Last (x) movies you saw

Weiner on Showtime. The single scuzziest thing he did in the whole movie was drag his kid along on primary day.

guess you don't like beautiful people frolicking eh

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 23 October 2016 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Keep it tx :)

I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016) - I know people quibbled that better films like Toni Erdmann lost out at Cannes except this is one of his best films, maybe his best - you can have issues with some of the decisions here and there but I'm not sure anyone could have done better. Arabian Nights could've used this focus when talking about austerity and its monstrous impact on people's lives.

Film as unsparing judgment on our times.

I really hate Loach's standard anodyne idealised nice peasants, but in the current climate I'm glad he has made this one tbh.

I almost watched it last week during the Miami Film Festival's GEMS series but had to deal with a friend visiting from out of town.

I'd avoided all the chitchat about Daniel Blake before I saw it on Friday, so was totally ambushed by the scene in the foodbank - an exemplary bit of filmmaking.

I think people freaked out at Cannes because the choice seemed so plainly political, and Loach framed it as political in his acceptance speech, and it came from a festival who has never given it's award singly to a woman, in a year where a woman had just broken the ceiling on review stars. For years the discontent had been bubbling, and been shoved away by 'it's only about quality', then when quality and representation seemed to align, it was swept aside to make a different political statement.

I don't know. I've seen Toni Erdmann, and it's quite amazing, but will only get to see I Daniel Blake in a couple of months (and has only seen Neon Demon and Julietta of the competition). But I feel quite certain that a jury that fails to award a new voice - every single director whose film got an award had won one before - is too conservative for my taste.

Did Loach really frame as political in his acceptance speech? Sure is unlike him.

You know what would be radical? If Cannes and the Nobel Prize just turned around and said 'only women are winning this now for the next 100 years'.

Of course the world will probably cease to exist by then so 'equality' will never be achieved.

I'd avoided all the chitchat about Daniel Blake before I saw it on Friday, so was totally ambushed by the scene in the foodbank - an exemplary bit of filmmaking.

― Foster Twelvetrees (Ward Fowler), Tuesday, 25 October 2016 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, this the one where I tore up too. One of those for his moronic enemies who would say 'b-but that would never happen at a foodbank'/'poverty porn' etc. Its so well researched (totally in line with reports I've been reading over the years), detailed (there is food at the bank but it isn't fresh and there isn't everything you might need) but that scene and what happened was a leap to demonstrate what hunger and desperation might feel like. Calculating and effective, toward you are almost thinking a Haneke-like horror.

Calzino - I know what you are saying there but its interesting how the nice peasants stick to one another and some of the consequences - the growth of a black market in goods, or when the kindness is flipped to exploitation at the supermarket.

Loach said: 'When there is despair, the people from the far right take advantage. We must say that another world is possible and necessary.' It's that 'another world' that annoys, when the best hopes of a female winner has just been crushed by an old white man who has won before. That Loach claims to speak out against injustice everywhere, but happily participates in an event that at this point it's pretty obvious is discriminating against women and PoC.

There was question about why there were not a single WoC director in the main program, not in competition, not in special screening, not in Un Certain Regard. And the festival director said, like, 'the films weren't there' and 'wait until you see the films before you judge'. And then both of the biggest awards from the side programs - Camera d'Or and the Art Award in Quainzaine - went to WoC. And of course that was heralded as a victory and sign of things to come, rather than as a pretty obvious sign that the selection process is absolutely fucked up at this point.

What Loach talks about in terms of 'another world' is the one outside a film festival. But what would he know, he is an old white man and they should all be locked up and not allowed to produce anything. Never mind anything good.

We all look - as people who watch films - at the Cannes film festival and read about it. If they are discriminating then you are also complicit in this. Don't pretend to stand outside it and to have only noticed that they don't give awards to women now. This award is in line with their tastes for realism - Dardennes, The Class.

Loach is navigating two worlds. It was good of Cannes to recognise this film and make it hard for people over here to ignore it at this point.

Don't play dumb.

Anyone seen Being 17? Andre Téchiné's best film since Wild Reeds.

I've been shouting about this discrimination for years, what more do you want me to do? I've written about it, attacked my fellow critics for not speaking up against it, which could probably hurt my career if I kept it up.

If Loach would just speak up about it, I would be more than happy. It rankles that he positions himself against injustice, but is silent when the injustice helps him win over female directors. If I, Daniel Blake is good, then I'm happy it got recognized. But there's several ways the jury could have recognized it, and some of those ways wouldn't further marginalize the voice of women. Grand Prix, for instance, who the fuck needs more attention to Xavier Dolan anyways?

