¶ Which first time viewings last month made you feel the heart in your chest? - January 2021

[Perception de Ambiguity]

Ѧ!א‎ε:

Det speglar i mitt öga / My Eye Is Reflecting (1992, Nina Hedenius)
Operation Naked (2016, Mario Sixtus)
Keep That Dream Burning (Rainer Kohlberger, 2017)
Nachrichten aus der ideologischen Antike - Marx/Eisenstein/Das Kapital (theatrical cut) (2008, Alexander Kluge)
He's Here Now (1967, Myron Ort)
バッドフィルム / Bad Film (2012, Sion Sono)
Бедная Лиза / Poor Lise / Poor Liza / Bednaya Liza (1978, Ideya Garanina)
A Trip to the Planets (192?, by ???, for ???)
Gubben i stugan / The Old Man in the Cottage (1995, Nina Hedenius)
Szenvedély / Passion (1998, György Fehér)
…these blazeing starrs! (2011, Deborah Stratman)
Okeanos (original) (1972, Myron Ort)
ぼけますから、よろしくお願いします。/ I Go Gaga, My Dear (2018, Naoko Nobutomo)
(Nova:) The Miracle of Life (1983, Bo Gustaf Erikson & Carol O. Lofman)

Honorable Mentions

Project Apollo (1968, Ed Emshwiller for USIA) ● The Zapruder Footage: An Investigation of Consensual Hallucination (1999, Keith Sanborn) ● Before Need Redressed (1994, Gunvor Nelson) ● In Camera (2010, Ranjan Palit) ● 恋は五・七・五！/ Love Is 5-7-5! / Love Is Five Seven Five/ Koi wa go-shichi-go! (2005, Naoko Ogigami) ● Балаган / Cabaret / Balagan (1981, Ideya Garanina) ● Ich bei Tag und du bei Nacht (Ludwig Berger, 1932) ● 茶の味 / The Taste of Tea /Cha no aji (2004, Katsuhito Ishii]) ● 教室の子供たち / Children in the Classroom / Kyôshitsu no kodomotachi: gakushû shidô e no michi (1954, Susumu Hani) ● Interno di un convento / Behind Convent Walls (1978, Walerian Borowczyk) ● Soul (2020, Pete Docter & Kemp Powers) ● Старая лестница / Old Stair / The Old Staircase / Staraya lestnitsa (1985, Aleksandr Gorlenko) ● The Disorderly Orderly (1964, Frank Tashlin) ● Rembrandt: Painter of Man (1957, Bert Haanstra) ● 春江水暖 / Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (2019, Gu Xiaogang) ● 춘몽 / An Empty Dream / Chunmong (1965, Yu Hyun-mok) ● Rooftops of New York (1961, Robert McCarty) ● The Big Mouth (1967, Jerry Lewis) ● LA Plays Itself (1972, Fred Halsted ) ● Awakener (1967, Myron Ort) ● Meteorites (1947, Pavel Klushantsev) ● Three Ages (1923, Edward F. Cline & Buster Keaton) ● れいわ一揆 / Reiwa Uprising (2019, Kazuo Hara) ● 侍 / Samurai Assassin (1965, Kihachi Okamoto) ● La nuit des espions / Double Agents (1959, Robert Hossein) ● Tapage nocturne / Nocturnal Uproar (1979, Catherine Breillat) ● The Fabric of the Cosmos (2011) ● Conquest (1983, Lucio Fulci) ● The Naked Edge (1961, Michael Anderson) ● Sisyphus (1974, Marcell Jankovics) ● Which Way to the Front? (1970, Jerry Lewis) ● Zenith Star: Experiment in Space (1987, Martin Marietta) ● Frame Line (1983, Gunvor Nelson) ● Light Years (1987, Gunvor Nelson) ● Battery Film (1985, Franklin Backus & Richard Protovin) ● Galaxies (in 3D) (1974, Lillian Schwartz) ● Out of the Unknown - S01E04 - "The Dead Past" (1965, John Gorri) ● (Nova:) Life's Greatest Miracle (2001, written by Julia Cort)
special shoutouts / Online Media

Star Trek: The Original Series ● Fawlty Towers ● Chemtrails Over The Country Club

The Joe Rogan Experience [#863: Duncan Trussell 2016 ● #666: Duncan Trussell 2015 ● #1589: Dr. Mark Gordon & Andrew Marr 2021 ● #1530: Raghunath Cappo 2015 ● #1597: Travis Walton 2021 ● #1600: Lex Friedman 2021]

♆☸⼐℟ې‽

[beavis]

lock-down meant for a huge month of watching for me, I don't usually see over 100 features (more around 60). The 1000<400 challenge was a huge motivator to check out some docs and long movies I had been putting off for too long.

