems great in parts (but like the film it is to be given another once over), the interview is much more of a bore-fest than the film could ever be -- but you do find out he's a fan of punk so the title of the film takes on another, unexpected, resonance.

Contrast this with: Gesher (Vahid Vakilifar, 2010). As Iran supposedly gains power in the world from its resources (Oil, enriched uranium) that supposedly translate into international power -- apower gained but the people on the ground forgotten: it can't prevent the descent of three male lives into the daily toil of degrading jobs and inhuman living conditions. Again, another static document. The oil rigs at night are amazing to look at (v much like the ending of Apocalypse now) but you don't get enough of a notion of their interior lives. Gesher is the name given to a mollusc that starts life as a "delicate, vulnerable creature before developing a hard shell" but this metaphor doesn't follow through: no delicacies or hard shells! The story of the prostitute whose fate isn't known is a further addition to the negative column.

Yearning (Naruse, 1964). A great, great drama of bottled up passion among the lower middle classes of Tokyo (own a cornershop that was destroyed re-built from its war-time flattening...) The soap opera-ish score offsets the arty-ness, this could be a reason for why this film isn't as well known as those by Ozu etc etc.

India: Matri Bhumi (Rosselini, 1959). Quite an astute view of India, spends much of its time in the countryside with not a trace of an attachment to a bogus Western spirituality. You'd expect nothing less from the man who made Rome, Open City

I caught This Is Not a Movie in its three night run at the local. It definitely gives one a lot to think about.
Really frustrating/sad/scary but hilarious and touching, too. What are the important things in life?

Watched The Two Escobars last night when I should have been sleeping.

I guess it isn't too surprising that I am feeling a little anxious today.

South (3.5)
Knuckleball (4.5)
Blood and Wine (3.0)
Hearts and Minds (4.0)
China Moon (3.0)
Everybody Wins (3.5)
Velvet Underground Under Review (3.5)
Femme Fatale (1.0)
La Jetee (4.5)
Sans Soleil (3.0)

I know the latter rating makes no sense--I explained the problem I had on a Marker thread, but that’s a subjective thing; it got many votes in the recent S&S poll. China Moon and Blood and Wine (Rafelson) were better quasi-noirs than I thought they’d be, although both started grasping at straws towards the end.

Tried to watch A Place in the Sun but too disturbing to finish. Haven't watched it in years and was really wanting too. Now I can't finish it.

Precious (Lee Daniels, 2009) - this ws ok, when the story is set-up in such a way its hard to find a way to argue against, so I don't argue for. Anyone know the Italian neo-realist film she was watching?

Beast of the Southern Wild was.... okay? I expected less but wanted more.

this seems to be the beasts of the southern wild thread: felt like a 2h arcade fire video (although it was actually only 90 minutes)