Which Films Did You See Last Week? Week 3, 2021

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Which Films Did You See Last Week?

Please share with us which films you saw last week. It would be great if you could include some comments on each film. It would be awesome if you could also take some time to comment on everyone else's viewings. Unfortunately, it has reached the point where it is no longer viable for me as host to comment on everyone else's viewings every week (especially since some people like to use the weekly thread to log their viewings and nothing else). I am always keen to promote movie discussion though, so if you comment on my own viewings, I will comment on yours at my earliest convenience.

Please also note that this is intended as a movie discussion thread, not a large image posting thread. Having too many large images makes this thread difficult to navigate through. If you wish to include more than five images in a reply, please use spoiler tags - [spoiler][/spoiler] - to hide extra images.

This is what I saw:

★★★★ = loved it /// ★★★ = liked it a lot; ~7/10 /// ★★ = has interesting elements; ~6/10 /// ★ = did very little for me; ~5/10 and lower

Salt for Svanetia (1930). Life at an isolated mountain village is captured in vivid detail in this silent Soviet documentary. The film has a definite propaganda slant but is watchable throughout due to many creative ways that the footage is shot and edited. Of particular note is a sequence in which the camera rocks up and down while stones are being thrown from a tower; there is also a very innovative part in which a manure shovel is pointed directly into the camera. The film does rely a little heavily on its title cards though, but more so towards the beginning rather than the end. As per the film's title, salt is quite an important factor too with one of the most memorable sequences describing all of the places where animals can get salt from, including perspiration and urine with an almost comical cutaway to a cow seeming to lick its lips after the urine title card! (first viewing, online) ★★★

A Christmas Carol (1938). Less well-known than the Alastair Sim version of Scrooge, this fellow adaptation of the Charles Dickens story has a great lead performance too, here from Reginald Owen. Also solid is Leo G. Carroll as his colleague's ghost with their initial encounter mixing awe, wonder, suspicion and fear very well. Clocking in at just over an hour though, this feels like a very rushed and extremely condensed take on the story. Owen gets very little screen time to show off just how much of a miser he is before the ghostly visitations, while everything wraps up just a little quickly. The basic story dynamics are certainly there though and the brief running time might make this more suitable as family entertainment than other versions, but anybody looking for deep character growth or vivid depictions of poverty may want to look elsewhere. (first viewing, online) ★★

I'll Be Seeing You (1944). Romance blossoms between a soldier on leave and a young woman who meet on a train, but both have things that they are ashamed of and avoid telling each other in this in this sweet and tender little film. It is not only the complexity of their secret-keeping romance that is really dynamic here but also what the secrets themselves are. Joseph Cotten is excellent dealing with anxiety and post-traumatic stress before the term was even coined, with several great moments in which he talks to and tries to coach himself. Ginger Rogers is also sympathetic as a victim of sexual assault and unwarranted advances more than seventy years before the #MeToo movement. The rest of the performances are pretty ordinary with the overall melodramatic tone of the film not helping, but all of Rogers and Cotten's scenes together are excellent. (first viewing, online) ★★★

Bitter Victory (1957). Sent together on a mission to Libya, tension simmers between two officers who love the same woman in this World War II drama from Nicholas Ray. Richard Burton and Curd Jürgens are both solid as the two leads, however, this is a film that only really takes off in its final half-hour when the mission has been completed. The pre-mission scenes dull, hitting familiar love triangle notes; the actual mission is a bit more exciting, but things only really get interesting is only as the pair begin to converse and discuss cowardice and "the fine line between war and murder" as they head back through the desert. There are also some really intense moments in this final stretch - most notably, the drinking of water that may or may not have been poisoned. It is just a shame that one has to endure such mediocrity to get this great final section. (first viewing, online) ★★

Carriage to Vienna (1966). Forced to transport two soldiers (one wounded and unconscious) to Vienna on her horse-drawn carriage, a widow plots against them, only for things to go differently in this wartime drama from Karel Kachyna. As per Kachyna's better-known Ucho, this looks exquisite, shot in lush black and white and Jan Novák's music score is ironically lovely for a tale of desperation. That said, it is only after the unconscious soldier wakes up that the film truly gains momentum. The other soldier's attempts to befriend the widow are interesting, oblivious to her animosity, but it is the way the wounded soldier provokes things that kicks the plot into gear, highlighting the language divides and placing a wedge in the widow's plans. Some of the subsequent plot turns are a bit baffling, but everything spirals towards a memorable conclusion. (first viewing, online) ★★★

Emperor of the North Pole (1973). Set during the Great Depression, this Robert Aldrich film follows the adventures of a group of hobos who ride the trains and a sadistic conductor intent on making sure that that nobody rides for free. It is a decent set-up, and with Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin cast as the conductor and main hobo respectively, the film is certainly well acted. The execution though is odd with the hobos coming across like rowdy teenagers evading the law; the whole thing at times feels like one long elaborate game, even a bit like Smokey and the Bandit. The Depression backdrop always stays in the background, making it hard to view the characters as men driven by desperation in desperate times. Borgnine, Marvin and a young Keith Carradine keep the film chugging along, but it is a little too close to a comedy to really resonate. (first viewing, online) ★★

Pastoral Hide and Seek (1974). Random images of a childhood in a superstitious village near a carnival are gradually revealed to have a purpose in this strange and surreal movie from Shuji Terayama. While hard to get into at first due to the randomness of it all (eating roses; inflating suits), a reveal around a third of the way in provides a fascinating structure as well as many philosophical conundrums to consider, and the second half of the film really takes off as the protagonist converses and plays chess with his younger self. The film is beautifully shot throughout too with lots of supersaturated colours. Especially notable are all of the carnival scenes that are shot using (what appears to be) a rainbow coloured lens. The ending is highly memorable too and while the initial third of the film is not easy to endure, the overall project leaves a lasting impact. (first viewing, online) ★★★★

Shock Waves (1977). Opening with narration that intimately describes how dead Nazis were (apparently) turned into zombie super-soldiers, this horror film gets off to an intriguing start. Things grow even more fascinating as the stranded characters come across an eerie, abandoned hotel on an island in the middle of the ocean. Alas, as the film plods along, it soon becomes repetitive and predictable. The initial shots of the Nazis walking underwater are great, as well as them creepily emerging onto land, but the more often it happens, the less innovative it feels, and none of the deaths are graphic or imaginative, with characters often just pulled underwater and killed off-screen. The framing device adds nothing either. The basic idea is okay here and the setting is fantastic, but the characters are dull and the plot generally descends into mere stalking scenes. (first viewing, online) ★

Puppet Master II (1990). Disturbed by the arrival of ambitious paranormal researchers, the previously dormant devious puppets resume their killing spree in this sequel to the horror hit. As per the first film, the movie only really comes alive when the puppets are on screen, and here they are pretty much absent from the first twenty minutes and even afterwards they only pop up sporadically. The human characters are bland, save for a mysterious bandaged man and while he gets some good scenes towards the end as he engages in unusual rituals, this is a pretty uneven ride. Certainly there is a lot of amusement in the puppets dispatching their unsuspecting victims, but what would have been the most daring death (a young boy who likes playing Indiana Jones) occurs off-screen. The new 'Torch' puppet is very cool at least though and has all the best scenes. (first viewing, online) ★

Universal Soldier (1992). Turned into a computer-controlled super-soldier after dying in Vietnam, a young man suddenly redevelops a will of his own and has to avoid assassination attempts while protecting a female reporter in this sci-fi action film from Roland Emmerich. This often feels like an attempt to cash in on the success of The Terminator, only Ally Walker is no match for Linda Hamilton and the pseudoscience here does not make a lot of sense. The action scenes are well crafted for sure, but they come at the expense of plot dynamics, mood and atmosphere - and yet somehow the film half-works. Jean-Claude Van Damme does a great job delivering his dialogue in a deadpan manner, leading to several funny moments as he declares that he just wants to eat and as he asks Walker to look for "something hard" on his body. (first viewing, Blu-ray Disc) ★★

The Snail's Strategy (1993). Facing eviction with nowhere to go, the residents of a dilapidated tenement building band together to continually delay things in this Colombian comedy. While the tone is generally lighthearted, the film still highlights the gravity of the situation with a particularly potent part early on in which a child is injured during a forced eviction elsewhere. There are far too many main characters though to get properly invested in any of their individual plights; in fact, outside of Fausto Cabrera's protagonist, most of them are interchangeable. Cabrera is excellent though as the wise old resident with a plan, never letting his emotions get the better of him and almost enjoying the cunning planning process. Everything also culminates in a memorable finale that emphasises the power that downtrodden individuals can have when working together. (first viewing, online) ★★★

Twentynine Palms (2003). Taking a road trip through the desert, a young couple spend their days hedonistically having sex outdoors in between fights and arguments in this odd little film from Bruno Dumont. The movie has relatively little in the way of plot until the final twenty minutes. The turns that the film takes in its final stretch are quite arresting after Dumont lulls us into a false sense of security for so long - though whether the long and drawn out build-up to the action is worth it is questionable. Neither protagonist comes across as a three dimensional human being. The pair barely ever talk to each other and are pretty much entirely defined by their sexual desires, making it very difficult to endure over 90 minutes of them going about their lives before the action kicks in. What Dumont has done here is interesting in theory but less engaging in actuality. (first viewing, DVD) ★★

Girl Walk // All Day (2011). Bored learning ballet, a young woman instead decides to spend all day and all night dancing to various blended pop songs in this 77 minute film that basically feels like one long extended music video. Travelling all over New York, the project comes with a very interesting concept and there is certainly some initial amusement to be had in the diverse ways that everyone reacts to her (some pretending to ignore her; others angrily muttering under their breath, etc). Clocking in at nearly the same runtime as a standard feature film though, it is an absolutely exhausting experience. Various eccentricities here and there add some extra flavour, as do appearances by other semi-professional dancers, but the whole thing begins to feel repetitive before the halfway mark. Fortunately, the music is at least great and creatively mixed together. (first viewing, online) ★★

Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011). Gifted a group of penguins, a busy businessman initially tries to rid of the birds before eventually bonding with them in this pleasant family-oriented comedy starring Jim Carrey. The film goes in pretty predictable directions, from Carrey's heart softened, to his mending of his broken marriage, to his realisation that what his bosses want him to do is not right, but the film remains watchable from start to finish due to the unbelievably cute animals and the mischief they get up to. Not all of the humour works with far too many penguin poop and flatulence gags, but seeing them watch Charlie Chaplin waddle on screen is simply endearing and there is a neat art gallery chaos scene. The whole thing wraps up a little too neatly and quickly, however, the final scene is adorable and the mix of CGI and real penguins throughout is flawless. (first viewing, DVD) ★★

Real Steel (2011). Estranged father and son bond over humanoid boxing robots in this movie set in the near future. As a strained relationship drama, the film walks familiar beats; initially the kid seems to have some spunk, hiding his father's keys and controlling his robot through Japanese, but he quickly softens and learns to like his dad. As the father, Hugh Jackman shows a more gradual progression but it is still formulaic as anything. Fortunately, the robot action is excellent and all the scenes with the robots are encapsulating; every fight feels tense while a nighttime wander with the robot in the streets is amazing. The technology for the robots, varying between iPad-like controls, voice control and shadow boxing, is fascinating too, though it is hard not to wonder how much more productive such robots could be in the real world beyond their capacity to fight. (first viewing, online) ★★

At Berkeley (2013). Frederick Wiseman looks at the ins and outs of the University of California, Berkeley in this epic length documentary. The film starts off with university lectures and seminars cut between administrators discussing how to fund and run the university, before gradually shifting between student protests and dissent cut around the board meetings. It is a curious progression with Wiseman pinpointing the bind that all concerned are in; the university needing high fees to retain staff and discount tuition for those more needy, yet the students themselves believing in free education for all. That said, the film is massively more interesting when being a fly on the wall during the lectures and seminars. One professor's talk about time as a constructed concept is especially interesting. This feels repetitive at four hours long but it is fascinating nonetheless. (first viewing, online) ★★★

