The Official Movie Thread

[no country for old wainds]

Do you have a recommendation for something similar to The Selfish Giant?

ken loach's KES (the film adaptation of 'a kestrel for a knave', which is a staple of high school english lit here but idk about the US) strikes me as the main influence. then there's mike leigh's NAKED, which isn't really like THE SELFISH GIANT in any specific way (hell, it's not like ANYTHING else i've ever seen, it transcends the 'kitchen sink' genre entirely and doesn't remotely resemble any other mike leigh movie either) but is often regarded as the greatest of all bleak working class british movies, and it's a personal favourite of mine. i'd also check out something by the dardennes; THE SON is my favourite, but maybe THE KID WITH A BIKE is closer to TSG... the dardennes are very intense, immediate, economical; when one of their movies finishes (always at the perfect moment) it feels like i've been holding my breath the whole time. i've also seen TSG get compared with andrea arnold's FISH TANK, and while i haven't seen that one i can wholly recommend arnold's adaptation of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, which is just unbelievably bleak and wild and gorgeous.

If you saw Chungking Express, it is very similar to Fallen Angels. I think the only difference was, really, that the characters are more cute than dark. I definitely preferred Fallen Angels.

cool. i have, and i would say the same thing about DAYS OF BEING WILD, so you should definitely check that one out.

 

[Anom@nder Rake]

Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971) - every scene with the undead Templars is 10/10. every other scene is 1/10

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - i thought this was horrible the first 30 minutes or so but it grew on me as it went on. i don't get why people like this franchise so much

Dark Places (2015) - metalhead teenager accused of killing his family. this movie is dull as fuck but at least the kid had cool posters in his room (Mercyful Fate, Slayer, Celtic Frost) and they played a song off Jag Panzer's Ample Destruction.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971) - every scene with the undead Templars is 10/10. every other scene is 1/10

All four of the Blind Dead films are some of the best in Euro horror. The Templars are incredible looking. Even their horses are frightening. Really amazing atmosphere in that series, especially in the first film.

 

[JontRevolting]

Watching 'Little Fockers' on TV to fill in some time, these are pretty entertaining and poor old Gaylord Focker puts up with a lot of shit, he's a warrior.

 

[-CC-]

Finally watched Million Dollar Baby a decade later. I don't know how I feel about this movie. I think the only decent part of this film was the last 40 minutes. The boxing scenes were absolutely atrocious. Hands down the most unrealistic I've ever seen in a film and this was the main focus for a good hour of a Best Picture-winning film. The scenes with her family were retarded and so unbelievable. It's almost as if every character other than the three main actors were anything but a caricature. Why was everyone so extremely one-sided? The heartless bully in the gym, the insane rageful boxing chick, the evil promoter, the money grabbing hick family. Very extreme characters all around, and I was constantly reminded I was watching a movie. It wasn't until the end that I could suspend my disbelief, but it was simply too late. I can't wrap my head around this movie winning Best Picture though, what the fuck?

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Caught a great classic noir on TCM late Sunday night, Lady in the Lake (1947). Very experimental for a studio film at the time. The whole thing is shot from the POV of the main character. The only time we actually see him is occasionally through a mirror or when he's addressing the audience in a cutaway. Of course its gimmicky but it works and makes quite a few scenes rather intense. It also helps that the mystery is rock solid. The lead actress, Audrey Totter is one smashing dame and the main character/narrator (director/star Robert Montgomery) has the perfect shady noir narrator voice.

Other recent viewings included a revisit of Friedkin's Cruising (1980), which is still fierce and brilliant. Not sure what else can be said about this one that hasn't been said a million times over by people that can say it better than I can. I still need to hear the Germs' Cruising Sessions featuring the other songs that were supposed to be in the film. Such a great soundtrack. Also The Coming of Sin (1978), an excellent unclassifiable Euro oddity from Spanish genre master José Ramón Larraz and Untamed Cowgirls of the Wild West Part II (1993), a porno western (!) from Stephen "Rinse Dream" Sayadian, the mad genius behind the avant adult classics Nightdreams (1981) and Café Flesh (1982) as well as Dr. Caligari (1989), one of the battiest cult horrors of the 80's.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Finally watched Million Dollar Baby a decade later. I don't know how I feel about this movie. I think the only decent part of this film was the last 40 minutes. The boxing scenes were absolutely atrocious. Hands down the most unrealistic I've ever seen in a film and this was the main focus for a good hour of a Best Picture-winning film. The scenes with her family were retarded and so unbelievable. It's almost as if every character other than the three main actors were anything but a caricature. Why was everyone so extremely one-sided? The heartless bully in the gym, the insane rageful boxing chick, the evil promoter, the money grabbing hick family. Very extreme characters all around, and I was constantly reminded I was watching a movie. It wasn't until the end that I could suspend my disbelief, but it was simply too late. I can't wrap my head around this movie winning Best Picture though, what the fuck?

it was written by paul haggis and directed by clint eastwood. they could literally have filmed a singing toilet for 2 hours and still won best picture. to be fair, compared to CRASH that movie is a model of restraint.

honestly i don't even mind clichéd/OTT family melodrama in my sports movie as long as it's great at being a fucking sports movie (see WARRIOR for a perfect example), but MDB is good at neither.

 

[Krow]

It's a bit embarrassing how much I enjoy Drive Angry. Nick Cage and his hellgun and whatnot.... And tearing through redneck cultists the entire movie. I watch it every time it's on tv, which seems like a lot.