And don't say that this was just because of realism. In 2014, when Alice Rohrwacher's realistic masterpiece won Grand Prix, then all of a sudden the Palm went to stylized and theatrical Winter Sleep. In 2011 Maiwenn won Jury Award for Polisse, not a particularly good film, but an interesting mesh of crime film and cinema verité, yet the Palm went to un-realistic Tree of Life. I had to check to see what women were passed over when the Palm went to Uncle Boonmee in 2010, but turned out there were no women in competition that year. And I like all those picks, it's not that, they're just examples that realism doesn't always win. The taste at Cannes changes year to year, the only constant is that women will always be overlooked.

I'm seeing Being 17 this friday. Will report back.

It's been the affecting film I've seen this year.

Sounds good. I invited my mom to see it as well. It was either that or the new Hong Sang-soo, so she chose Techiné.

Right Now, Wrong Then? Lucky sod.

I know Cannes isn't just about realism, what I'm saying is that its part of their make-up: a realist film beating a more artful one isn't a surprise.

But what I'm also saying is that you can argue for pretty clear reasons as to why this has won that have nothing to with discrimination against femake filmmakers.

I know you meant to say female but "femake" sounds like a remake trend.

Yeah, xyzzz, as a matter of fact you can do that for all of the 70 editions that has now gone by without resulting in a solo woman Palm winner, it even makes a lot of sense that Jane Campion had to share it in 93, Chen Kaige is good as well, and Fifth Generation Chinese Cinema deserved a palm. But there's a pretty obvious pattern of discrimination there, as well as in what's included in competition to begin with, and at some point it's just too much. A pretty big reason is probably that just 3 out of the 17 Jury Presidents this century has been women, for instance.

Yup, Right Now, Wrong Then. CPH:PIX begins thursday, where I'll watch the new Eugene Green, and then there's Lav Diaz, Alain Guiraudie, Joao Pedro Rodrigues and a bunch of others. Will post a bit :) Has been watching a few of the older Hong Sang-soo films, Power of Kangwon province and Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, and what struck me is that they're kinda cool. Which seems totally weird for Hong Sang-soo. I love his films, but it's mostly digital images of drunk people in ill-fitting sweaters I think of when I think of him. Virgin is filled with black and white images of people playing badminton at night, and it's amazingly beautiful, but also kinda wrong...

Lol, the new Ghostbusters should so clearly have been called 'Ghostbustesr: The Femake' or 'Ghostbusters: Feboot'. Fequel. Frequel.

as a matter of fact you can do that for all of the 70 editions that has now gone by without resulting in a solo woman Palm winner

No you can't.

Lol, I'm not gonna write 70 defences to prove my point, do you have any you want to point to as indefensible?

My point is Loach's win is perfectly defensible.

Yeah. But almost every individual act of discrimination is defensible. There's still an obvious pattern of discrimination.

Even indefensible qualitative decisions like putting Jimmy's Hall in main competition, and Amour Fou in Un Certain Regard, can be defended on the grounds that Loach is a much bigger name. And of course, Loach made his name in an era of even shittier discrimination - his breakthrough Cannes year, 1990, where Hidden Agenda won the Jury Award, was another year without any women at all in competition, even though an impressive five women were included in UCR. And there was some SHITTY films in competition at Cannes in 1990. But hey, who ever heard of Ann Hui, right?

"almost every individual act of discrimination is defensible."

Most aren't. But Loach's win is not discrimination

You're wrong. And you're wrong. And also, you're not bringing anything to the table, other than that you like this film so everything else doesn't matter. So goodbye.

Another film critic bites the dust!

My Scientology Film (Theroux/Dower, 2016) - the squirelling was diverting, slapstick-like fun (the cameraman who is being asked to film-stalk must be putting his kids through college with all of the jobs he gets) although I didn't get what role scientology was playing, like what was it giving those people, who in turn gave so much of their lives to it. Power, community, control over chaos, certainties are all answers, but why this and not Christianity or Buddhism or another form of spirituality or cultism?

There seemed to be a draw for actors (and pictures of Hubbard directing films had its fascination), a weird crossover into Hollywood/LA life that was built-on (the re-enactments) yet skirted around..then again Theroux is not that kind of doc maker.

My Twilight Time Blu-Ray of Runaway Train arrived today. I remember liking this movie 25 years ago or so; gonna see how it holds up next to Unstoppable.