National Gallery (2014). Wandering the hallways, listening curators and attending staff meetings, Frederick Wiseman paints a vivid picture of the National Gallery of London here. It is a bit of an uneven documentary with Wiseman constantly switching focus, but much of his timing is remarkable; most notably, a tour talk about the "end of the empire" inserted immediately after a finance committee meeting. The finances of the Gallery are indeed a central focus with the question of how to "be a part of popular culture" and appeal to the masses without compromising what the gallery is about. Another central focus is the curators and their passion reverberates. Particularly potent is one curator who talks about how "a painting doesn't have time" to tell a story the same way as a film, as well as another who waxes poetic about how paintings preserve things forever. (first viewing, online) ★★★

Digging Up the Marrow (2014). Approached by a conspiracy theorist who claims to have proof of real life monsters, Adam Green (director of the chairlift horror movie Frozen) decides to make a documentary about his wild claims in this genre-blurring found footage film from Green. Several of the ideas that crop are interesting, particularly the notion that monsters are merely deformed babies and children that have grown up in the wild. Ray Wise is also excellent as the passionate conspiracy theorist with ample ambiguity regarding whether he honestly believes in monsters or is just making it all up. Green, however, proves to be a rather mundane leading man, repeating the same things about always wanting monsters to exist while filming and following Wise. The set-up here and Wise's performance are great, but this is otherwise not as fun as it sounds. (first viewing, online) ★★

Kajaki: Kilo Two Bravo (2014). Based on true events, this British war movie focuses on a group of soldiers who unwittingly find themselves stuck in minefield, unable to move their injured colleagues and struggling to get medical evacuation. This is a stressful motion picture in the best possible way as the filmmakers present the near singular location as somewhere fraught with danger where any wrong step might mean another explosion. And yet, the most striking aspect here is not the imminent danger or the grisly explosions but rather the camaraderie between the young men who try to lift up each other's spirits and take great personal risk based on the uncertain possibility of saving a mate. None of the characters are developed too deeply but they serve the plot fine. Only a sentimental ending (and sappy end credits song) significantly mars the experience. (first viewing, DVD) ★★★★

Brad's Status (2017). Attending college interviews with his son, a middle aged man reflects on his life choices and his much more successful college buddies in this potent drama starring Ben Stiller. While his first world problems are not always relatable, Stiller does a great job infusing his character with both anxiety and deep sense of longing and regret, and it is very easy to relate to this side of his personality. There is also a memorable scene in which a young woman tells him to wake up to how insignificant his perceived problems are. Stiller definitely carries the film, but Mark Mothersbaugh's stringy score is equally as pivotal with the music often seeming to taunt Stiller as his anxieties build up. The film ends a little abruptly and the lack of a definite resolution is sort of unsatisfying, but then again real life is never about picture perfect happy endings. (first viewing, online) ★★★★

We the Animals (2018). Growing up with an abusive father and neglectful mother, a young boy takes to drawing to escape his dysfunctional family in this coming-of-age drama. Evan Rosado is excellent as the curious lad who slowly discovers that his family is imperfect and that he is very different to his brothers. Stop animation is also used well to bring his illustrations to life at several points. None of the characters beyond the protagonist are fleshed out in depth though. His father sort of is, but his mother is mostly defined by her insecurities, while his brothers are very interchangeable. The film also ends without much resolution, but perhaps deliberately so. This is certainly a potent look at a neglected child trying to find his place in the world amid various influences all round, but it is really Rosado's performance and the animation that elevates the film. (first viewing, online) ★★★

Butt Boy (2019). Unable to convince his superiors, a recovering alcoholic detective goes rogue as he attempts to prove that missing pets and kids have been disappearing up his AA sponsor's anus in this outlandish indie thriller. With a premise like that, the movie is certainly intriguing for the most part, and filmed with some striking supersaturated colours, this is pretty encapsulating at first. Alas, the central idea is not quite juicy enough to sustain a full-length feature and the film begins to drag as it becomes more and more obvious that the detective is correct (a little ambiguity could have helped), making the whole thing feel like a short film overstretched to feature length. There are a few striking red filter scenes towards the end, but these parts leave more questions than answers. The finale is memorable though and this is at least daringly different. (first viewing, online) ★★

Color Out of Space (2019). Adjusting to life on a remote farmstead becomes even harder for an urban family when a meteorite crashes outside their new home in this horror movie from Richard Stanley. The meteorite is no ordinary rock, radiating neon purple and pink light when it crashes, and soon all plant, animal and human life neat the crash starts to act strangely. While some of the craziness at hand (especially Nic Cage's rants and raves) feels pretty random, the whole reality-altering premise is intriguing and the purple and pink neon hues are captured very well. This is an oddly beautiful film to look at for something so horrific. The characters are not particularly well developed, but they serve their plot functions fine and best of all about the film is how it works as a metaphor for learning to adjust to a new home above and beyond the overt horror. (first viewing, online) ★★★★

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). Pursued by a maniacal robotics engineer, a humanoid hedgehog enlists the help of an adventure-seeking police officer in this action comedy based on the classic Sega game. As far as video game adaptations go, this is pretty decent stuff with some great set pieces (missiles on a highway; paused bar brawl) and a delightfully over-the-top Jim Carrey who is very much in his element as the villain of the piece. James Marsden is a fairly likeable human lead too. Alas, his character growth is obvious from the get-go and there is nothing remarkable about his budding friendship or reconsideration of whether or not to leave his sleepy town. The direct combat scenes with Carrey are a little underwhelming too. It is actually more fun to watch Sonic fight his machines. The humour is hit-and-miss, but there are at least more hits than misses. (first viewing, online) ★★

REVISIONS

X-Men (2000). Viewed for the first time in nearly twenty years, X-Men stands up well to revision. While many clichés of the superhero subgenre are present, it benefits from being less a film about characters with superpowers trying to save the day and a more a film about them wanting to fit and be accepted in a deeply prejudiced society. There is even some political satire in the mix while the film is equally about disunity between the so-called mutants themselves, some of whom want to integrate while others believing is that it will never be possible. In addition to this depth, there are several remarkable action scenes too while the special effects still remain impressive - particularly one character's body turning to water and contorting out of shape. The ending feels a little too open for comfort, but of course many sequels would soon follow. (second viewing, Blu-ray Disc) ★★★

X2 (2003). Revisited for the first time in over fifteen years, X2 still stands up well, but whether it is actually better than the first X-Men film is less clear. It is great having the opposing mutant sides from the first film team up and Alan Cumming's amusing Nightcrawler is a superb new addition with awesome powers that are magnificently captured through excellent special effects; his initial raid of the White House is breathtaking. Trouble is, this is the single best scene of the film and despite some nifty fights later on, nothing ever matches the intensity of the raid. While a neat villain, too much feels unexplained about Brian Cox too. This is still an encapsulating ride though with higher stakes than the original and a tad more depth; "because I shouldn't have to" bluntly replies Mystique when asked why she does not always stay disguised. (second viewing, Blu-ray Disc) ★★★

Other

Blues in the Night (1941). Broke jazz musicians put their own band together and have much fun before running into a shifty nightclub manager and a femme fatale in this tonally inconsistent noir from Anatole Litvak. The film certainly looks divine with some great surreal montage sequences and shadowy photography courtesy of Ernest Haller. The plot though is a mess and tonally inconsistent throughout; the film pretty much pivots back and forth between noir and a feel-good jazz movie for its first hour until things turn darker. The film does get better towards the end as it settles on the darker route, but mostly because it gives Litvak and Haller more opportunity to present off-the-wall images. The characters are never especially sympathetic and the rapid-fire dialogue soon tires; the music is quite nice though - especially the Oscar nominated title tune. (first viewing, online) ★

None Shall Escape (1944). Released while the Second World War was still waging, this prescient Hollywood drama imagines a future in which the Allies have won and the Nazis are placed on trial for their war crimes. It is a curious set-up and the courtroom scenes are solid with an indignant Alexander Knox trying to brush off the war crime allegations against him while everybody else so solemnly looks on. The vast majority of the movie though is dedicated to flashbacks as others testify against him, and the flashbacks vary quite a bit in effectiveness, at times feeling far too preachy and ham-fisted (subtlety though may not have worked well either). The performances are fine throughout and the black and white cinematography by Lee Garmes is characteristically excellent, but the project is mostly of interest simply for the predicting things so well. (first viewing, online) ★★

Pictures of the Old World (1972). Various elderly residents of small town are interviewed about their passions, the meaning of life and death in this Slovakian documentary. Filmed in stark black-and-white, the movie boasts some great images; the music is also quite quirky and unusual, and while sometimes at odds to the images, it generally works. As a documentary experience, this varies though in how engaging it is. The most intriguing part focuses on a man who knows much more about space and astronauts than one would expect from a farmer, with some great cutaways to space/astronaut footage. There is also a touching part involving broken eggs. Hearing the folks talk about former girlfriends and growing up is actually far less interesting (since it is more mundane), but clocking in at just over an hour, the film at least never outstays its welcome. (first viewing, online) ★★

Marimbas from Hell (2010). Unable to obtain work playing the marimba (traditional Guatemalan instrument), a musician tries to form a heavy metal rock band (including his marimba) in this film that blurs the line between documentary and reenactment. Quirky as the premise might sound, the film drags even at an economical 74 minutes with lots of 'filler' shots of the band members sitting around and thinking; the movie really feels like a short film stretched out to feature length. The music varies in effectiveness too with the interactions of the three players being the high point of the film. They each have their own diverse eccentricities and bounce off each other quite well with amusing conversations about religion and whether or not they can sing. The more fascinating topic here though may have rather been the main guy's obsession his marimba. (first viewing, online) ★

B4 (2012). Three friends find themselves stuck in some sort of time loop/paradox inside a deserted parking garage in this intriguing indie thriller that is never quite as encapsulating as it sounds. The film certainly begins well with a bit of an El Incidente vibe as they discover that the stairwell inside the building keeps leading to the same level. The very quick addition of two supporting characters (who are never developed beyond stereotype) does not serve the film well though and the movie trips a little over itself as it tries to explain things; the ending certainly seems a bit at odds to the verbose explanation earlier given. Still, this has its effective moments for sure - most notably when the protagonist finds herself as a virtual ghost in her own apartment, unable to communicate with anyone; her trip afterwards into an elevator is also riddled with tension. (first viewing, online) ★★

Children of the Diaspora (2013). The grown children of refugees from El Salvador return to learn more about the political turmoil that caused their parents to flee in this documentary from the Central American nation. It is a decent topic for a documentary with some potent moments as they describe what it feels like to return and as they respond to certain exhibits and events that they attend. Trouble is, all of the young adults say almost the exact same things about everything they learn, and their accounts of their parents' attitudes towards El Salvador are pretty identical too, which makes it hard to identify with any of the "children" as individuals. Understandably, that was perhaps not the point of the documentary, but without a solid human element, this mostly functions fine as an educational and insightful film but it is never too emotionally charged. (first viewing, online) ★★

Connected by Coffee (2014). This documentary explores the plight and suffering of coffee growers in countries such as Nicaragua where they toil hard only to get a few cents for every cup of coffee generated by their hand-picked beans. It is a decent documentary subject with some alarming statistics regarding how much coffee is drank in North America, how much water is used, and how heavily the US and Canada rely on these beans from Central America. The documentary presentation though is average at best. Some of the interviews work well and it is interesting touring the lands, but much of the content is spoon-fed by a narrator who keeps repeating the same things again and again. The resulting film feels closer to a lecture than an informative motion picture, complete with a very unsubtle plea for viewers to change their coffee-buying habits. (first viewing, online) ★

The Secret of Evil (2014). Peru's attempt at a found footage horror film, this is not much better or worse than the average North American film of that sort - but that is not saying much. Some of the jump scares are decent during the build-up before the horror really kicks in. Alas, the build-up last for 40 minutes (over half the duration!) and then when the horror finally takes off, too much happens at once to the point where there is no real chance for atmosphere to be established. The paranormal investigator characters are pretty bland too. There is an interesting medium in the mix, but most of the film is dedicated to the interchangeable investigators. The special effects are okay for a film of this sort, with a spontaneously combusting photograph probably the best effect, but there is not really a lot to recommend this on despite the novelty of being set in Lima. (first viewing, online) ★

