the world?
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:25 (ten years ago) link
or maybe the one named after the joy division album
the world is the only other jia i've seen and it was good though probably WHOOSH'd over my 20 yr old self... been meaning to check out still life / unknown pleasures since forever
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:26 (ten years ago) link
the world is the reason i found myself at the chinese ethnic minority park in beijing one hot summer day. : |
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:27 (ten years ago) link
i feel like you would really like platform imago but it sorta sucks to not be able to see it at a cinema, it's a little long & is a pretty film but in a kinda spatial way probably ill-served by small screens
has anybody seen pickpocket? i've always meant to watch it
― schlump, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:28 (ten years ago) link
Platform (2000) is epic but may be hard to get hold of.
Alfred, Still Life was 2006 ('08 in US).
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:30 (ten years ago) link
morbs, this is also playing at lincoln plaza cinemas in case that's more convenient than IFC
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:31 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piIASNlqjq0
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:34 (ten years ago) link
as schlump said and David Lynch might, don't watch that fucking movie on YouTube.
(meh, unless it's impossible any other way i guess)
― eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:37 (ten years ago) link
I've got a computer with a large screen
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:39 (ten years ago) link
i've got a fast car
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:39 (ten years ago) link
*farts*
― JEFF 22 (Matt P), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:40 (ten years ago) link
You have 5 further minutes to complain while I grab a bite to eat and then it's movietime
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:40 (ten years ago) link
prepared to relax my standards in light of the positive attitude of anybody who is just like let me fix a snack before i sit down & watch a two & a half hour chinese period piece on youtube, pretty sure i delayed my more ideal & comfortable viewings for a long time
― schlump, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:42 (ten years ago) link
id suggest getting a k4r4g4rg4 invite and downloading the bluray rips of his recent films but enjoy the vhs quality 5th gen pyrotechnics if u must
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:51 (ten years ago) link
its more real & truer to the spirit of life in an agrarian commune in podunks china 30 years ago, anyway
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:53 (ten years ago) link
i've only seen unknown pleasures and i remember loving it, lots of motorcycles on new highways in exurban hell iirc? at that time i was just getting into movies with long-duration shots and a lot of spatial exploration and respecting jonathan rosenbaum for whatever awful reason. i'm still into the kind of thing that gently lulls you to sleep basically, a note of urban discontent is ok as long as the soundtrack isn't too loud, i don't see a listing here for this but i wouldn't be surprised if it came for like four days in january or something, keeping my fingers crossed.
xp haha
― JEFF 22 (Matt P), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 19:56 (ten years ago) link
respecting jonathan rosenbaum for whatever awful reason
nah he's the best one
my stream has had a loading issue 8 minutes in but great so far. hopefully this is the last update for the next 2 and a bit hours
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 20:01 (ten years ago) link
no imago that is a long take
― schlump, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 20:01 (ten years ago) link
get blunted 2 fuq and enjoy the show imago lad http://i.imgur.com/ED9eRuO.gif
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 20:08 (ten years ago) link
Still Life is amazing
imago, some of jia's films are p cheap to buy in eg fopp, and are available to rent legit from lovefilm
― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 20:13 (ten years ago) link
yeah pretty extraordinary
unformed immediate thoughts: moved from a fairly static first half to a crazy, delocated second. it became all about departures, arrivals, jarring cuts between hairstyles & band-members. the Culture Team literally and figuratively sailing away down the river, changing its name, heading even into the desert before turning around and going back. the fetishisation of movement, of trains, as promised early on, becomes a baffling and humbling world of missed connections
some wonderful shots. especially liked one early on as our bespectacled protagonist and his maybe-girlfriend have a conversation obscured by the corner of a building, each disappearing behind it & subsequently emerging in alternation. also loved the front-of-cab shots (arrivals, departures) and the increasingly allegorical style
the most haunting character obviously sanming - his central cameo crucial to the entire movie & practically made me cry as he walked off - although it is also noticeable how the two female leads respond to the pressures of both modernity & established creed - they're extremely sensitive to the double-pull, although it is zhong who follows the path (of what rapidly turns out to be exploitation, both by her buss and her commitment-shy boyfriend) furthest before reaching combustion point and disappearing
sanming of course the victim of china old and new, the servant to all masters
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 22:38 (ten years ago) link
mmmm sounds like some good weed!!
