Last Watched

[Roscoe]

I dug MR. WEST well enough. The brutal parody of Harold Lloyd's aggressive stupidity was really amusing, and the general air of fun was most refreshing.

[Roscoe]

THE KILLERS -- Siodmak's expansion of the Hemingway story, with out of order flashbacks and Burt Lancaster at the height of his beauty and Ava Gardner just coming into hers, and a tasty 100 minutes. I rather dug the little red herring Siodmak tosses into the mix near film's end, there's this little guy in the background who always seems to be about to amount to something, and then he just wanders away...

[St. Gloede]

Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc / Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021, Radu Jude)



Radical in both form and content, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn opens with literal porn - or rather, a graphic sex tape, which will set the form for everything that follows. The real question is however far more scathing: What is indecent - this tape, or society itself?

The film is constructed in 3 clear acts, each presented with bright pink title cards and mischievous music.



But do not be fooled.

While BLB certainly qualifies as a dark comedy, its jokes come with punches to the gut, genuine distress and existential claustrophobia as the seams of modern society is deconstructed in all its vileness. Frankly, it does not even need to be lampooned - simply showing real footage - such as a congregation singing fascist songs, is all it takes - though mixing this footage with that of genitalia, Mussolini calendars (how many do you need for a single year) ...



... and other grossly subversive elements - such as presenting us with a nativity scene - along with the trivia that during 1943 Romanian troops executed thousands of Jews and Roma in great haste so that the soldiers could go back to celebrating the birth of Christ. Though - lampooned it is, all the same.

There is a clear human angle - as Emi - a respected teacher - risks losing her job after her sex tape is discovered - but really, the Romania that exists around her feels like a much clearer "protagonist" - almost like the landscapes in Aguirre - and this is almost all act 1 is. Emi, usually alone on the streets - surrounded by ads and decay. We can feel Bucharest, and it's people - the busy streets, the rudeness and lack of empathy. In a way, Bad Luck Banging or Loony porn can feel like a gleeful trick to lure unexpected viewers into a stern, off-putting history lesson and societal critique. Its austere look at streets during Covid, with minimal dialogue, as we simultaneously feel Emi's dread for the upcoming parents meeting - and the dread of the busy Bucharest is already alienating to many, and then: act 2: which can only be described as an associative essay. The text says Christmas - the content says genocide.

"Oh, the land of the free where I can beat anyone I want"

This section is compiled of anecdotes, dictionary entries, statistics, archival footage, genitalia, fascism, military oppression, sarcasm, brutality - each little entry with its own label - and each filling in a piece of Romanian history and present.

And then: act 3 - the climax - as the mock-trial commences - as lude and disgusting as you could expect - or frankly, more so - with prejudices being laid bare, and the crime of having had a sex tape leaked being equalled to teaching the Jewish/Mossad propaganda known as the holocaust. It is a ludicrous socially distanced farce - all in mask - that brings back associations from the essay - while bringing uncomfortable overtones and personal clashes to an extreme intensity - all through dialogue.

I am unsure of the degree of mainstream success a work of this form and content can achieve - though it is perhaps less austere than Uppercase Print (2020), and closer to I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians (2018) - which was far more effective in bringing modern Romania to face its Fascist past - however - Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn is certainly the most "present" film Jude has made in years - and its issues - and landscape - focused squarely on the present - including the backdrop of Covid-2019 - where his films from Aferim! have been mainly concerned with history and how it relates to the present - with stark echos - his latest film is perhaps more so about the present and how it is a product of its past - while also centring in on current reality and prejudices on their own - and laying them bare.

While not his greatest work to date, the Golden Bear win does make it his most acclaimed, and his return to the present is anything but a step back. Rude continues to show that he is one of the most exciting and daring directors working today - and his added International success will hopefully mean a greater number of film buffs will explore his extraordinary back-catalogue.

9/10

[sally]

mood:



(the enchanted day, peter pewas 1944 - virginal purity, i really hoped she died, horribly, but she didnt)

[nrh]

is it weird to say someone as famous as (aki) kaurismaki is a little overlooked?

i hired a contract killer will never be my favorite aki (those will be calamari union, a movie i used to watch every year on my birthday during a particularly trying time, the practice of which might have actually accelerated the deterioration of a romance already in its final days, and leningrad cowboys meet moses, which is just really funny and melancholy) but it is moment for moment one of his most perfect movies.

best outsider films england movie after skolimowski's deep end (death) and fleischer's rillington place (lots of death). this is a bit sunny in comparison.

[greennui]

Kaurismäki is def my fav comedic director.

mood:

(the enchanted day, peter pewas 1944 - virginal purity, i really hoped she died, horribly, but she didnt)

That ending was very jarring.