Defenders of Life (2015). Reluctantly accompanying his mother on a trip to rural Central America, the preteen son of an anthropologist befriends a girl his age who is being prepared for child marriage in this drama from Costa Rica. The subjects (child marriage, child pregnancy) are interesting but the presentation here is a little all-over-the-place. The film is largely filtered through the privileged eyes of the anthropologist's son rather than the girl herself. This leads to much tonal inconsistency, such as scenes of the boy happily chasing a turkey and then the turkey turning on him and comically chasing him. Seeing everything through his eyes also creates a bit of a distance. With a lot of jump cut editing, this is not especially well filmed either. Eylin Esther Jimenez Gonzales is pretty great as the girl though and Arman Darbo is decent as the boy at least. (first viewing, online) ★★

A Place in the Caribbean (2017). Three different romances unfold at an island resort in this movie from Honduras, shot on-location at picturesque Roatán. The beauty of the island and its seaside vistas aside though, there is nothing of interest here. The film plays out like a soap opera for the most part with sentimental music and dull characters who are entirely defined by their relationships and their attempts at romantic flings on the island despite being in relationships and marriages themselves. The whole thing might have worked had the film being written as a comedy with the characters scurrying about and trying to avoid one another. The very serious tone goes against the film though because it is nigh on impossible to care about the characters' first world problems while they ignore the natural beauty around them. The near two-hour runtime is baffling too. (first viewing, online) ★

Final Minute (2018). Shot entirely with drones, this is an incredibly good-looking film, full of glorious birds-eye-view and high camera angles and with lots of swooping and gliding camera movements. Unfortunately, there is little to the film this novelty aside, and even at less than 70 minutes long it feels dragged out. The set-up is kind of promising with a disgraced police officer coming across a dead body in a van on the side of a deserted highway; rather than wait an expected 40 minutes for back-up to arrive, he instead takes off and conducts his own investigation. While he has a female friend on the force who he talks to, how exactly he is piecing it together is never clear. There is also some trite brotherly drama in the mix with all the banter between the pair falling flat. This is such a gorgeous film to look at though with some especially awesome parade shots. (first viewing, online) ★★

[Coryn]

I often don't feel like talking about everything I've seen so I'll just take some notable watches from this week:

Pi (1998)
Amazing work once again by Aronofsky. Now having seen his most prominent works (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, The Wrestler, The Fountain) and now Pi I might have to say the latter is his best movie. The man turning absolutely insane was portrayed so well and the grainy black and white really helped with that.

Repo Man (1984)
Pure cult fun, not a serious plot but awesome characters.

It's getting pretty obvious that Indie & Cult movies are the movies I enjoy the most and I will try to go deeper into these genres (although Indie might not specifically be a genre.) In the meanwhile I'll keep on watching more known movies from other genres of course as to broaden my movie knowledge.

[Onderhond]

01. 4.0* - Himeanole [Himeanôru] by Keisuke Yoshida (2016)
Talk about a film with mood swings. The first half offer a solid combo of dry and dark comedy. Nothing too overt, but there are some good laughs. The second half is dark, brutal and delivers a serious kick in the gut. One of the most crass and surprising turnarounds I've seen, but it sure was impressive to witness.

02. 3.5* - Blithe Spirit by Edward Hall (2020)
Chipper. My expectations weren't that high for this one, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. I'm usually not one for classic settings, nor posh British characters, but Hall managed to find the right tone for the material. Blithe Spirit is a cheeky comedy with a little fantasy and romance thrown in to spice things up. Charles is suffering from writer's block. To clear his mind he accompanies his wife to a theater show of Madame Arcati, a famed spiritualist. After the show Charles invites the woman over for a private seance, which she agrees to. The seance is a fluke, but afterwards Charles' dead wife appears before him. She's not too pleased he remarried and is hellbent on winning him back. The cinematography is slick, with vivid colors and nicely framed shots. Costumes are pretty great too, so are the performances and the fitting score. But it's the jolly sense of humor, begging the audience to please not take things too seriously, that won me over in the end. A very entertaining film.

03. 3.5* - Come Away by Brenda Chapman (2020)
An odd little film indeed. What announced itself as a somewhat flimsy prequel/cross-over between the Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland franchises, is really a drama with fantasy touches in which the children's imagination reflects on their everyday troubles. I didn't really see that one coming. Peter, Alice and David are living a simple but happy life. All that changes when David dies in a freak accident and their father gets himself into some gambling depths. Peter and Alice try to fix the situation on their own, but their well-intentioned intervention only makes things worse for the family. The film is quite atmospheric, performances are fine and the pacing is solid. It's the balance between drama and fantasy, in combination with the somewhat unique premise, that makes Come Away film stand out. Let's hope Chapman leaves the world of animation behind her, she's clearly much better at live action cinema.

04. 3.0* - My SO Has Got Depression [Tsure ga Utsu ni Narimashite] by Kiyoshi Sasabe (2011)
An odd little film. I'm not sure whether the typical soft-voiced, Japanese drama setup is really suitable for a film about depression, but director Sasabe took a stab at it anyway. The result is pretty much what I expected from it. It's a competent film that does its niche proud, but seems to lack the emotional weight you'd expect from a film about depression. Tsure doesn't sleep well and has trouble motivating himself to go to work. When he goes in for a check-up, the diagnosis is clear: depression. His caring wife (and mangaka) forces him to quit his job and stands by him while Tsure tries to get better. Their journey turns into inspiration for a new comic series. Performances are solid, the film looks crisp and the soundtrack is soothing. There are no mean characters, pretty much everyone is as supportive as they can be. It might be a comfort to people struggling with similar issues, but for me the tone and subject didn't really connect. Apart from that, a sweet, gentle and well-made drama.

05. 3.0* - This Transient Life [Mujô] by Akio Jissoji (1970)
The real start of Jissôji's career and the first in his Buddhist trilogy. This Transient Life feels like a typical film of a promising first-time director (though Jissôji had made some shorts before this), a film where its director does his utmost best to prove his worth and goes all in. That makes for a slightly uneven film, but it sure is interesting. Masao has an affair with his sister Yuki. The two don't seem to mind their incestuous splurges, but they get into trouble when Yuki gets pregnant from his child. Masao leaves to work for a sculptor and Yuki marries a local handyman who has a thing for her. But the two can't forget about each other and when they get back together, chaos ensues. Pinku meets arthouse, with a splash of Japanese New Wave. It's an interesting combination of elements. The stark black and white cinematography is very nice, the pacing of the film slow but deliberate and the intrigue is strong. The soundtrack is a letdown though and some scenes do go on too long. Still, Jissôji left his calling card with this one.

06. 3.0* - The Midnight Sky by George Clooney (2020)
Slow-moving sci-fi. It made me wonder whether Clooney was trying to make his own Solaris here, sadly his skills aren't really on par with Soderbergh's. While The Midnight Sky definitely has its moments, there are some rather cheesy twists and the two-films-into-one structure isn't entirely successful either. Earth is ruined. Rather than go home and spend his last moments with others, Augustine decides to remain in his station on the North Pole. There he tries to contact Ether, a spaceship on its way back home. The people on it are unaware of the problems on Earth, Augustine does his best to warn them so they have a shot at survival. The film looks nice enough and the performances are solid, but the harsh split between barren North Pole trek and space adventure (both with predictable challenges and outcomes) doesn't do the film any favors. It feels too rushed, which is pretty weird for a film that is otherwise quite glacial. Quite moody and mysterious, but it lacks finesse.

07. 3.0* - Battle in Outer Space [Uchu Daisenso] by Ishirô Honda (1959)
I'm not sure whether spectacular is the right word, with so much obvious model work involved, but Battle in Outer Space is of Honda's bigger undertakings. There are lots of space scenes and the film has a strong focus on action, sci-fi and adventure, keeping the drama and conversations to a minimum. Earth is under attack. An alien race has settled itself on our moon and is trying to take over our planet from there. All nations on Earth unite and they devise a plan to drive the aliens back. That's easier said than done, as the aliens have a strong fleet and they are able to mind control some of our crew. Battle in Outer Space looks surprisingly competent for a Honda film, that doesn't take away that you're clearly looking at small-scale models. Don't expect realistic-looking space battles here, but if you appreciate the charm of Honda's trademark model work then there's plenty to enjoy. After a somewhat slow start, the film really delivers a barrage of pleasant cheese.

08. 2.5* - GoldenEye by Martin Campbell (1995)
A return to form for Bond. After a short, 5-year hiatus the franchise returns with Brosnan in the lead and a lot more action to break up the crime/adventure elements. It's the first Bond film that feels like a true action flick, but it's also the first Bond where 007's often cheeky behavior is called into question. You can't have all the fun. 007 finds himself entangled into some good old Cold War nonsense again, having to fight the Russians for a weapon (the titular GoldenEye) that could destroy the world. It's a quest that takes him around the world and pits him against an enemy that has a personal grudge against Bond. Brosnan is a perfect fit for the character, the bigger focus on action adds to the entertainment and there's enough goofy franchise drivel to make sure the film never gets too serious. It's newfound social consciousness is a bit ill-fitting though and Sean Bean is a dull bad guy, the Bond girls aren't great either. But after the Dalton Bonds, this was a breath of fresh air.

09. 2.5* - Fantasy Romance [Mo Hua Qing] by Taylor Wong (1990)
Taylor Wong made a name for himself making grittier action flicks, but in true Hong Kong fashion he also branched out to other genres. Fantasy Romance is one of the most apt film titles ever, as it is in fact a fantasy/romance flick, with some comedy to boot. It's clearly not Wong's strong point, but it's entertaining enough. Shing is a mangaka who draws fantasy novels. On his way to his publisher he nearly crashes his car, but instead of hitting a wall he crosses over into another dimension. There he meets a ghost who looks an awful lot like the woman from his comics. She follows him into the real world, but Shing isn't too pleased with her attention. With Tony Leung and Joey Wang there's some solid acting talent present, but since this is a comedy they're not really able to show it. The comedy isn't great and the plot is pretty basic too, but the fantasy elements are executed quite well and the pacing is solid. Just a bit of mindless entertainment, certainly not Wong's best, but not bad for someone who usually does action films.

10. 2.5* - Sakura Wars: The Movie [Sakura Taisen: Katsudou Shashin] by Mitsuru Hongo (2001)
Sakura Wars is part of a popular video game franchise that branched out into different media. Maybe this film makes more sense if you're familiar with the games, but from what I gather it's mostly just a bunch of random anime tropes thrown together, turning this film into a pretty incoherent mess. In an alternate version of the past, steampunk-like mecha can only be controlled by young women. Hence, we're stuck with a bunch of pesky anime girls disguised as a theater group, who are called upon to save the world using their fancy mechs. It sounds like a premise made up by a couple of drunks, but maybe I'm just not too used anymore to the commercial anime franchises. Whatever the case, it didn't really work that well. The character designs look rather plain, but the mechs are nifty and the cel-shaded animation is pretty cool. The music on the other hand is extremely cheesy and once the crew is out of battle, the comedy/drama is just unsightly. Lots of ups and downs in this film in other words, the animation saves it from being a complete failure.

11. 2.5* - The Rocking Horsemen [Seishun Dendekedekedeke] by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi (1992)
Rock. It seems to be cinema's ultimate (yet lazy) go-to source for a bit of rebellion, even though it's now very much a last century thing (the rebellious part that is). I don't have any affinity with the genre, so these films tend to be wasted on me, even when it's a director like Ôbayashi handling the film. The Rocking Horsemen is a very basic coming of age drama, with a young high school student (Takeyoshi) being introduced to rock music for the first time. He's immediately sold and ditches his love for classical music. He takes on a job during the holidays and wants to start a band with some guys from school. It was fun to see a very young Tadanobu Asano in one of his first big roles and the drama isn't that bad. There are small glimpses of Ôbayashi's wilder side too, but they are few and far between. It's just all very basic and with no enthusiasm for the music on display it does come off as one of Ôbayashi's weaker films.