― JEFF 22 (Matt P), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 22:40 (ten years ago) link
o hush. also what ya got vs rosenbaum
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 22:41 (ten years ago) link
nice i hope u now go on to become ilx' maven of contemporary chinese cinemalord knows apart from taiwan i am not that well versed
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 22:57 (ten years ago) link
A MAVEN
― JEFF 22 (Matt P), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:32 (ten years ago) link
LJ PLEASE BECOME A MAVEN
― JEFF 22 (Matt P), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:33 (ten years ago) link
rosenbaum is fine, i just stopped caring
he retired
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:34 (ten years ago) link
oh yeah
― JEFF 22 (Matt P), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:35 (ten years ago) link
supreme film critic but i seldom read him now because.......it's on a blog
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:35 (ten years ago) link
his reader archive (along with camper and to some degree kehr) was my most important formative influence wrt film as a teenager
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:36 (ten years ago) link
he's the only film critic I'd say I trust. had my david thompson phase but now I regard him as more a very talkative fellow fan
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:37 (ten years ago) link
my mavenhood is limited to a very few topics, at least within an ILX context. probably only cricket
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:44 (ten years ago) link
and pizza
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:47 (ten years ago) link
you have a good work ethicyou could be a chinese contemporary cinema maven in maybe a fortnight of reasonably dedicated study
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:49 (ten years ago) link
i will be posting a trite opinion about the importance of 'springtime in a small town' on the 21st of october and i fully expect it to be given short shrift
― Chinese Taipei (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:50 (ten years ago) link
haha it's a thought
really though I have to be maven of my writing. I will however pledge to only watch contemporary Chinese movies for the next 6 months (at home - I want to see Gravity)
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:50 (ten years ago) link
good - we could use some contrary challopsing in the gravity thread
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:52 (ten years ago) link
oh I plan to like it
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:53 (ten years ago) link
oh wait that's clearly a sign that there's alREADY been some *crazy challopsing* well this is ILX ffs of course, I'd be sad if there wasn't
― check yr poptimism (imago), Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:57 (ten years ago) link
no... i was playing it straight. the only challopsing has been by the croup and he hasn't even seen it yet
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 9 October 2013 23:58 (ten years ago) link
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssspoilerssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
very interesting, schlump!
yeah, the guy in the intro - dahai. i didn't think to reexamine the opening after knowing the denouement of his segment, but: a heavy static of the potential overlays that first scene. a truck of tomato cartons, overturned - he has plucked but one - sitting on his motorcycle, unsure of what to do. meanwhile the other guy arrives, takes measure, wends his way through, is on his way again. i don't want to draw out the obvious symbolism here but, classmates with the coal mine boss, two lives weighted differently, one ascendant, the other...flat. the story portrayed in the first segment rang the most true to me, even if its irruption into violence felt the most fantastical, wish-fulfillment out of the stories. from here i'm just gonna bullet point some stuff that i took note of while watching;
― 乒乓, Thursday, 10 October 2013 00:33 (ten years ago) link
apparently this movie has been cleared for release in the mainland. i'm surprised, but given the current culture of anti-corruption, maybe the party thinks it's good for people to ruminate on these matters.
― 乒乓, Thursday, 10 October 2013 00:34 (ten years ago) link
Sort've talked about Jia Zhangke yesterday with Han Jie, though more about Hello, Mr. Tree. Still need to see this after missing it at the film festival, bleh.
― etc, Thursday, 10 October 2013 00:37 (ten years ago) link
Just wanted to say, that I'm very much looking forward to seeing this film whenever that will be (probably next spring), that I'll be watching Platform on youtube as well and thanks for the link, and that A Touch of Zen is awesome, especially the final part. That is all.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 10 October 2013 01:05 (ten years ago) link
― 乒乓, Wednesday, October 9, 2013 8:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
dargis' review reminded me of the scene in the hostess club where all the girls are wearing sexy halloween red army costumes - again, surprised that this is being released domestically!
― 乒乓, Thursday, 10 October 2013 20:00 (ten years ago) link
this is prob my movie of the year
― socki (s1ocki), Thursday, 10 October 2013 20:14 (ten years ago) link
http://25.media.tumblr.com/6fc7d1815d988297321249b7187fc8c8/tumblr_muubfyn7zf1ryzchqo1_r1_500.png
apparently jia loves putting john woo on small screens in his movies!
― 乒乓, Friday, 18 October 2013 02:06 (ten years ago) link
at first I wasn't sure if the violent conclusions to each story really worked, but thinking back, having this pattern in the back of my head for most of the movie really gave the it this powerful sense of dread and I found the fatalism of it all really moving at times
― original bgm, Friday, 18 October 2013 04:06 (ten years ago) link
got tix for a screening of this next week, woohoo
― Stim McRaw (Noodle Vague), Friday, 14 November 2014 17:23 (nine years ago) link
That is sweet and sick
― 龜, Friday, 14 November 2014 17:27 (nine years ago) link
dunno what the venue will be like, it's a new-ish cafe-bar-performance space and i'm told it's pretty compact but a chance to watch this on a decent-sized screen is v. welcome, Hull's not been great for foreign language movies the last few years
― Stim McRaw (Noodle Vague), Friday, 14 November 2014 17:29 (nine years ago) link
This is definitely a big screen movie. God it is so shit Wessie side for these type of films, you have to travel to Manchester, Bradford or Leeds for foreign language movies. It is always too much train + bus action for my liking or finance.
― xelab, Friday, 14 November 2014 23:06 (nine years ago) link
I saw Platform at the end of the Chinese film fest - it was interestingly told, how Jia meshed both the personal lives of members of the company and the gradual shift of their repertoire. Change and more change. I was v tired that afternoon so didn't take it all in but I'd want to see it again anyway.
Fantastic thread, didn't know there was one for Touch of Sin, still one of the better films of the year.
