Never Coming to a Theater Near You - Arthouse Cinema 2019

From the first few pages of listings, these caught my eye of films I've seen...

- 'The Realm' is decent, if you fancy a political thriller with some interesting aspects. It won a whole bunch of Goya awards in Spain at the start of the year.

- 'Yuli' is excellent, if more crowd pleaser than arthouse. Directed by Icíar Bollaín with a fantastic screenplay by her partner Paul Laverty that weaves the dance into the biography brilliantly. Some of the Cuban actors are especially fantastic.

- 'Bait', as we've spoken about above a fair bit.

I was also reading about 'The Painted Bird' recently and it looks absolutely incredible, but will be a tough watch.

I recommend the Costa, and I hear great things about Anne at 13,000 Feet

Scandinavian films: Queen of Hearts is, like, the biggest sorta arthouse succes in Denmark in the last few years, and it's pretty damn great. Trine Dyrholm should absolutely be a household name all over the world, she's so good. I'd really want someone to watch Checkered Ninja and say what they think, it's the biggest blockbuster in the country since before television was invented, but it's also so entwined with the guy who made it, Anders Matthesen, who is a comedian popular on a level where I don't really think neither anyone in the US or the UK fits, and I'm not really sure if it's actually any good. Also, Koko-di Koko-da is legitimately terrifying, almost Haneke-like, with lovable Danish legend Peter Belli in the role as a straight up sociopathic tormentor. Not for the faint of heart. I'd suspect the same is true for JP Välkeapää's new Dogs Don't Wear Pants as well, his They Have Escaped was fucked up. I'm also excited to see Hlynur Palmasons A White White Day in a couple weeks, so I'd check that out as well. Johan Skoog's Ridge won the CPH:DOX award this year, and is a great hybrid/essay film about seasonal workers in Skåne.

Elsewhere, Mr Jones is a fine biopic, Pain and Glory is good for what it is. The new Angela Schanelec, I Was at Home, But... is a must for fans of the Berlin schoo. Synonyms, which won the Golden Bear, is good, and Nadav Lapid should be better known. Years of Construction by Heinz Emigholz is perfect if you just want an avant-doc about architecture.

Saw and liked Mati Diop's Atlantics, which is an absorbing first feature -- plot and vibewise, pitched about halfway between the sensibilities of Val lewton and Jordan Peele. It looks great, shot by Alain Guiraudie veteran Claire Mathon.

I'm not sure the supernatural mechanics make inner "sense" but I guess they don't have to.

I liked it too. I *loved* Fatima Al Quadiri's score.

I believe it hits Netflix later this year.

I would've favored a more hardhitting climactic scene in the cemetery.

I think it's out this week. It had a single showing here last week to celebrate. And yeah, it's good. Loved the lo-budget aesthetic of some of it, but it was also incredibly beautiful.

It's running in a few US theaters now, and apparently hits Netflix this Friday.