12. 2.5* - Return of Daimajin [Daimajin Ikaru] by Kenji Misumi (1966)
The middle entry in the Daimajin franchise. Three films in one year is quite a lot, it's no surprise then that the makers have taken a couple of shortcuts. The setup is pretty much identical to the first film, including the perks, sadly also the warts. While the overall quality didn't really drop, the straightforward repetition was a little disappointing. The story is virtually the same as the first film. A village is overrun by a malicious gang. The survivors retreat and pray to their God, hoping he'll rise to help them. After some back and forth, Daimajin finally awakes and gets ready to kick some ass. Cue 20 minutes of solid destruction and that's that. Like the first film, there's not quite enough Daimajin to be truly satisfying. The Kaiju action is cool, but there simply isn't enough of it. The samurai elements feel a bit more tedious and even though it's a short film, the first three quarters are a bit slow, even dull. Luckily the cinematography is well above par, which pushes the film to a positive rating. Not bad, but could've been better.

13. 2.5* - The Night It Rained [An Shab Ke Barun Amad] by Kamran Shirdel (1967)
A documentary that still feels relevant today. That's not often the case for a doc that's more than 50 years old, especially when it tells such a specific story as The Night It Rained. But this film isn't so much about the specific events, as it is about people's beliefs and their willingness to fool themselves and/or cast doubt to uphold those beliefs. A Gorgan boy is hailed as a hero when one night he manages to save an oncoming train from great calamity. It's a stormy night and the foundations of the bridge have washed away while the train with hundreds of passengers races forward. The boy lights his jacket on fire and warns the conductor for the looming disaster. But the more people the documentary team interviews, the less plausible the boy's heroic deeds becomes. Different versions of the story surface, and it seems that the heroic nature of the story is more important than the factual truth. Confirmation bias, lies and belief are raging through this simple but poignant doc.

14. 2.5* - Resume of Love Affairs [Jôji no Rirekisho] by Koji Wakamatsu (1964)
An early Wakamatsu. He made countless films during the 60s, so it's virtually impossible to keep track of them, but the better ones came at the end of the decade. While some of his early work is interesting, Wakamatsu was still exploring his signature style and even though you can already see glimpses of his genius, the films are often a bit uneven. A young girl is apprehended by the police as a murder suspect. Once at the station, she reveals her tragic story. After she got raped by some hoodlums in her hometown, the girl moved to Tokyo, hoping to find a better life there. But before long she ended up a prostitute, doing exactly what she ran away from. Wakamatsu's experimental side rears its head from time to time, mostly during the first half hour. After that, the film becomes more focused on the narrative, as we learn about the young girl's past through a series of flashbacks. It's a slightly disappointing evolution as the plot and characters aren't that interesting, but Wakamatsu fans will no doubt find something to like.

15. 1.5* - A Night at the Opera by Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding (1935)
My third Marx Brothers film and they start to get a little predictable. Only three brothers are present in this one, but that doesn't really shake things up. Each brother has his own particular style of comedy and the film switches between them, while in the background some uninteresting plot develops. The Marx Brothers get mixed up in a ploy to get two lover together in an opera. The youngest isn't being accepted as a tenor as he's not given a fair chance to prove his worth. By humiliating the man's enemies and messing up their plans, Groucho, Chico and Harpo try to pave the way for his success. Groucho's quips and puns have the biggest chance of drawing a few laughs, though there's an equal chance they'll miss target. Harpo's slapstick is terribly dated and Chico isn't particularly funny either. And so A Night at the Opera cycles between the brothers, flipping between passable and dreadful from start to finish. I would've preferred just Groucho minus the rest.

16. 1.5* - The Testament of Dr. Mabuse [Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse] by Fritz Lang (1933)
A film that felt surprisingly modern, though for once it's not really meant as a 100% compliment. Mabuse isn't unlike a bunch of police thrillers from the 90s, with the cops chasing the case of a mysterious serial killer. I think I would've preferred a full-on German Expressionist film, but with the introduction of sound that era was clearly dying. Mabuse is a master criminal. He is locked up in an institution, though his doctors were never able to figure out what exactly went on inside is head. When the police are confronted with a series of murders that happened exactly as Mabuse wrote them down, they are stumped and start an investigation. Lang didn't forget his learnings from 20s silent cinema, but the introduction of sound puts more focus on the narrative, which ultimately made it a more tedious affair, certainly at 120 minutes. The case is quite interesting and the pacing is decent, it's just that the execution is rather basic. But if you like these kinds of police thrillers, then this is well ahead of its time.

17. 1.0* - Young People [Nian Qing Ren] by Cheh Chang (1972)
I'm actually quite surprised by the amount of non-martial arts films Cheh Chang directed. He's really only known for this martial arts cinema here, but once you dig deeper into his oeuvre all kinds of weird genre experiments pop up. Young People is a light-hearted sports flick. Like most "other" Chang films though, it isn't very good. Several school clubs are caught up in minor feuds. Things get a bit more heated when several of the boys are interested in Princess, Ho Tai's girlfriend. The athletes, martial artists and performance club start to butt heads. After some back and forth, the rivalry comes to a conclusion during the school's cart racing competition. Chang spends way too much time on uninteresting (and unrealistic-looking) games. Performances are pretty poor, at two hours the film is way too long and the comedy doesn't really work either. On the one hand it's a shame Chang wasted his time on films like this, on the other hand it's not like we're really lacking Shaw Bros martial arts features. This film is only for the real completists.

18. 1.0* - Terms of Endearment by James L. Brooks (1983)
The first hour is a pretty inconspicuous drama. Quite light, passable but not great, 100% puzzling considering the many prizes it won. The second half clears up a lot. Out of the blue Terms of Endearment becomes a sappy and inelegant illness-based drama, the type of thick sentiment Hollywood loves to love. Emma has a somewhat complicated relationship with her mom Aurora. When Aurora doesn't approve of her marriage, Emma decides to move away with her husband. It doesn't take long before Emma and her husband start growing apart, which strengthens the old bond with her mom. But then disaster strikes. Performances are decent and the first hour is light, which makes it an easy watch. The drama doesn't really work too well as the characters are a bit draw and uninteresting, so when the film turns dark the emotional parts never really stick and the sentiment feel forced and misplaced. Not a good film.

19. 0.5* - The Golden Positions by James Broughton, Kermit Sheets (1971)
You better be loving the human body when you seek out this film, as Broughton and Sheets offer nothing else but people in various positions against a neutral background. I'm sure there's an audience for this type of thing, probably artists with a similar fascination for the human form, but for the accidental spectator there's not much here. Like most of these conceptual shorts, there's an idea/concept and not much else. There's a little narration at the start of the short, with just the littlest hints of sarcasm, but as the rest of the film is carried out quite seriously and monotonously, it seems that was just my own wishful thinking. So yes, people posing. Often nude, sometimes clothed. Then alone, at other times with two, three or four together. We see some famous poses, we see people lazily lounging around. There's some sexual poses too of course, unless you'd forget you're watching real art. Oh, and there are a few color filters, so very cinematic. Not my thing I'm afraid.

[peeptoad]

Hi sol. Hope you had a good week.

I've seen a few of yours: Pastoral Hide and Seek (8/10) , Shock Waves (5), and both X Men movies. The latter two I don't rate real highly, but they're the 2 best of the X Men films imo. Pastoral Hide and Seek I really like stylistically, though the meat of the film didn't stick with me for quite as long. I think I got into a brief discourse with Onderhond when I saw this one and he rec'd Midori (1992), which I liked even more than 'Pastoral. Some content is similar between the two.
I agree with you on Shock Waves, though I rated it higher than you did. I loved the look and setting, but was really let down by the script and the very average way in which the material was handled. Seemed great at first, but not much ultimately.

Coryn-
Pi 7/10 not as good as 'Requiem, but probably second best of Aronofsky's for me.
Repo Man 7/10 but it would be due for rewatch as I haven't seen it since the mid-80s. I do recall liking it though at that point in my life.

Onderhond-
Seen Battle in Outer Space and Goldeneye and have rather average ratings for both. I think I've seen Crimes of the Heart too (if that's the one where Spacek attempts to

Spoiler

off herself in the oven

and dumps sugar in Coca-Cola for the entire film), but not enough memory to give an opinion.

mine-
Small Axe (2020): 'Lovers Rock' 7
The Signal (2007) 6
Orlando (1992) 6
Uccellacci e uccellini (1966) The Hawks and the Sparrows 7
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) extended version 7 (rewatch)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) extended version 7
Under the Shadow (2016) 8
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) 7

I had the best viewing week this side of the new year, but still not stellar. Under the Shadow was the best of the lot. I found it very creepy in spots, well-acted, and I enjoyed the backdrop, setting, and timeframe, which made it more memorable. I'm sure I missed some nuances related to the time and current events, but it worked. My main criticism would be that it took longer than I'd have liked for me to engage with the characters at the beginning, and some of the dramatic sequences seemed to drag.
The Pasolini, and Revenge of Frankenstein were decent enough as well. I'm going to probably watch a bunch of hammer films in March as part of the UK challenge. This was a warm up I suppose (and not as good as Curse of Frankenstein). Lovers Rock was good as well, but I preferred Mangrove. I'll finish that series up soon hopefully.

[Onderhond]

I think I've seen Crimes of the Heart too

Maybe, but I never saw that one

[lynchs]

confinement times? horror at home

feature film

Black Moon (1934, peeptoad) 7
voodoo horror drums - kept me interested

Kurutta kajitsu (1956) 8
frames - timeless crazy ending

Les lèvres rouges (1971, peeptoad, insomnius, oOgiandujaOo) 8
horror - homages all around? - no fangs?? no fangs

Malatesta's Carnival of Blood (1973, peeptoad) 6
horror - fun?? fun - fangs

One Way Boogie Woogie (1977)
immersive

Dead & Buried (1981, peeptoad) 6
horror - entertainment

Xtro (1982, peeptoad) 3? 4? 5? 6?
horror - not scary kid in a horror film? - somehow loved the last 7 minutes

Les trois couronnes du matelot (1983) 7
Ruiz - beeing - Ruiz

Opera (1987, Alfred Hitchcock) 6
horror - all over the place

Crónicas (2004, outdoorcats) 6
horror - creepy scary Alcázar

The Wretched (2019) 6
horror - watchable

Butchers (2020) 6
horror - little Texas Chain

The Invisible Man (2020, Christopher Nolan) 4
not horror - predictable and extremely boring


shorts

Tire dié (1958)

Liminal Minimal (1977)
Silent Partner (1977)
Petit Mal (1977)
Chamber (1977)

Apollo (2003)

Chiaroscuro (2015, Rich Fedorchak) no IMDB

Untitled (2020, Takashi Makino) no IMDB
There must be some kind of way out of here (2020)
O que pode um corpo? (2020)

ps. peeptoad - please 10 more horror:))))))))))))))))))))))horror)))))))))))))))))10))))))))))))))))))

[peeptoad]

I think I've seen Crimes of the Heart too

Maybe, but I never saw that one

OK, so apparently I get terms of Endearment and Crimes of the Heart confused and I also am not getting enough sleep again.

[Perception de Ambiguity]

恋は五・七・五！/ Love Is 5-7-5! / Love Is Five Seven Five/ Koi wa go-shichi-go! (2005, 荻上直子/Naoko Ogigami) 7-
kawaii film funness
light summery hangout piece
ain't living a gas

Spoiler

Operation Naked (2016, Mario Sixtus) 8+
nowness-packaged treatise of sci-fi future plausibilities


In Camera(: Diaries of a Documentary Cameraman) (2010, Ranjan Palit) 7
"Does life begin when film ends, or is there no life after film?"