My top viewings were:

Fängelse (1949) 9.0
Chunhyangdyun (2000) 8.5
Scener ur ett äktenskap (1973) 8.5
Sogobi (2001) 8.5

but among the many 8 scores there are quite a few honorable mentions

24 Frames (2017) 8.0
Billy Budd (1962) 8.0
Divorce Iranian Style (1998) 8.0
Dying at Grace (2003) 8.0
Ebolusyon ng isang pamilyang Pilipino (2004) 8.0
Der freie Wille (2006) 8.0
Yella (2007) 8.0

[pitchorneirda]

New favorites (>= 8/10):
Le Tableau (2011, Jean-François Laguionie)
El Nido (1980, Jaime de Armiñan)

Honorable Mentions (>= 6.5/10):
Mer Dare (1983, Artavazd Peleshian)
Gwen, le livre de sable (1985, Jean-François Laguionie)
Le dossier 51 (1978, Michel Deville)
Abouna (2002, Mahamat Saleh-Haroun)
Some Like It Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)
Pieces of a Woman (2020, Kornél Mundruczó)
Espejismo (1972, Armando Robles Godoy)

[Obgeoff]

New favourites:
Sheytan vojud nadarad (2020, Mohammad Rasoulof)
Lux Æterna (2019, Gaspar Noé)

Honourable Mentions:
Trudno byt bogom (2013, Aleksey German)
Les quatre soeurs (2018, Claude Lanzmann)
L'amour fou (1969, Jacques Rivette)
Donbass (2018, Sergey Loznitsa)
Emma. (2020, Autumn de Wilde)
Possessor (2020, Brandon Cronenberg)
Da xiang xi di er zuo (2018, Bo Hu)
Se rokh (2018, Jafar Panahi)
Light of My Life (2019, Casey Affleck)
Petite fille (2020, Sébastien Lifshitz)
Qianxi mànbo (2001, Hsiao-Hsien Hou)
At Berkeley (2013, Frederick Wiseman)
Ready Player One (2018, Steven Spielberg)
Napszállta (2018, László Nemes)
Promising Young Woman (2020, Emerald Fennell)
The Post (2017, Steven Spielberg)
Molly's Game (2017, Aaron Sorkin)
La casa lobo (2018, Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña)
This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection (2019, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese)
Dead Souls (2018, Bing Wang)
Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d'Arc (2017, Bruno Dumont)
Black '47 (2018, Lance Daly)
Adolescentes (2019, Sébastien Lifshitz)
A Quiet Place (2018, John Krasinski)
What the Constitution Means to Me (2020, Marielle Heller)
Nuestro tiempo (2018, Carlos Reygadas)
Classical Period (2018, Ted Fendt)
Pariah (2011, Dee Rees)

[DareDaniel]

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010)

[Traveller]

I saw some good movies this month, however none but one that was extraordinary (8/10 or better). Kobayashi’s The Inheritance (1962) was the best film I saw this month and rated 8/10.

[hurluberlu]

Good month !

New favs:
Mank ( David Fincher , 2020 )
Le Mystère Méliès ( Eric Lange , 2021 )
Coco ( Adrian Molina, Lee Unkrich , 2017 )
Good Manners / As Boas Maneiras ( Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra , 2017 )
Il deserto dei tartari ( Valerio Zurlini , 1976 )
First Cow ( Kelly Reichardt , 2019 )

[OldAle1]

A very thin month both in numbers and quality, though I did manage a few memorable viewings for sure -

FOR ALL TIME
1. Nárcisz és Psyché (Gábor Bódy, 1980)
2. Windy Day (Faith & John Hubley, 1968)

EXCELLENT BY ANY STANDARD
3. Amor (Robert Beavers, 1980)

VERY GOOD & WORTH REMEMBERING
4. Bona (Lino Brocka, 1980)
5. Bad Timing (Nicolas Roeg, 1980)
6. 12:01 (Jack Sholder, 1993)

That's it, can't even manage 10.