I would say its still worth a watch on a DVD. You won't get be able to take in its look however it has a lot else to it.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 15 November 2014 10:11 (nine years ago) link
Touch of Sin was perhaps my number 1 film last year, would still go in a top 5 of the decade easily. Perhaps my favorite Jia.
― Van Horn Street, Saturday, 15 November 2014 16:39 (nine years ago) link
South Florida didn't get it until February so it's going in my best list.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 November 2014 16:42 (nine years ago) link
Very great film, but after watching The World I might prefer that one. Have the earlier trilogy on dvd on top of my tv-set.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 15 November 2014 16:55 (nine years ago) link
i really liked this
think the surround sound in the "cinema" may've been fucked? unless there's deliberate fuckery with the level of the dialogue in the Dahai section?
first thoughts have already been spoken upthread i think but i love how the film is structured as an accumulation of its parts, gaining a lot from their interrelations. and the final sequence was v. affecting.
also so much intertexuality happening
― maybes bakin' maybes (Noodle Vague), Friday, 21 November 2014 00:54 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfF7ZmKMUX0
This is kinda really bad haha
― 龜, Wednesday, 28 January 2015 13:10 (nine years ago) link
Good film.
I assume the duck killing was totally real but it looked relatively quick (I hope), but was the horse really being hit that badly?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 16 March 2015 23:10 (nine years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/iaD6uBa.jpg
― 龜, Monday, 27 April 2015 12:05 (eight years ago) link
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33059234
― 龜, Wednesday, 10 June 2015 11:00 (eight years ago) link
new one is a change of pace, more like Stella Dallas meets Giant, except with GoogleTranslate instead of oil
― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 September 2015 03:07 (eight years ago) link
mountains may depart is fantastic
― 龜, Wednesday, 30 September 2015 04:56 (eight years ago) link
ooo
― crime breeze (schlump), Wednesday, 30 September 2015 05:07 (eight years ago) link
watched Xiao Wu tonight, it was v. good
― bonobo voyage (Noodle Vague), Monday, 12 October 2015 20:06 (eight years ago) link
http://shanghaiist.com/2016/01/15/orange_truck_overturns.php
http://i.imgur.com/kFdnuz0.jpg
― 龜, Tuesday, 19 January 2016 21:41 (eight years ago) link
watching MMD tomorrow
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 5 March 2016 21:26 (eight years ago) link
I quite liked it, but not as much as A Touch of Sin
― calzino, Saturday, 5 March 2016 21:39 (eight years ago) link
Lovely until the last chapter, in which Jia falters with the use of English.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 March 2016 19:41 (eight years ago) link
didn't bother me much
― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Monday, 7 March 2016 19:52 (eight years ago) link
at least not as much as the way no directors but QT and the Coens seem worthy of a new thread for each film
― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Monday, 7 March 2016 19:53 (eight years ago) link
Start it!
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 March 2016 22:01 (eight years ago) link
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, March 7, 2016 2:41 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark
this was fine, and probably only resonates if you're someone with experience of ESL in the chinese community, and second-generation overseas chinese.
― 龜, Monday, 7 March 2016 22:21 (eight years ago) link
new one is accused of being "greatest hits" by some, i like it fine; wish i hadn't been exhausted.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 2 October 2018 14:16 (five years ago) link
predictably great and at times transcendent. your man's gun falling out of his pants while dancing to YMCA was 10/10
― devvvine, Saturday, 13 October 2018 12:18 (five years ago) link
i thought it was just ok
― 龜, Saturday, 13 October 2018 12:23 (five years ago) link
STILL LIFE getting a long-overdue Blu-ray release on December 1st: https://t.co/QDSt0wbJPn— Josh Martin (@MajorHints) October 30, 2020
― On average, this critic grades 8.3 points lower than other critics (Eric H.), Friday, 30 October 2020 01:49 (three years ago) link
I like that post from morbs from two years ago, it's painful to think we will never hear from him in the film threads again
― Dan S, Friday, 30 October 2020 02:11 (three years ago) link
All of Jia’s films are worth watching imo. Ash Is Purest White is the one I love the most, but also A Touch of Sin. Still Life was interesting to me, I didn't really get it at the time and want to see it again. Platform, Unknown Pleasures, The World - all great
― Dan S, Friday, 30 October 2020 02:13 (three years ago) link
I've seen five of his films and heard him speak at a retrospective. My favourite was The World, maybe it had a slightly more hopeful air than the others.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 30 October 2020 03:23 (three years ago) link
Our new poster for Jia Zhangke's SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE. Opens in theaters May 28. Exclusive trailer premiere @hyperallergic. https://t.co/eoheERX6B2 pic.twitter.com/ucK21B0CKq— Cinema Guild (@CinemaGuild) April 27, 2021
― calzino, Tuesday, 4 May 2021 19:15 (two years ago) link
<3
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Tuesday, 4 May 2021 22:39 (two years ago) link
Watched A Touch Of Sin tonight and am stilll thinking about it and trying to articulate something more than "it's a grind house version of Ascension. Liked it, did not love it but am willing to change my mind. Mountains May Depart is still the masterpiece.
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 24 December 2023 08:06 (three months ago) link