Spoiler

Peep "TV" Show (2004/September 2003, video by Y. Tsuchiya) 6
goth lolita lost in webcam world (we like to watch as the towers fall, and jerk off)

Spoiler

Frame Line (1983, Gunvor Nelson) 6
confounding inventiveness

Before Need Redressed (1994, Gunvor Nelson) 7
expertly confounding family sensuality

Light Years (1987, Gunvor Nelson) 6
drive-by smear tactics

Lux Æterna (2019, Gaspar Noé) 3+

Spoiler

The Zapruder Footage: An Investigation of Consensual Hallucination (1999, Keith Sanborn) 7
psychotronic entanglement

Spoiler

The Patsy (1964, Jerry Lewis) 5+
psychobilly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mW7R9Odn8

Die Reise nach Kafiristan / The Journey to Kafiristan (2001, Donatello Dubini & Fosco Dubini) 5
wokeness asleep at the wheel


(Nova:) Life's Greatest Miracle (2001, written by Julia Cort) 6
affirmative rehash (of 1983's "The Miracle of Life")

Fire in the Sky (1993, Robert Lieberman) (sorta 2nd viewing) 4
upductee


Quest (1984, Saul & Elaine Bass) (2nd viewing) 7
hero's journey in the age of stress

---

shorts

Бедная Лиза / Poor Lise / Poor Liza / Bednaya Liza (1978, Идея Гаранина / Ideya Garanina) 8-
ultimate dreamy operatic animated soviet avant-garde horror romance kitsch

Балаган / Cabaret / Balagan (1981, Идея Гаранина / Ideya Garanina) 7
fatalistic puppet opera whirlwind

Старая лестница / Old Stair / The Old Staircase / Staraya lestnitsa (1985, Александр Горленко/Aleksandr Gorlenko) 7
dripping wet musical dream

Rooftops of New York (1961, Robert McCarty) 7
leisurely summery xylophonic camp

Spoiler

Nova (2018, Wenhwa Ts'Ao) 4-
when visual effects people tell stories

2016. október 8. (2016) (2 viewings) 3+
film paper rebellion

Cry When It Happens (2010, Laida Lertxundi) 3

Dog Factory (1904, Edwin S. Porter) 6-

Move On (1903, A.C. Abadie) 5

---

other

The Joe Rogan Experience - #1163 - Banachek (2018) 6-

The Joe Rogan Experience - #1597 - Travis Walton (2021) 6

The Joe Rogan Experience - #1600 - Lex Friedman (2021) 6

The Lone Ranger: "Day At Death's Head Pass" (1967) (w/ Josh Way) 6

---

didn't finish

Grbavica / Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (2006, Jasmila Zbanic) [31 min]
Den muso / The Young Girl (1975, Souleymane Cissé) [20 min]

Spoiler

La tía Tula / Aunt Tula (1964, Miguel Picazo) [11 min]
The Toll of the Sea (1922, Chester M. Franklin) [7 min]
Vale Abraão / Abraham's Valley (1993, Manoel de Oliveira) [7 min]
Uppercase Print (2020, Radu Jude) [6 min]
Sheytan vojud nadarad / There Is No Evil (2020, Mohammad Rasoulof ) [4+ min]
The Fourth Kind (2009, Olatunde Osunsanmi) [4 min]
Noite Sem Distância / Night Without Distance (2015, Lois Patiño) [3 min]

---

notable online media

top:
Joe Rogan Questions Banachek "WTF"
Indiana Rifle and the Walk of Doom
ISOLATING Pond Water inside a JAR for a YEAR! │ Woodland Pond Ecosphere - 1 Year Update!
rest:
Tim Dillon Funniest Podcast Moments
Why are So Many Men Psychologically Infantile?

Spoiler

[peeptoad]

ps. peeptoad - please 10 more horror:))))))))))))))))))))))horror)))))))))))))))))10))))))))))))))))))

You want more? Glad you liked Black Moon anyhow... years later Fay Wray evidently had no recollection of even filming this. That says something. Maybe.

some randoms from my favorites-
Angst 1983
Der Fan 1982 fantastic, minimalist style and music
A Page of Madness 1926 saw this with a kick ass soundtrack on YT
Der Todesking 1990
Kalevet (Rabies) 2010 think deeper when/if you see this. More than meets the eye.
Just Before Dawn 1981 one of the best backwoods slashers
See the Sea (1997) surprise (and another nice job by de Van)
Ms. 45 1981 perfect gritty view of 80s NYC
Mad in Itally 2011 exploitation verite
Mad Mutilator 1983 (Ogroff) nightmarish qualities

[lynchs]

Hey sun,

11/24

the Kalatozov, the Terayama, the Dumont, liked the Ray
love some Kachyna's but not this one, Aldrich's and Katis's OK, Wiseman's, Emmerich's and White's not OK.

Interested in Zombie Nazis of course no zombie vs shark?

[lynchs]

Hey Coryn, 2/2

both only Ok.

Hey Onderhond, 3/19

Jissôji showing off, probably seen the 007, good ol' Broughton

[viktor-vaudevillain]

Pretty great week

The River (Jean Renoir, 1951) - 9
A whole world within one moving picture.

Fais-moi plaisir ! / Please, Please Me! (Emmanuel Mouret, 2009) - 8
Hugely entertaining. One of the best and most intelligent romcoms I've seen. It's Eyes Wide Shut by Tati in a critique of the ups and downs of modern sex life.

Hyenas (Djbril Diop Mambéty, 1992) - 9

Deep Cover (Bill Duke, 1992) - 9

L. Cohen (James Benning, 2018) - 8-

Smorgasbord (Jerry Lewis, 1983) - 7

Lúa vermella / Red Moon Tide (Lois Patiño, 2020) - 7+

Getting to Know the Big, Wide World / Познавая белый свет (Kira Muratova, 1980) - 7+

shorts:

Lois Patiño:
Night Without Distance (2015) - 9
Strata of the Image (2015) - 8
Fajr (2017) - 7

Compline (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2009)
Proof that Dorsky needs to be seen in a Cinema.

Cityscape (Michael Snow, 2019) - 8

Kristallnacht (Chick Strand, 1979)
Beautiful. Shame that there's no decent digital copy of this...

[lynchs]

Hey peeptoadhorror, 3/8

McQueen's Hunger but that's it (not really interested in these series), downloading The Signal (HORROR), liked Potter's Orlando and the two The Hobbit's were OK.

[lynchs]

Hey Percepção de ambiguidade, 2/8?9?10? I got lost;)

my IMDB says Dubini/Dubini was only OK, but says the Lieberman was not (OK)

Gunvor Nelson, checking Frame Line

peeptoadhorror 3/10

Thank you (again!), in one week I'll ask for more 10

[kongs_speech]

27 unique features this week and two viewings of my new favorite film, Promising Young Woman. 75 shorts.

FEATURES

We Are Your Friends (2015, Max Joseph) - 4/5
Rafiki (2018, Wanuri Kahiu) - 3.5/5
Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey) - 4.5/5
Moulin Rouge (1952, John Huston) - 2/5
The Killing of Two Lovers (2020, Robert Machoian) - 4.5/5

Promising Young Woman (2020, Emerald Fennell) - 5/5
The Dissident (2020, Bryan Fogel) - 4/5
A Faithful Man (2018, Louis Garrel) - 3/5
The Mauritanian (2021, Kevin Macdonald) - 4/5
Leap (2020, Peter Chan) - 2/5

Year One (2009, Harold Ramis) - 3.5/5
Things to Come (2016, Mia Hansen-Love) - 4/5
Promising Young Woman (2020, Emerald Fennell) - 5/5 (rewatch)
Miss Juneteenth (2020, Channing Godfrey Peoples) - 3.5/5
Yes, God, Yes (2019, Karen Maine) - 3.5/5

Kajillionaire (2020, Miranda July) - 5/5
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (2019, Barbara Paz) - 4/5
Falling (2020, Viggo Mortensen) - 3.5/5
Test Pattern (2019, Shatara Michelle Ford) - 4/5
Ammonite (2020, Francis Lee) - 4.5/5

There is No Evil (2020, Mohammad Rasoulof) - 4/5
The Wave (2015, Roar Uthaug) - 3.5/5
Day of the Outlaw (1959, Andre De Toth) - 3.5/5
Deja Vu (2006, Tony Scott) - 3.5/5
Malcolm & Marie (2021, Sam Levinson) - 4.5/5

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009, Tony Scott) - 4.5/5
The Insider (1999, Michael Mann) - 4.5/5
We Are the Best! (2013, Lukas Moodysson) - 4/5

SHORTS

Spoiler

Les 3 Boutons (2015, Agnes Varda) - 3.5/5
Nightwalk (2020, Malgorzata Szumowska) - 3.5/5
I Love My Mother in Law But... (1948, Dave O'Brien) - 1/5
The House is Black (1963, Forough Farrokhzad) - 5/5
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943, Maya Deren) - 5/5

Shake! Otis at Monterrey (1987, D.A. Pennebaker) - 4.5/5
Movie Trailer (1950) - 3.5/5
Flowers of Darkness (1972, William Templeton) - 2/5
Mabel's Strange Predicament (1914, Mabel Normand) - 2.5/5
Merbabies (1938, Rudolf Ising) - 4/5

Mickey's Polo Team (1936, David Hand) - 3/5
The Whalers (1938, David Hand & Dick Huemer) - 4/5
Sea Scouts (1939, Dick Lundy) - 3.5/5
Jan 69 (Jaromir Kallista & Stanislav Milota) - 3/5
De Djess (2015, Alice Rohrwacher) - 3/5

Somebody (2014, Miranda July) - 4.5/5
22 Lumiere shorts
Pan-American Exposition by Night (1901, Edwin S. Porter)
Per Aspera Ad Astra (1969, Nedeljko Dragic) - 2.5/5
Playing in the Park (1929, Antonio Rodriguez Fuentes & Josefina Barrera Fuentes) - 3.5/5

President McKinley Taking the Oath (1901, Thomas A. Edison)
Reve et realite (1901, Ferdinand Zecca) - 2/5
Rage Net (1988, Stan Brakhage) - 3.5/5
Rhythm (1957, Len Lye) - 4/5
Riding a Tricycle (1928, Antonio Rodriguez Fuentes & Josefina Barrera Fuentes) - 3.5/5

Terrible Teddy, the Grizzy King (1901, Edwin S. Porter) - 0.5/5
The Big Swallow (1901, James Williamson) - 3.5/5
The Gay Shoe Clerk (1903, Edwin S. Porter) - 3.5/5
The May Irwin Kiss (1896, William Heise) - 2.5/5
The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899, George Albert Smith) - 3.5/5

The Sick Kitten (1903, George Albert Smith) - 2.5/5
Schwechater (1958, Peter Kubelka) - 2.5/5
What Happened on Twenty-Third Street, New York City (1901, Edwin S. Porter & George S. Fleming) - 2/5
Zapruder Film of Kennedy Assassination (1970, Abraham Zapruder) - 4/5
5 Lumiere shorts

A Note from Above (1967, Derek Phillips) - 2/5
Adebar (1957, Peter Kubelka) - 0.5/5
Delirium in a Studio (1907, Georges Melies) - 3.5/5
Case Study: Barbiturates (1969) - 3/5
Chinese Series (2003, Stan Brakhage) - 0.5/5

Color Film (1971, Standish Lawder) - 4/5
Color Sequence (1943, Dwinell Grant) - 1.5/5
Death in the Forenoon (1966, Jerome Hill) - 3.5/5
Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (1901, Frederick S. Armitage) - 4/5
The Lascivious Wotan (1971, Otto Muehl) - 1/5

Emigrants Landing at Ellis Island (1903)
Fuentes Family Ranch (1938, Antonio Rodriguez Fuentes & Josefina Barrera Fuentes) - 3.5/5
Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (1925, Theodore Case & Earl I. Sponable) - 2.5/5
Extraordinary Illusions (1903, Georges Melies) - 3/5
Je vous salue, Sarajevo (1993, Jean-Luc Godard) - 5/5

[sol]

Hi sol. Hope you had a good week.

I've seen a few of yours: Pastoral Hide and Seek (8/10) , Shock Waves (5), and both X Men movies. The latter two I don't rate real highly, but they're the 2 best of the X Men films imo. Pastoral Hide and Seek I really like stylistically, though the meat of the film didn't stick with me for quite as long. I think I got into a brief discourse with Onderhond when I saw this one and he rec'd Midori (1992), which I liked even more than 'Pastoral. Some content is similar between the two.
I agree with you on Shock Waves, though I rated it higher than you did. I loved the look and setting, but was really let down by the script and the very average way in which the material was handled. Seemed great at first, but not much ultimately.

My week has been okay. Less workmen over than usual, so more time to just set up the next place and try to get my DVD and Blu-ray collections in alphabetical order again. I'll try to post some pictures when I'm done setting up. I trust your own week has been decent.