 

[Funerary_Doom]

ken loach's KES (the film adaptation of 'a kestrel for a knave', which is a staple of high school english lit here but idk about the US) strikes me as the main influence. then there's mike leigh's NAKED, which isn't really like THE SELFISH GIANT in any specific way (hell, it's not like ANYTHING else i've ever seen, it transcends the 'kitchen sink' genre entirely and doesn't remotely resemble any other mike leigh movie either) but is often regarded as the greatest of all bleak working class british movies, and it's a personal favourite of mine. i'd also check out something by the dardennes; THE SON is my favourite, but maybe THE KID WITH A BIKE is closer to TSG... the dardennes are very intense, immediate, economical; when one of their movies finishes (always at the perfect moment) it feels like i've been holding my breath the whole time. i've also seen TSG get compared with andrea arnold's FISH TANK, and while i haven't seen that one i can wholly recommend arnold's adaptation of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, which is just unbelievably bleak and wild and gorgeous.



cool. i have, and i would say the same thing about DAYS OF BEING WILD, so you should definitely check that one out.

Thanks for the recommendations. Naked is definitely on cue along with others you've mentioned. The British are really good with this sorta bleak "coming of age" genre, it seems! You know way too many movies, do you have a movie blog or something? I'm always looking for more things to watch.

I saw the other night on netflix, "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night," which is an Iranian vampire movie. It's one of those movies where it's more style over substance, and I loved the lighting and makeup used. I'm pretty much a sucker for modern B&W movies actually.

 

[Addo_Of_Nex]

Forgot to post this a while back when I made it. I get liquored up and talk about film, this time about Buffalo '66, which is one of the greatest, weirdest, understated love stories ever. I'm thinking about working through Synedoche, New York and talking for four hours next.

 

[no country for old wainds]

awesome. i'm not gonna listen to that til i see buffalo 66 which has been VERY high on my wishlist for a while now, but just fyi i will gladly and attentively listen to your thoughts on any and all things cinema related.

 

[no country for old wainds]

Thanks for the recommendations. Naked is definitely on cue along with others you've mentioned. The British are really good with this sorta bleak "coming of age" genre, it seems! You know way too many movies, do you have a movie blog or something? I'm always looking for more things to watch.

I saw the other night on netflix, "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night," which is an Iranian vampire movie. It's one of those movies where it's more style over substance, and I loved the lighting and makeup used. I'm pretty much a sucker for modern B&W movies actually.

not a blog as such. i ran the film section of the mag i linked above for a while and wrote some reviews, conducted interviews etc, but had to quit 'cause of family/life shit getting in the way of my productivity. i'm on criticker (username: aflickering) where i rate everything i watch and write a small capsule here and there. that site is amazingly accurate for movie recommendations in general if you're willing to put in the effort to rate all the movies you've seen. i also wrote about my top 50 movies of the decade so far at the end of last year (incidentally, 5 of the top 20 are modern B&W movies) and i'll be posting a best of 2015 list in jan sometime.

i've kind of avoided A GIRL WALKS HOME... for precisely the reason you say; sounds like style over substance. people said the same thing about ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE though which i really liked, so maybe i'll give it a try.

 

[rms]

Forgot to post this a while back when I made it. I get liquored up and talk about film, this time about Buffalo '66, which is one of the greatest, weirdest, understated love stories ever. I'm thinking about working through Synedoche, New York and talking for four hours next.

awesome. i'm not gonna listen to that til i see buffalo 66 which has been VERY high on my wishlist for a while now, but just fyi i will gladly and attentively listen to your thoughts on any and all things cinema related.

Seen the film and grew up in Buffalo..not sure i'd say it's that great--maybe your talk will inspire me

 

[no country for old wainds]

btw i don't know if you listen to the podcast the cinephiliacs, but in the mike d'angelo episode they spend the last like half hour talking about BUFFALO 66

 

[Addo_Of_Nex]

awesome. i'm not gonna listen to that til i see buffalo 66 which has been VERY high on my wishlist for a while now, but just fyi i will gladly and attentively listen to your thoughts on any and all things cinema related.

Cheers. I always look forward to anything you have to say about film. I'm truthfully not sure how you'll feel about it. It's thematically unorthodox in a manner I think you might enjoy, but I'm not sure it might be a bit aesthetically heavy-handed for your tastes.

I actually have heard that episode, but I can't remember much about it for the life of me. Is the podcast on a whole worth following?

 

[rms]

 

[no country for old wainds]

^ any good? it's giving me a kind of WAR WITCH vibe, which i didn't rly care for, but i generally like idris elba.

I actually have heard that episode, but I can't remember much about it for the life of me. Is the podcast on a whole worth following?

yeah, well worth it. each ep has a different guest so the quality can vary based on that, but he's interviewed almost all of the most interesting movie critics around at this point - probably over half of his guests to date have been people i already read so that's neat for me. great mixture of the best contemporary critics (quite a lot of the guys from slant, reverse shot, cinemascope, av club etc alongside writers from more mainstream newspapers like the NYT and village voice, and a few more idiosyncratic bloggers too) and legends like rosenbaum, hoberman, kehr, cheshire etc, and even some filmmakers like james gray, alex ross perry. i've often gone away with a newfound appreciation for some of the guests' work and a better understanding of their perspective - it's really helpful/fascinating stuff for anyone who's got an interest in reading or doing movie criticism. he also does some nice year-end top 10 type stuff with his buddy keith uhlich which is always fun. the presenter (peter labuza) can be a bit annoying and i do tend to skip his intros, he's a decent enough critic but he gets on my nerves when he rambles on (his haikus on letterboxd are also terrible). not a big deal tho, he's a fine interviewer with good taste in critics.

 

[rms]

good film, not sure what to take away from it but does depict the shittier parts of Africa to a whitey like me pretty well

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

Star Wars TFA
Fucking great!

 

[rms]

Heading out monday to see it