*Children of Men (Cuaron, 2006) 9/10
The Nice Guys (Black, 2016) 7/10
The Immortal Story (Welles, 1968) 5/10
*Cat People (Tourneur, 1942) 7/10
Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows (Jones, 2007) 7/10
The Good Dinosaur (Sohn, 2015) 4/10
*Pink Floyd The Wall (Parker, 1982) 6/10
The Bad Seed (LeRoy, 1956) 4/10
Chungking Express (Wong, 1994) 5/10
No Way Out (Donaldson, 1987) 4/10
*Blood Simple (Coen, 1984) 8/10
*Breathless (Godard, 1960) 6/10

*rewatches

Re-watched Scanners last night. I'd forgotten how much that movie is a thriller, not a horror flick; it's all shootouts, car chases and bureaucrats arguing in conference rooms.

but head asplode

I've been off my game lately while I rewatched all of Deadwood.

L'Eclisse (Antonioni, 1962)
Jack Reacher 2 (Zwick, 2016) (I'm not renouncing action trash altogether, but I'm done with this series – 1/10)
The Beatles: 8 Days a Week (Howard, 2016)
Equinox Flower (Ozu, 1958)

Deadwood is better than most movies.

Kiss Me, Stupid (Wilder, 1964) 5/10
Christine (Clarke, 1987) 9/10
Road (Clarke, 1987) 7/10
Elephant (Clarke, 1989) 9/10
The Bloodstained Butterfly (Tessari, 1971) 6/10
Electra, My Love (Jancso, 1974) 8/10
The State of Things (Wenders, 1982) 7/10
Killer's Moon (Birkinshaw, 1978) 5/10
Nightmare Alley (Goulding, 1947) 8/10
Deadpool (Miller, 2016) 5/10
Transfer (Cronenberg, 1966) 3/10
From the Drain (Cronenberg, 1967) 3/10
I, Daniel Blake (Loach, 2016) 9/10
Stereo (Cronenberg, 1969) 4/10
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Guest, 1961) 7/10

just watched the old artificial eye jean vigo collection: a+

5/10 for Chunking Express is some bullshit imo.

I mean his... 4th? best film still merits an 8 at least

handmaiden wasn't very good 6.5/10

5/10 for Chunking Express is some bullshit imo.

― Jonathan Hellion Mumble, Tuesday, 1 November 2016 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cryptosicko likes Deadwood, which I believe is television.

Chungking Express looks gorgeous, but really acts up my twee allergy.

The Brigitte Lin story isn't so twee.

The whole first half of the film definitely worked better for me, yes. If I hadn't been watching it in a class, though, I woulda abandoned it the first time someone started talking to their furniture.

Anyone watched Aquarius yet?

documentaries:

Holy Hell (Allen, 2016) 7/10
A Place In The Sun (Stevens, 1951) 5/10
*Slacker (Linklater, 1991) 8/10
*Jeremiah Johnson (Pollack, 1971) 8/10
Mascots (Guest, 2016) 6/10
Deep Web (Winter, 2015) 5/10
HyperNormalisation (Curtis, 2016) 7/10
Weiner (Kreigman/Steinberg, 2016) 7/10
Return of The Secaucus Seven (Sayles, 1979) 6/10
Doctor Strange (Derrickson, 2016) 7/10
Everybody Wants Some! (Linklater, 2016) 5/10

wait on, not all of these are documentaries, well maybe "everybody wants some" is

45 Years. Not as good as I'd read, but of the two of us who watched it, I liked it more.

Sausage Party (2016) - not sure why no review i read of this mentioned the non-stop "ironic" racist stereotypes. this movie is nothing but lazy stereotypes. yes, the Mexican is a drunk tequila bottle. yes, the irish guy is a potato. yes, the Chinese guys are boxes of rice. yes the wise spiritual leader of the film is a talking redfaced pack of American Spirits. there is an atheist message in here that is as leaden and awkward as a 15-year-old summarizing "God Delusion" on reddit for the first time. the rest of it is sub-Family Guy Edgelord comedy. if you think saying the word "Bro" is funny this will leave you in stitches.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) - gave this a shot cos i found the first very visually entertaining even though it had sucked all the wonder out of Wonderland. man, this was bad. if you have ever wanted to see The Mad Hatter depressed cos he thinks his parents are dead, this is the film for you. it's almost incredible how much this movie stretches to actually ruin the story of Alice in Wonderland. like now we have an in-universe explanation for why the Mad Hatter's tea party always thinks it is one minute to tea time, and it's even stupider than midichlorians.