That's interesting to hear regarding X-Men and X2 since they are the only two films in the franchise that I have seen. I guess by the time the third film came out I had already figured out that superhero movies were not my thing. Anyway, I've decided to try to correct this in the remaining days of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge. I have all of the other films lined up, most of which have just been collecting dust in my DVD/BR collection for years. Dark Phoenix is the only one that I don't own.

From what I have heard, Days of Future Past is actually meant to be the best of the main X-Men franchise while I know that the spin-offs of Deadpool and Logan have lots of fans. Curious to find out what all the hoo-hah is about with those entries.

I'll be looking out for more films from the director of Pastoral during this year's Nippon Challenge. Pastoral was a no-brainer to watch as a challenge double this month.

As for Shock Waves, I think knowing the poster for years definitely tampered with my expectations.

Yours:

Under the Shadow was okay. Same goes for Orlando, though I mostly just recall Tilda Swinton's performance off-hand. Definitely liked Hawks and Sparrows at the time, though it is the catchy theme song that stuck with me more than anything else all these years...

I didn't like what Jackson did with the Lord of the Rings trilogy so the Hobbit films are very low priority for me, but I guess at least they don't come with the baggage of award institutes trying to pretend that they are the best written films of a single year.

love some Kachyna's but not this one, Aldrich's and Katis's OK, Wiseman's, Emmerich's and White's not OK.

Interested in Zombie Nazis of course no zombie vs shark?

Nope. While the Nazi zombies spend a large amount of time underwater, they are not shark-infested waters. Shock Waves is not a Fulci film - but it might be better if it was.

Ucho for me is one of the 50 or 100 best films ever made so my expectations for Carriage to Vienna were quite high. Couple it with the fact that it has been the #1 film on this forum for so long and it was an almost inevitable disappointment. I did like it a lot, but I suspect that I might have loved it had I discovered it on my own terms.

Wiseman isn't for everyone and the two that I watched this week were on the longer side. I actually liked National Gallery a lot more though despite giving them the same rating. As a film lover, I couldn't help but dig the comparisons the curators kept drawing between their art and film, calling painting an old form of entertainment and storytelling with a single frame. Some really cool cutting too (Wiseman's best element). At four hours, At Berkeley kind of exhausted me, but I respect Wiseman's attempts to intertwine a message in that one.

Shame you didn't connect with Brad's Status. I did. Very much so. I know what some of my high school peers have gone on to achieve, and here I am spending my Sunday evening alone replying to someone in Portugal on the internet. But I think I'm content with that. Anyway, I really felt for a part of Brad's character and I thought Stiller played him so well. He's such an 'eh' comedy actor, but place him in a decent drama...

Yours:

Seen seven of yours this week, of which Argento's Opera is probably my favourite. Also my favourite all-time Argento; certainly very close, but I'm also partial to Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome, which is one of the most amazing Vertigo tribute films ever made.

One Way Boogie Woogie is probably my favourite Benning film after Landscape Suicide. Benning's films are always hypnotic to watch, but with One Way he is trying to do something different with the fusion of sound together with his selected clips.

[lynchs]

Hey viktor-vaudevillain, 3/8

classic? Renoir I didn't saw, had to watch the Mouret's trailer to remember something, my IMDB says only OK (probably saw in RTP2 (Portuguese channel)), same thing with Duke's film, only saw 3 Mambéty's films I think and the 3 were very good, interested in Benning's film after Boogie Woogie, I'll see the Patiño eventually, the Muratova was good (8) but was long ago.

shorts,

liked Patiño's Fajr, didn't saw the Dorsky's short (bookmarked) but liked very much Variations ('98), also bookmarked Snow's short too and glad you liked Kristallnacht

[kongs_speech]

Pastoral Hide and Seek (1974).

Twentynine Palms (2003).

Real Steel (2011).

Brad's Status (2017).

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020).

REVISIONS

X-Men (2000).

X2 (2003).

Pastoral Hide and Seek sounds awesome, and I think it's on Rarefilmm.

Twentynine Palms was my least favorite film when I was 18, but that was an entire decade ago. I was young and stupid, and now that I'm a Dumont fan as well as a fan of Reygadas' Battle in Heaven, I bet I'd really dig it. I downloaded it last year and haven't gotten around to a rewatch.

"Formulaic" is the most fitting word for Real Steal. It's watchable but thoroughly meh.

Stiller is great in Brad's Status. I found the film around him to be merely decent, but he always crushes it when given an opportunity to go more dramatic.

I loved Sonic the Hedgehog, primarily due to Carrey. I'm excited for the inevitable sequel, especially after the end credits scene.

Rewatched X-Men last year for the first time since I was a kid. It's solid. Haven't seen the sequel in quite a while. Mystique is my favorite part of those movies.

Pi (1998)

Pi is pretty cool stuff, yeah. Very impressive what Aronofsky accomplished on a miniscule budget. Don't skip mother!.

05. 3.0* - This Transient Life [Mujô] by Akio Jissoji (1970)

Haven't seen yours this week, but that Jissoji sounds cool to me. I know Arrow has a box set of his Buddhist trilogy.

Uccellacci e uccellini (1966) The Hawks and the Sparrows 7

I saw that so long ago, it definitely needs a rewatch. I got Netflix when I graduated high school and watched so many foreign/arthouse films that summer, but I've forgotten the details of nearly all of them. Trauma will do that to the old noggin!

Spoiler

Les lèvres rouges (1971, peeptoad, insomnius, oOgiandujaOo) 8

Opera (1987, Alfred Hitchcock) 6

The Invisible Man (2020, Christopher Nolan) 4

Daughters of Darkness is pretty great. Ebby recommended that one to me last year.

Opera is one of the best I've seen so far from Argento. Good times. I still love Inferno even more, though.

The Invisible Man is a great film, imo, but I think looking at it through the lens of a regular horror film is a mistake. It uses horror tropes as the framing for insightful commentary on domestic abuse and the lingering trauma it causes. Very important film for our times.

Frame Line (1983, Gunvor Nelson) 6
confounding inventiveness

Before Need Redressed (1994, Gunvor Nelson) 7
expertly confounding family sensuality

Light Years (1987, Gunvor Nelson) 6
drive-by smear tactics[/color]

Would love a tip on where to see these Gunvor Nelson flicks. Kirsa Nicholina is my all-time favorite short.

Der Todesking 1990

I need to watch that. It's in my Arrow box set of Buttgereit. So far, I've only seen Schramm, which I love.

Smorgasbord (Jerry Lewis, 1983) - 7

Haven't seen any of these, but I added the Lewis to my Letterboxd watchlist when I saw you log it.

[lynchs]

sun, It's always a pleasure to see Tilda Swinton:).. in any movie!

about 'Brad's Status' or these kind of movies, subtlety is the key, but unfortunately most filmmakers don't have a clue about it!

[lynchs]

Hey kongs_speech, 6/27?

all 6 merely Ok
Viggo Mortensen the director?
shorts /100? I'll sure check out!

[prodigalgodson]

Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980) 4/10

De Palma has such an arresting style; if only it wasn't put to the use of such a crass, inane story. The wordless art museum sequence is as good a piece of audiovisual storytelling as I've seen, then it's all downhill. Hard to believe 1980 was 40 years ago, but also hard to believe how much cultural attitudes have shifted since then.

Lacrima Christi (Teo Hernandez, 1980) 8/10 - sorry lynchs, no essay, but thanks again for the share

Hernandez's use of the camera and editing technique are utterly unique; feels like a time-honed method to approximate an intense subjective, vaguely spiritual experience. The musical and ambient soundtrack, like the film itself, is at its best ecstatic, at worst a bit wearying. One of those ones you can throw various adjectives at but can’t really pin down, as hypnotic as it is jarring, wildly frenetic but tethered to some recurring objects, best at its most abstract.

Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020) 9/10 - thanks for the rec sol and kong!

Carey Mulligan kills it as one of the great antiheroes of the 21st century. It's so rare to encounter a film so relevant, so brilliant, and so entertaining, that takes an intriguing concept and builds on it in such precise and ingenious ways. My one nitpick is the soundtrack selection, which works at its most self-aware but falls flat at its most earnest, with an especially ill-suited piece of Mahler. Anyhow, a subversive modern classic I really wish I could've seen on the big screen; Emerald Fennell has potential to be the voice of a generation.

Personal Problems (Bill Gunn, 1980) 9/10

Per Ishmael Reed, this always gets touted as a "meta soap-opera;" the label becomes clearer with the dramatic plot machinations and tacked-on happy ending of the second part, but overall it's less meta or soapy and more just a poetic, soul-baring meditation on the mundane horror of Black city life. The story's told in a chronological scramble, with recurring shards of decontextualized scenes folding back on themselves like haunting memories. Coupled with the gorgeous, yearning soundtrack, it makes for an unusually dreamlike approach to grounded, gritty realism. The actors lend their roles palpable desperation and poignancy, even when the performances are on the amateur, emotive side; Vertamae Grosvenor in the lead gives one of the most committed, convincing performances I've seen. I wish the film had spent more time with her character towards the end, but maybe slighting her, the way everyone else in her circle and society has, is part of the meta approach. Bill Gunn's eye for composition is as far up my alley as any I've seen, and the fuzzy lo-fi video gives the studied compositions an impressionistic glow (I left really wanting more of that ravishing nature scenery, just as the characters obviously did). The high-tone rendering of light, with ghostly psychedelic eclipses and tendrils trailing blown-out light sources, drew my attention throughout; dang, analog makes me nostalgic. Overall a vivid, elegiac, kind of confounding experience, highly recommended for fans of Rohmer, Cassavettes, and Black underground art movements like the LA Rebellion.

[sol]

Pastoral Hide and Seek sounds awesome, and I think it's on Rarefilmm.

Twentynine Palms was my least favorite film when I was 18, but that was an entire decade ago. I was young and stupid, and now that I'm a Dumont fan as well as a fan of Reygadas' Battle in Heaven, I bet I'd really dig it. I downloaded it last year and haven't gotten around to a rewatch.

"Formulaic" is the most fitting word for Real Steal. It's watchable but thoroughly meh.

Stiller is great in Brad's Status. I found the film around him to be merely decent, but he always crushes it when given an opportunity to go more dramatic.

Pastoral Hide and Seek is indeed pretty awesome. I honestly had a really hard time getting into it at first, but once the 'reveal' happens, the film just gets more and more interesting.

I can understand that view on Twentynine Palms and I didn't totally love the film myself. Honestly, having almost an hour and a half to lull us into a false sense of security is a little bit of an overkill, but it is quite fascinating what Dumont manages to do just once we have got comfortable watching an ostensible softcore romance movie.

Totally agreed on Stiller. The film reminded me a lot of While We're Young in which Stiller was excellent too. Another great Stiller/Bambauch collaboration is Greenberg, but yeah, put Stiller in a comedy not directed by the Farrelly Brothers and my interest in him goes massively downhill.

Yours:

Seen four of viewings this week of which The Insider just edges out Promising Young Woman as my favourite. Russell Crowe's best performance by far.

Regarding Promising Young Woman, I agree that it is the best film of 2020 and a better film than The Godfather Part II, but the best film ever made? I don't know. It definitely had a big impact on me at the time - left me in tears in my cinema seat - but the more I thought about the ending, the more it didn't quite work for me. I mean...

Spoiler

...the coincidence of the police arresting him during the wedding is massive. I'm assuming the lawyer set-up the text messages, so the timing there makes sense, but how could they predict how long it would take for the police to find her body and then get that in sync with the wedding ceremony?

It's a nitpicking thing for sure, but argh, still a pretty great movie. I hope Alfred Molina is remembered in awards season.

[peeptoad]

My week has been okay. Less workmen over than usual, so more time to just set up the next place and try to get my DVD and Blu-ray collections in alphabetical order again. I'll try to post some pictures when I'm done setting up. I trust your own week has been decent.

That's interesting to hear regarding X-Men and X2 since they are the only two films in the franchise that I have seen. I guess by the time the third film came out I had already figured out that superhero movies were not my thing. Anyway, I've decided to try to correct this in the remaining days of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Challenge. I have all of the other films lined up, most of which have just been collecting dust in my DVD/BR collection for years. Dark Phoenix is the only one that I don't own.