[Coryn]

Had an amazing January filled with fantasy & sci-fi
Seeing my rankings it might be that I forgot what it takes to get a 9 and some of these should in fact be rating higher

8
Starship Troopers (1997)
Minding the Gap (2018)
Repo Man (1984)
Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Pi (1998)
Körkarlen (1921)

[blocho]

A lot of OK or kinda good movies this month.

The Best
Soul, Sarmasik

The Worst
Star Wars 1-3, Hidden Figures, It's Kind of a Funny Story

[prodigalgodson]

Not much heart-thumping or movies in general this month, but still saw some good ones...

Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020)
Personal Problems (Bill Gunn, 1980)
L'appel de la forêt (Jean-Claude Rousseau, 2008)
Mountain in Shadow (Lois Patiño, 2012)
Lacrima Christi (Teo Hernandez, 1980)
Soul (Pete Doctor, 2020)
Attique (Jean-Claude Rousseau, 2011)
The Old Man in the Cottage (Nina Hedenius, 1996)

[viktor-vaudevillain]

Great month!

1. Montaña en sombra / Mountain In Shadow (Lois Patiño, 2012)
2. The River (Jean Renoir, 1951)
3. Deep Cover (Bill Duke, 1992)
4. Noite Sem Distância / Night Without Distance (Lois Patiño, 2015)
5. Hyenas (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1992)
6. La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV / The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (Roberto Rossellini, 1966)
7. Fourteen (Dan Sallitt, 2019)
8. 私たちの結婚 / Our Marriage (Masahiro Shinoda, 1962)
9. On the Move (S.N.S. Sastry, 1970)
10. Les choses qu'on dit, les choses qu'on fait / Love Affair(s) (Emmanuel Mouret, 2020)
11. Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind (John Gianvito, 2007)
12. 지금은맞고그때는틀리다 / Right Now, Wrong Then (Hong Sang-Soo, 2015)
13. El exilio de Gardel: Tangos / Tangos, the Exile of Gardel / Tango (Fernando E. Solanas, 1985)
14. 投奔怒海 / Boat People (Ann Hui, 1982)
15. Pescherecci / Fishing Boats (Vittorio de Seta, 1958)
16. Stromboli, terra di dio (Roberto Rossellini, 1950)
17. Det speglar i mitt öga / My Eye Is Reflecting (Nina Hedenius, 1992)
18. Fais-moi plaisir ! / Please, Please Me! (Emmanuel Mouret, 2009)

HM: Passion (Jürgen Reble, 1990), Six et demi onze (Jean Epstein, 1927), The Age of Swordfish (Vittorio de Seta, 1955), The Flowers of St. Francis (Roberto Rossellini, 1950), Strata of the Image (Lois Patiño, 2015), L. Cohen (James Benning, 2018), Cityscape (Michael Snow, 2019), Mor'vran (Jean Epstein, 1930), Bungalow (Ulrich Köhler, 2002), The Vertical Ray of the Sun (Tran Anh Hung, 2000), Mobile Men (Apicahtpong Weerasethakul, 2008), Smorgasbord (Jerry lewis, 1983), Red Moon Tide (Lois Patiño, 2020), Getting to Know the Big Wide World (Kira Muratova, 1980), Lux Æterna (Gaspar Noé, 2019)

[RogerTheMovieManiac88]

Hiya PdA! I've missed the last few monthly threads, so Happy New Year!

FTVs I loved in January 2021 (arranged chronologically and with standouts in red):

The Body Vanished (1939, Walter Tennyson) - 7/10
Corridor of Mirrors (1948, Terence Young) - 8.5/10
Hans Christian Andersen (1952, Charles Vidor) - 7.5/10
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958, Nathan Juran) - 9/10
Mysterious Island (1961, Cy Endfield) - 7.5/10
Margaritka (1965, Todor Dinov) - 7.5 or 8/10
Keep America Beautiful: The Crying Indian (1971, no director credited) - 8/10
Tapanat (1973, Todor Dinov) - 8/10
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977, Sam Wanamaker) - 8.5/10
Around & About (1980, Gary Hill) - 10/10
Carabosse (1980, Larry Jordan) - 9/10
Mirror, Mirror (1980, Yugesh Walia) - 8/10
Moon Breath Beat (1980, Lisze Bechtold) - 8/10
Qizil uçurum / Golden Precipice (1980, Fikrat Aliyev) - 9/10
The Rain of Paris (1980, Todor Dinov) - 8/10
Reasons to Be Glad (1980, Jeff Scher) - 8/10
Into the West (1992, Mike Newell) - 7.5 or 8/10
Jack et la mécanique du coeur (2013, Stéphane Berla, Mathias Malzieu) - 8/10 (fits in perfectly with your wording in the OP; PITY about the Eng. dub!)
Lynn + Lucy (2019, Fyzal Boulifa) - 8 or 8.5/10

Person of the month: Ray Harryhausen for his extraordinary creations in the Sinbad and Verne films.