[sally]

tbh i find all german films made whilst they were burning people in ovens pretty jarring throughout, even if there could be read some (allegorical) criticism against them.....but am also getting really fed up of watching the constant constant constant relentless sexist crap in movies made largely by men so maybe i'm due a proper break or something for a while.

i can't get excited about aki anymore, i don't know why, and it's sad.

[Lonnie]

Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc / Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021, Radu Jude)

I haven't seen this one yet, but I enjoy your Radu write ups.

[St. Gloede]

Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc / Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (2021, Radu Jude)

I haven't seen this one yet, but I enjoy your Radu write ups.

Thanks! (And he makes it easy).

[sally]

MOLES! tee hee hee



(of limited reference here but i had to post it)

[sally]

l'apprendistato - davide maldi (2019)

am reading walser (am making it last as long as i can, it's bliss) so what could be more perfect than a film about a group of young boys struggling with the rigorous discipline of learning to serve in hotel school? complicated slightly somewhat by main focus being on a radiantly beautiful pale (ginger!) boy, and contemporary notions of the primacy of individual liberty (i spy allegory), but then again redressed and counter-balanced by copious napkin folding and glass-on-a tray positioning

[Monsieur Arkadin]

That still from l'apprendistato is reminding me of a video series by Doug Aitken called Migration (Empire) where North American animals migrate across the continent into various highway motels.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ6DrlO9RlQ

[sally]

unfortunately those animals were dead and stuffed (metaphor)

but that doug aitken reminds me of that pierre huyge piece, streamside day, that for a certain time was for some reason everywhere i looked, although i never could actually watch it (possibly because i had watched the roe's room and just couldn't get enough of deer in domestic spaces)



artists doing animals in rooms thread...

[rischka]

aww having just come from various highway motels i appreciate the migration series! now wondering if i should watch nomadland lol

can't be worse than that 3 billboards movie, right? right???

[Silga]

I'm going to watch one or two films for 2020 poll tonight before posting my final ballot, but so far - Nomadland is my favorite of the year.

But I also love 3 Billboards.

[sally]

why the lol about nomadland? was there some controversy i missed? i can't watch it, surprise surprise hasn't been released in the uk yet (hey lol but we get first cow (2019) in may 2021 lucky us!, and maybe even another round by the end of the year!) but never mind, because there are some 2020 films i can watch and i'm going to, right now

[rischka]

i like frances mcdormand and i'm pleased she's getting work but one has to wonder if that would be the case were her husband not a famous director

nomadland it is then

[grabmymask]

why the lol about nomadland? was there some controversy i missed?

Yeah, there’s controversy but sadly it’s gone widely unaddressed.The film’s portrayal of Amazon’s Warehouses is very dubious. But perhaps even more concerning is the fact that the non-actors used in the film were lied to and told that the film was a documentary and that Frances was also a non-actor (when obviously this was not actually the case). Whole movie kinda feels an excuse to “role play” being impoverished. I personally despised it.

[nrh]

i haven't been following closely but there was a pronounced negative critical reaction pretty much the moment nomadland left festival circuit and was more widely available - first caused by questions about the movie's relationship to amazon (both in terms of on-screen narrative and any production relationships the film had to the company) and then broader aesthetic complaints, mostly centered on very trained actress mcdormand and her performance in relationshiop to the non-actors (the back and forth about chloe zhao coming from a family with some degree of wealth has been going back and forth but that seems largely like a dumb twitter thing).

[Searchlike]

But perhaps even more concerning is the fact that the non-actors used in the film were lied to and told that the film was a documentary and that Frances was also a non-actor (when obviously this was not actually the case).

That explains the smirk.

[rischka]

why the lol about nomadland? was there some controversy i missed?

Yeah, there’s controversy but sadly it’s gone widely unaddressed.The film’s portrayal of Amazon’s Warehouses is very dubious. But perhaps even more concerning is the fact that the non-actors used in the film were lied to and told that the film was a documentary and that Frances was also a non-actor (when obviously this was not actually the case). Whole movie kinda feels an excuse to “role play” being impoverished. I personally despised it.

thx for this info, i've lost all interest in watching it now. maybe i can stomach mank

3 billboards smelled of copaganda, aside from other issues. also i watched it with my mother and she just had to keep asking why they're using the Fword so much

[Searchlike]

maybe i can stomach mank

As I see it, if you watch a best picture nominee you're going to be lied to no matter what.

[sally]

aha i am enlightened

[grabmymask]

maybe i can stomach mank

As I see it, if you watch a best picture nominee you're going to be lied to no matter what.