From what I have heard, Days of Future Past is actually meant to be the best of the main X-Men franchise while I know that the spin-offs of Deadpool and Logan have lots of fans. Curious to find out what all the hoo-hah is about with those entries.

I'd love to see some pics once you get things organized.
Work's been okay, thanks. It's back to more of a more normal hectic pace rather than what was happening over the last 10 weeks or so. The hamsters still haven't been exported, so there's that but, for the conclusion of some of these projects, the end is at least in sight now (which means a slight "break" on our end of things).

As for the X Men, I truthfully haven't seen all of them, so maybe can't judge wholly. I quit after the Ratner film (the third one I think), since I both didn't like the direction/style he went with and also I was getting sick of the superhero stuff back then. I've seen the Wolverine film since then, which wasn't bad, but also left no impression at all whatsoever.

Trauma will do that to the old noggin!

Sorry kong, I wish I could say I can't relate to the trauma (any trauma), but such is life.

Spoiler

Now, this little dude might show up on a future avatar...

eta: as for Buttgereit- Der Todesking and Schramm are his best... the former has some excellent visuals and is more "doco" in style. It's not the subjective view that we got in Schramm, but still great. I disliked the newer stuff from Buttgereit though (e.g. German Angst), so prob not going to explore too much more form him.

[peeptoad]

Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980) 4/10

De Palma has such an arresting style; if only it wasn't put to the use of such a crass, inane story. The wordless art museum sequence is as good a piece of audiovisual storytelling as I've seen, then it's all downhill. Hard to believe 1980 was 40 years ago, but also hard to believe how much cultural attitudes have shifted since then.

Sorry you didn't like this one more. It's DePalma's best imho (though Blow-Out is close), but I admit I haven't seen it in years... the museum scene is aces and created so much tension for me that it stuck for days afterwards when I saw it. I also have a vague memory of DePalma not leaning on his melodramatic tendencies as much in this one, and that's something that makes me mentally downgrade some of his films (Carrie, for example).

[RolandKirkSunglasses]

Sound of the Mountain (1954): One of my favourite Naruse films, you understand the family dynamics, how the past affects the present and each character's motivations aren't clear-cut either. Setsuko Hara really nails the good daughter-in-law role.

Somewhere Under the Broad Sky (1954): Early Kobayashi is very different from his later stuff. This one is lighthearted fun with every family member sorting out his/her unique problem.

Godzilla (1954): I like it more for the special effects and how they were made than for the storyline. Captures the fear of nuclear annihilation prevalent at that time.

Sansho the Bailiff (1954): Having seen Ugetsu last week I thought it was time to refresh my memory on Sansho The Bailiff. Too many fortunate coincidences in the second half prevents it from being a masterpiece in my opinion, still a great film with some glorious scenes.

The Milagro Beanfield War (1988): Wanted to take part in the "film of the week". Found the acting uneven and the storyline moves in fits and starts. Didn't like it, though it must've done wonders for the New Mexico tourism industry.

Kokoro (1955): Character study of a self-absorbed intellectual unable to express his feelings to the people he loves. Eventually we find out the reasons for his morose attitude, why he visits his friend's grave every month. OK, not amazing.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964): Clearly made on a tiny budget with lots of dodgy acting. Not a patch on Yojimbo.

Bloody Spear on Mount Fuji (1955): This film reminded me of Million Ryo Pot for its gentle humour, keeping track of all the criss-crossing characters was easier than expected too. I did not see the end coming that's for sure. Great film.

She was like a Wild Chrysanthemum (1955): Imagine a Japanese "Wild Strawberries" with all the flashbacks centred around Professor Borg's cousin. If you're a fan of young love denied by society this might be your thing, if you want an elderly person reflecting on his/her life there's more ambitious films out there.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943): Until we reach the Turkish steam rooms it's quite shaky, a couple awkward cuts and some unfunny moments, didn't really care for Spud or his comrades. Once Roger Livesey turns up and thrashes Spud for ruining the start of the film it gets better, he really carries the film, ably supported by Anton Walbrook who gives the two best monologues in the film. All 3 of Deborah Kerr's characters have little to work with, it's hard to understand why her first two characters fall for their men since we don't know enough about her, for the same reason Blimp's promise doesn't resonate as much as it should. As a pro-war film it works, as a satire of the British army it works, the romance angle doesn't quite work. Still an enjoyable film that gets better towards the end. Give The Archers more money in peace-time and you'll really see what they're capable of.

Princess Yang Kwei Fei (1955): Heard lots of disparaging comments about this. Lacks the tracking shots of Ugetsu and Sansho, some of the sets aren't as expansive as they appear and I think Masayuki Mori is disappointing in the lead. Apart from that the colour cinematography looks wonderful, the costumes nice and the story moves briskly. It's an OK film, not terrible, not great.

Legend of Suram Fortress (1985): Least favourite of the Parajanov films I've seen, visually striking even if a little hard to follow at times.

Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978): Such a great film for night-time relaxation, the married couple's honeymoon feels like a lengthy detour, and sometimes the gap between plot strands feels too much, still a great film.

For a Few Dollars More (1965): Lee van Cleef and a larger budget makes it better than "Fistful", still I just don't like Sergio Leone's directorial style.

Carnival in Flanders (1935): Can't believe I never got round to watching this until now. Charming and funny, I'll have to explore more from Jacques Feyder.

Andrei Rublev (1966): It's been a long time since I last saw this film, the bell-making sequence is still amazing, the rest of the film? Not so much I'm afraid. Too many secondary characters drop in and out at convenient times, some scenes go on too long without adding to the story. Being a Tarkovsky film it looks spectacular with gorgeous tracking shots, but later in life Tarkovsky said he found the structure of Rublev to be disjointed and incoherent. I wouldn't go that far but I think it's one of Tarkovsky's weaker films, not the great film I once thought it was but still above average.

Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958): Loving homage to Jules Verne, visually creative even if the heroine is rather bland.

Floating Clouds (1955): I know this is often praised as one of the great works of Japanese cinema, but I don't see it. Certainly well-acted by Hideko Takamine and Masayuki Mori but it gets too melodramatic at times. Good, not great.

Profound Desires of the Gods (1968): Messy, spectacular, shocking, disturbing, lengthy, funny, absurd. A film that could've easily drifted into clichés about rich evil urbanites exploiting the good, honest country folk on Kurage Island. Very good Imamura.

[lynchs]

Hey prodigalgodson, 2/4

I liked the De Palma in the first time but caught it again on TV few years ago and it was... dreadful..
Glad you enjoyed Lacrima! (I was messing with you about the essay;))

Hey RolandKirkSunglasses, 12/19

Japanese binge? some classics you got there, love the Ugetsu the Olmi and the Tarkovsky

[Lonewolf2003]

Last week brought me to the end of the Showa era of Godzilla, but not the end of my Godzilla run. There were also some other movies I watched to give myself a break from all the kaiju entertainment.

Gojira tai Megaro [Godzilla vs. Megalon] (1973, Jun Fukuda): 6.2 - It has a child protagonist, which already is a bad omen for the human plot. This child in question is the little brother of an inventor of an Ultraman type of robot. Meanwhile an underwater sea kingdom wants revenge on the surface dwellers for all the nuclear testing, and they want to use this robot and kaiju Megalon to get it. That undersea kingdom is called Seatopia, which must be among the laziest name for a fictional place ever. Unfortunately not much effort has been put in the rest of the human plot neither, which is very lame and silly. Like always it also takes up way too much time. It’s only after the movie is 3/4th done the real fun begins with Godzilla and Jet Jaguar (the Ultraman-robot) fighting Megalon and Gigan (who also came to join the party... don't ask why he and Godzilla are actually in this cause it's clear that this whole movie initially was meant to launch Jet Jaguar as a new franchise and Godzilla was just shoehorned in). This battle, while short, is fun enough to make it all worthwhile. Godzilla does has a new suit in this and looks great. I just noticed I didn't mention Megalon himself, shows how forgettable he is. Biggest WTF?!-moment: "Zilla doing a dropkick while Jet Jaguar holds Megalon like a WWF tag team.

Zheng tu [Double World] (2020, Teddy Chan): 7.2 - A modern fantasy wuxia about three misfits teaming up for a fighting competition meant to chose a the best warrior. There are a lot of people wanting to revenge on misdeeds during the last big war. That war also result in some political maneuvering and motifs in this, which don't always make sense. While the CGI often is noticeable, especially in the backgrounds, the fights are very decent and entertaining, which are the real and prime reason to watch this. Plus it has well done imaginative fantasy world and three sympathetic heroes. All with all very enjoyable.

Bright (2017, David Ayer): 6.8 - I really liked this whole transporting a fantasy world with elves, orcs and human into a modern world like our own. The allegories drawn are far from subtle. Unfortunately the plot of the movie is very standard. But luckily Will Smith and Joel Edgerton have enough buddy-cop chemistry to make it work.

Gojira tai Mekagojira [Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla] (1974, Jun Fukuda): 6.5 - Godzilla is back to wrecking havoc... only it's not Godzilla but a robot disguised as him, controlled of course by aliens wanting to take over our world. This naturally doesn't sit well with the real G. So he's going to kick some butt! He's helped in this by the local protecting spirit King Ceasar. Mechagodzila is among the fiercest and best opponents in the series, which make the fight one of the most engaging ones. The human plot, while suffering from having too many characters, is among the better ones in the series with a nice Bond-like touch. Apparently Planet of the Apes was also a big succes in Japan, cause the aliens really are disguised apes. Biggest WTF?!-moment: Godzilla turning himself into a giant magnet, which is of course very usefull when battling a robot.

Mekagojira no gyakushu [Terror of Mechagodzilla] (1975, Ishirô Honda): 6.2 - Yet again aliens use Mechagodzilla to conquer earth. There is also an undersea dinosaur, Titanosaurus, that's mind controlled by a mad scientist. With this the Showa era of the Godzilla franchise came to an end. Unfortunately I can't say they went out on a high note, but neither is it among the worst ones which logically resulted in the end of the series. The biggest problem is that Honda tries to play the human plot all serious, there is even an effort to put some real emotions into it with a tragic love story, but doesn't realize the whole premise is pure camp. The fight scenes are decent enough, cause Mechagodzilla is still a badass opponent.

The Colossus of New York (1958, Eugène Lourié): 4.5 - A genius scientist dies on his way to receive a world peace prize. His brain surgeon dad and robot inventor brother aren't happy about this great loss, so they transplant his brain into a giant robot. Apparently dad and brother didn't read or see Frankenstein to know that isn't a good idea. The movie has a bit of the charm of being a cheap 50s B sci-fi. A few scenes with the robot rampaging are amusing, but mostly it is just poor and boring with lots of wooden unsubtle dialogues. The piano score sound like they re-used a silent slapstick score, so it feels entirely out of place.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018, David Yates): 3.5 - Somebody forgot to write and make a compelling well-crafted stand alone movie amidst all the fanservice and franchise building. Luckily there is the overbearing music to tell us exactly what to feel, cause the writing sure doesn't.

Kingu Kongu tai Gojira [King Kong vs. Godzilla] (1962, Ishirô Honda) (The Japanese version) 6.8 - While it doesn't solve all problems with the plot, the plot in this Japanese version is better constructed and paced than the American version was. Making the satire about a PR guy wanting to use King Kong for publicity much more prominent, tho not less subtle. The highlight of this of course still is the titular fight. Contrary to popular misconception Godzilla doesn't win in this Japanese version... neither monster really wins in either version.

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958, Edward L. Cahn): 6.8 - The leader of an expedition to Mars is accused of having murdered his crew and is brought back by another spaceship. He insist he's innocent and they really were slaughtered by a monster... A monster that is now stowed away on the ship. The whole plot with a stow-away monster picking of crewmember one by one feels like a prototype for Alien. It's far from flawless but it's more than sufficiently enjoyable during it short runtime, that efficiently doesn't waste too much on set up and explanations but spends lots on actual action and suspense.