Moment of the month: 'Qizil uçurum' / 'Golden Precipice' with the flowing of personal enrichment and plenty from Azeri oil exploration, followed by downfall and penury. This montage from the 37:00 minute mark with workers covered in crude oil and this man wallowing in his surrounds as he rakes in money has really stayed with me.

[peeptoad]

No new favorites last month. my top 5-

Le main du diable (1943) Carnival of Sinners
The Kid (1921)
Patrick Melrose (2018, miniseries)
Under the Shadow (2016)
Schalcken the Painter (1979)

[matthewscott8]

Burst City (1982 - Gakuryû Ishii aka Sogo Ishii) one hell of a mutherfuckin' trip, 2 hours of industrial punk attitude, a true cinematic kaleidoscope, with only the barest semblance of a narrative arc.

Threnody (2004 - Nathaniel Dorsky). I pondered upon the minor epistemological problem of including this in my top list given I'd seen it through a glass, darkly. Let me explain. Nathiel Dorsky has never consented to his films being available digitally, as the quality of the experience decreases substantially. Some bootleg copies seem to be making the rounds. In the cinema his films become quasi-religious experiences. It is profane to put them around on the internet. With his film Pneuma, an abstract film, only about 1% of the cinema experience remains on the bootleg version, to see the bootleg it is to catch an optical virus; the bootleg is a travesty. Some others of the films that are more figurative have retained about 60-70% integrity. Some of the scenes in Threnody worked very well, and were awe inspiring, some clearly had not kept their integrity. Even the awe inspiring scenes would have got an uplift from analog in a meditative space. It is very difficult to see his films in normal times, they show rarely, and only in highly limited circumstances, maybe only coming to your country/city once every 5-10 years or never depending on where you live. So I think it's nice that people get the opportunity to see them on the net. Pneuma should not be circulating though, and people should really try and make a pilgrimage to see a program of his if we get back to normal.

[kongs_speech]

FEATURES

Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese) - 5/5
La Ceremonie (1995, Claude Chabrol) - 5/5
After Hours (1985, Martin Scorsese) - 4.5/5 (rewatch, up from 3/5)
Baby Doll (1956, Elia Kazan) - 4.5/5
Best Laid Plans (1999, Mike Barker) - 4.5/5
Heaven's Gate (1980, Michael Cimino) - 5/5
Eureka (2000, Shinji Aoyama) - 5/5
On the Town (1949, Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly) - 4.5/5
Splendor of the Grass (1961, Elia Kazan) - 4.5/5
Some Came Running (1958, Vincente Minnelli) - 4.5/5
Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969, Koji Wakamatsu) - 5/5
Chained for Life (2018, Aaron Schimberg) - 4.5/5
The Piano Teacher (2001, Michael Haneke) - 5/5
The Black Cat (1934, Edgar G. Ulmer) - 4.5/5
Elle (2016, Paul Verhoeven) - 5/5
Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey) - 4.5/5
The Killing of Two Lovers (2020, Robert Machoian) - 4.5/5
Promising Young Woman (2020, Emerald Fennell) - 5/5
Kajillionaire (2020, Miranda July) - 5/5
Ammonite (2020, Francis Lee) - 4.5/5
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
Columbus (2017, Kogonada) - 5/5 (rewatch, up from 3.5/5)
Rashomon (1950, Akira Kurosawa) - 5/5
To Be or Not to Be (1942, Ernst Lubitsch) - 4.5/5
Rome Open City (1945, Roberto Rossellini) - 4.5/5
Cryptozoo (2021, Dash Shaw) - 4.5/5
On the Count of Three (2021, Jerrod Carmichael) - 5/5
Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021, Sion Sono) - 4.5/5
Pleasure (2021, Ninja Thyberg) - 4.5/5

SHORTS

Wonder (2014, Mirai Mizue) - 4.5/5
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
Somebody (2014, Miranda July) - 4.5/5
Je vous salue, Sarajevo (1993, Jean-Luc Godard) - 5/5