Yes, this is 100% the case. That being said, I did think Mank was one of the most stomach-able of this year’s batch (having regrettably watched all of them)—as long as one is able to recognize and put aside the fact that its “historical” narrative is basically BS. There is some tension between Fincher’s treatment of the material and the actual material itself that is potentially productive/interesting imo.

[rischka]

well that wasn't good. why do i keep giving fincher a chance. fight club was 20 years ago

now i kinda wanna watch the other side of the wind ...

[ofrene]

didn't hate Nomadland but surely it was vastly disappointed cause I like her previous work(maybe I should reconsider it but..) it was intentionally naive and kept asking whether this is right way to approach, not just non-actor problem (and seriously shocked about people saying it 'healing movie')

Fincher lose his steam after Zodiac (and Social Network)

[Monsieur Arkadin]

Saw Judas and the Black Messiah just in time for the Oscars. It was good, but I can't shake the feeling of "classiness" to the production. It's a much better take on a similar subject matter to Trial of the Chicago 7, and feels much more honest in its approach to its characters. But it still comes The Kings Speech: Black Panther Version to me. I was kind of startled by how low energy much of the film was once you get past the first act.
I think Mank remains my favorite oscar nominated film of this year (which is ironic if we're talking about "low-energy" because that one progresses in a weird dream haze) But I was suprised that there was nothing genuinely standout. Normally there's at least one movie I genuinely like.

[St. Gloede]

Nomadland undoubtedly suffers from a very extreme form of Liberal naivete (or dishonesty), where, even as it presents itself as being founded in human displacement caused by the 2008 crash, it still goes on to, at every point, assure us that living in a van is a choice.

I don't want to be harsh enough to claim that this is the intention, to somehow whitewash poverty and poor living conditions as an eccentric living choice of brave pioneers/individualist. I choose to see these actions specifically from the view if the character - and that the film is about processing loss - and this is also where it is quite wonderful. Frances McDormand gives a powerful, understated performance - with her entire body and being. She is genuinely believable and raw - and there is so much emotional resonance here, her loss being felt every step of the way. She is certainly a valid contender for many a acting award.

But a few question remain, mainly - why center the economic crash as the backdrop when this is not our leads reason for living in a van? And why glamorise Amazon and short term employment as a great, well-paying option? It can leave a bad taste in your mouth - but I also think the treatment is ambiguous enough to be interpreted different ways - and poverty is addressed through supporting characters. The immersion in the community is there, and I don't have a major issue in hiding McDormand within the character. Deceptive, certainly, but if the aim us simply to get more immersive/realistic interactions from non-actors I don't think it is particularly problematic. The way the community was used, the realism and the immersion is one of the great strengths of the film, and a large part of what grounds it and makes it feel naturalistic. If people feel tgst it was done to undermine their economic reality and gloss over the conditions that forced many on the road, I can understand why is is seen as disgusting however - I'm just not sure this was the intention.

Personally, even with the issues, I consider it a good to great film dye to the powerful naturalism, emotional resonance and core performance(s) - though its naivete brings it down in my estimation. If this is interpreted as malice, I can see why it would be dismissed.

In terms if "healing" I'm not quite sure. I have seen the claim that it humanises/establishes a great deal of respect for this community - and untangle prejudices again them. Which is an interesting view. I wonder if they think the real issue is not the economic situation these people are broadly in, but that they may be judged for their economic situation...

[der kulterer]

assure us that living in a van is a choice.

i didn't watch Nomadland.
but i am awaiting the shift of paradigm (with progressing neofeudalism) from eulogizing living in a shared apartment to painting as cool the life in a van, or in a trailer park... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_park

to see what awaits me/us, i watched (in the past) IN OUR GARDEN (Giuseppe Andrews, 2002)

https://letterboxd.com/film/in-our-garden/
60 year old widow and cystic fibrosis sufferer Daisy hooks up with crack-addicted lonely ex-cop Rick in a trailer park romance.

i believe time will come, Giuseppe Andrews gonna be rediscovered... https://letterboxd.com/director/giuseppe-andrews/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Andrews
He grew up in trailer parks, which feature prominently, along with their inhabitants, in many of his films. He also spent time living in a van with his father before they were both cast in an infomercial

i believe sitcoms TRAILER PARK BOYS (and alike) might become the new F*R*I*E*N*D*S.
i expect more and more young ppl won't be able to afford even a shared apartment — and experience the adventures of Monika, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Ross and Rachel — and thus they will ultimately move into the trailer-parks (while thinking it is something no less cool & liberating & trendy & funny).

[Lencho of the Apes]

Can trailer-parks be gentrified? There's always a downside...