Godzilla (1998, Roland Emmerich) (rewatch): ? > 5.5 - While it is a very mediocre blockbuster, it was not as horrible as its reputation makes it seems to be. Sure there is a lot lacking in the execution, it's has too many characters, its completely tone deaf in many moments and the building of suspense is absent, Pus a lot of ideas are tremendously stupid: most of all the eggs and baby-'zilla's whom only seem to be in the movie to cash-in on the raptors success from Jurassic Park. But the action scenes are exciting and spectacular, which is what counts most.

Jack the Giant Killer (1962, Nathan Juran): 7.2 - Loosely based on the eponymous fable this is about Jack who has to free a princess from a evil wizard. It doesn't pretend to be more than it is; a pure adventure-fantasy entertainment. It's the kind of movie that if you give yourself over to its charms and therefor suspense your disbelief there is a lot to enjoy, if you don't there is a lot to fault. Biggest problem is that Juran brought back the cast and crew of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, but forgot to bring back the most important contributor: Ray Harryhausen. The stop-motion effects are still competently done, but they and the creature design miss the real finesse of the master.

La sonate à Kreutzer [The Kreutzer Sonata] (1956, Eric Rohmer): 4.5 - Only Rohmer completists and die-hard Cahier fans will probably have the patience and interest to sit through this.

Godzilla (2014, Gareth Edwards): 6.8 - This newest American remake of Godzilla does a lot of things right, but doesn't succeed in everything. What it does do right is the building of suspense, the combination of human drama and grand scale destruction by given us a clear viewerproxy trough which we experience it all, and above all the action is spectacular. But it doesn't succeed completely cause the human character, that is our viewerproxy, still is shallow and the least interesting of all the characters (I found Cranstons and Watanabe characters much more intersting) plus the action at times is too dark to clearly see what's going on. I did also really like the franchise building aspect in this; the history of the kaiju's MUTOs, etc. and the fact that we immediately start this franchise with a Godzilla vs. other monsters fight instead of Godzilla rampaging through a (American) city.

Un 32 août sur terre [32nd Day of August on Earth] (1998, Denis Villeneuve): 6.5 - Denis Villeneuve's debut feature is about a woman who in existential crisis after a car crash decides to take her best friend in on a promise from that they would have a baby together if still single both when 30. This is definitely a case of total not being more than the sum of its part. The individual scenes are engaging cause they are competently directed, visually striking, the dialogues witty, the two leads Pascale Bussières and Alexis Martin have good chemistry together and the recurring use of Robert Charlebois’ ‘Tout ecartille' as a theme song is inspired. But the movie as a whole is lacking, at the end I found I neither got to really know nor care for these two people.

[lynchs]

Hey Lonewolf2003, 3?/14

I think I've seen the two more recent Godzilla's (tv afternoons) and the netflix one I didn't bother to finish.

[Onderhond]

@sol:
Good to see Pastoral (3.0*) is doing the rounds. I found the finish a little too crude, but it reminded me of a lot of other films I liked (from Midori to Tsukamoto to Ghost in the Shell). That reminds me I should get back to exploring Terayama.

@peeptoad:
Battle in Outer Space and Goldeneye are definitely not films I'd recommend, but within their genre they're certainly not the worst. From yours I've seen The Signal (2.0*) - I always mistake it for the film from 2014, which I liked a lot better - and Under the Shadow (2.0*). Never really got the hype for that one, apart from the production country/setting I didn't see anything special. The little horror there was didn't really work for me either. I've also seen the Hobbit films, but that's all I'll say about that.

@kongs_speech:
I started with Uta (2.0*), which was a small disappointment, This Transient Life was a lot better though. I've really like Jissoji's more recent work, but mostly because he brought his trademark style to more genre-leaning films. Definitely a director I want to see more of. From yours I still want to see Kajillionaire (which reminds me that I should give The Future a look too). I've seen Leap (3.0*) which I liked slightly better (3.0* - but far from Peter Chan's best work) and Promising Young Woman, which would be a better description for the director than it was a title for the film. I really liked the film and the potential for greatness was certainly there, but it felt like Fennell was holding back a little. Maybe because she worked in TV before?

[sol]

@sol:
Good to see Pastoral (3.0*) is doing the rounds. I found the finish a little too crude, but it reminded me of a lot of other films I liked (from Midori to Tsukamoto to Ghost in the Shell). That reminds me I should get back to exploring Terayama.

Yeah, it's a little crude but without revealing too much, I thought the crudeness kind of suited Pastoral quite well. A striking film whatever the case.

Of yours, I love GoldenEye so I'm glad you didn't hate it. For England, James? The Midnight Sky was more meh the more I think about it. I am a sucker for surrogate father/daughter films though so that angle kept me interested. And while there are a lot of less-than-stellar Best Picture winners out there, I have longed considered Terms of Endearment to be the least deserving Oscar Best Director winning film of all-time. Crimes of the Heart * is * better.

[peeptoad]

Crimes of the Heart * is * better.

[sol]

Crimes of the Heart * is * better.

Sorry, couldn't help it. I really like that film and would definitely rewatch it over Terms if given those two options.

[peeptoad]

Crimes of the Heart * is * better.

Sorry, couldn't help it. I really like that film and would definitely rewatch it over Terms if given those two options.

No, it's fine. I can laugh at myself with the best of them... the worst part is I don't even think I've seen terms of Endearment. And I still confused 'Crimes with it.

[sol]

No, it's fine. I can laugh at myself with the best of them... the worst part is I don't even think I've seen terms of Endearment. And I still confused 'Crimes with it.

LOL well it isn't really worth it. Performances are quite good (Jeff Daniels comes off the best) but Onderhond's right about the story. The film went down in my estimation upon rewatch. And don't ask me why I have seen it more than once. I'm not even sure myself...

[Cinepolis]

Oh god, I only watched one movie this week. "Blutrausch - Gefangen im Haus des Grauens" - Some German amateur slasher flick. Pretty bad.

@sol Watched "Carriage to Vienna", "Puppet Master II", "Digging Up the Marrow" and "Kilo Two Bravo" and like all of them for different reasons.
@peeptoad I also liked "Under the Shadow". Would be a 7/10 for me.
@lynchs I was a bit disappointed when I first watched "Invisible Man". I rated it a bit higher tho. Haven't seen anything else but have "Cronicas" unwatched on DVD.
@Roland Seen many of yours. My favorite of them is probably "Fistful of Dollars".

[lynchs]

Hey Cinepolis, 0/1

never heard of 'Blutrausch' but by the trailer, no thanks;)

[lynchs]

peeptoadhorror there's a limit, NO backwoods slashers please:)

[prodigalgodson]

Better late than never...

sol
Bitter Victory 5 - this got a lot of love in a certain FG circle, but I too was unimpressed...found its ideas about cowardice reductionist, and like you said, felt like it wrapped up just as it was getting good; several of Ray's films feel similarly truncated to me
Pastoral Hide and Seek 4 - haven't seen this in ages, so maybe I'd like now -- it was also a major favorite on FG about the time I started posting there, so my expectations were pretty high; didn't dig the color-gel look and couldn't get into the story, as I recall
Twentynine Palms 10 - this was in my top 10 for a long time, but obviously understandable not everyone would like it; the look and vibe's like nothing else, and I actually felt there was a simmering tension throughout that just erupted in an unexpected way at the end
At Berkeley - watched part of this with some friends right before graduation, might be nostalgic to revisit since I was there at the time this was shot
Sonic the Hedgehog 6 - thought this was pretty fun, if formulaic, for what it was
X2 6 - yeah loved the opening, and enjoyed the rest too
Blues in the Night - one of the more famous noirs I haven't seen, and not one you often hear bad things about, interesting read
Pictures of the Old World 6 - enjoyed it, but not to the extent of its acclaim; could've used more pictures of the old world itself and fewer of its inhabitants

cor
Repo Man 9 - seeing this in the midst of an Alex Cox retrospective was absolutely electrifying

hond
This Transient Life - this one's been getting a lot of buzz the last few years, seems to me; I'll have to check it out
GoldenEye 7 - lots of fun, one of my (later) childhood favorites
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse 7 - I found this pretty stylishly unique actually, enjoyed it a lot, though not quite the masterpiece it's sometimes made out to be

toad
Orlando 5 - loved the style, but found it rushed and undercooked with an especially awful final act
The Hawks and the Sparrow 6 - Pasolini's hit-and-miss for me; once I got into the spirit of this I enjoyed it pretty well, but nothing to write home about imo
An Unexpected Journey 6 - it's no LOTR, but warm and nostalgic
The Desolation of Smaug 7 - actually quite fun, but boy did part 3 suck
Dressed to Kill - yeah if the museum sequence was a stand-alone short it might be a favorite, but I found it to be a slog overall; I enjoyed Carrie way more than I expected to

lyn
Crazed Fruit 6 - not bad, but I think it was overhyped by this one friend of mine
Daughters of Darkness 6 - nice style and I'll watch anything with Seyrig, but also kinda asinine
One Way Boogie Woogie 7 - Benning ascending; wouldn't mind watching this again without 25 Years Later
Three Crowns of a Sailor 6 - thought it was fine but a bit underwhelming from Ruiz
The Invisible Man 7 - enjoyed this a lot once it picked up steam, also didn't vibe Nolan to me; good thing I'm not a horror fan I guess lol

pda
seen nada; I would like to watch (and complete) Abraham's Valley at some point though

vv
The River 7 - I'd like to see this one again, maybe ripe for my stoner's twilight quest; and yes, Renoir is almost unparalleled at creating hermetic worlds
Please, Please Me - good to know, I'll keep it in mind
Hyenas - been meaning to see this for ages, even though I wasn't the biggest Touki Bouki fan
Deep Cover - I didn't know Bill Duke directed this!
L Cohen - sounds dope; the only recent Benning I have lined up is Glory, which sounds taxing even for me
Compline - Dorsky retrospective's on the bucket list
Cityscape - damn I didn't know Snow was still active

ks
Make Way for Tomorrow 6 - not bad if a bit hokey for me
Promising Young Woman 9 - yup
Things to Come 5 - I remember this movie but I don't remember anything at all happening in it
Day of the Outlaw 7 - solid, but not among De Toth's best
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 6 - not bad if you're in the mood
The House Is Black 5 - very underwhelming to me
Meshes of the Afternoon 9 - old favorite
Rage Net 7 - solid hand-painted Brakhage, as I recall
Schwechater 7 - enjoyed this, dig Kubelka's sensibilities
Zapruder Film - don't know how to rate this, he got shot all right

rks
Sound of the Mountain 9 - the first Naruse I really loved and the first time I really appreciated Hara as an actress
Sansho the Bailiff 7 - hated it the first time I saw it in highschool, even as I loved Ugetsu and Oharu around the same time; revisiting it years later it's definitely an odd one, but it worked pretty well for me, and at least I could understand the acclaim
A Fistful of Dollars 9 - disagree with you here, a minor miracle and the best adaptation of the Red Harvest template
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 8 - my favorite Archers film by a good margin, loved the rollicking feel, the warmth, and Walbrook especially
Princess Yang Kwei-fei 9 - speaking of great experiences watching films high...
Tree of the Wooden Clogs 7 - enjoyed this a lot, but can't help but feel seeing it on film was a bit wasted on me...
For a Few Dollars More 5 - some good moments but a bit of a slog without a compensatory GBU-style payoff
Andrei Rublev 10 - one of three films I'd feel comfortable calling my favorite of all times, just a monumental work that opened my eyes to the possibilities of film and has remained as spiritually, philosophically, and aesthetically potent every time I've watched it so far; I've never seen another filmmaker use sound and images to evoke the feelings and sensations of, say, the Jester section alone; interesting he found its structure disjointed later in life, I'd assumed that was his intentional approach to weaving this mythic tapestry
Floating Clouds 10 - another one of the three films I'd feel comfortable calling my favorite of all time (the third's Vertigo); the most cogent elucidation of the human condition I've seen, with an unparalleled flow and a sweep that perfectly fills my preferred niche of cinematic story-telling
Profound Desires of the Gods - been meaning to see this one for years, will have to get around to it soon...

wolf
Crimes of Grindelwald - I watched this but couldn't tell you a damn thing about it...
Godzilla (98) - one of my most-watched movies as a kid

[lynchs]

prodigalgodson, it was only the action scene that reminded me of Nolan;)