Last Watched

[...]

In preparation for the sure to be exciting Jack Arnold poll, I watched The Chicken of Tomorrow, a somewhat odd short about, you guessed it, chickens, sponsored by Texaco, or The Texas Company as it was called back then, which has Arnold providing a little added zing in some of the visuals around chicks developing and hatching from the new modern eggs and takes pains to emphasize the importance of the modern motor cars and trucks and the petroleum products that fuel them in this bright new era of chicken production. There are a few other moments that amused and the manner in which the chickens were discussed, alternating between product to consume and critterly cuteness was kinda fun, but not a lot more.

But With These Hands was more interesting. Sort of emotional agitprop, if that's not a contradiction in terms, for unions that Arnold co-produced in 1950. It was intended for showing to a union audience, but was picked up by a NYC theater where it ran for 4 weeks, was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary and now has been preserved by the National Film Board. I even got to watch it on the CSPAN website. It follows one union garment worker from the birth of the union in 1910 until his retirement in 1950. It emphasizes the Triangle Shirt fire and some of the toll the main character had to face in getting the union started and in working for fair elections, but doesn't really dramatize much in the way of actual strife, partly due to budget, but more I think because of how it tries to re-situate the concept of the union in the world of 1950. This leads to some, for me, really interesting hedging around union history and values. The movie and its hero are obviously strongly pro-union work and pro-socialist but strongly anti-communist. It twists the history of a garment workers strike in 1926 to have been an attempt by Soviet favoring communists to lead the union into ruin by making demands they knew couldn't be met, 50% increase in wages! Capitalism must be destroyed in order for the worker to be free! The hero opposes this and equates communism with fascism while mocking them calling him a reactionary saying he voted for Eugene V Debs every election. The strike leads to bankruptcy for the union and is suggested that the attempt weakened them right when they most needed their strength during the soon to follow Great Depression where the socialist union values would have helped the workers. (In reality, it seems the communist influence over the union was real, but the demands reasonable with the communist leadership willingly stepping own from leadership when owners refused to offer a deal with them in that role.)

The movie also walks this odd little line between showing ownership/bosses as both responsible for the Triangle Shirt fire, but also willing partners in negotiations with the union, even showing sympathy for the hero and his even more dedicated friend when they are picketing in the early years. Later, once the union has been fully established, the negotiation scene is played for light comic relief in the steps needed to satisfy both parties, which they engage in willingly with shrugged acceptance of all the slightly absurd rigamarole involved. And it celebrates Roosevelt's New Deal and the undying efforts of union workers most of all. Arnold directs the movie with some flair, some really nice cuts within or between scenes and the flow of the story and acting are all Hollywood level, but watching them thread the needle of showing these immigrant workers as true Americans, not asking for anything more than they deserve and getting respect for that, while denouncing communism and avoiding excess agitation while somewhat subtly showing the improvements in the living conditions the main character gains through working in the union is what's really enjoyable. Selling union membership in 1950 took some doing it seems.

I also started watching Games Girls Play, but with repeated full frontal nudity in the first five minutes, I figured I probably shouldn't watch it at work. For anyone else boning up on Arnold, fully frontal or no, don't forget to check out his ample, really ample TV work. There's plenty of Love Boat, Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island episodes there just awaitin' for views, among other things.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Thanks, With These Hands sounds really interesting - I'll definitely watch it during the Arnold poll.

[rischka]

Watched a scifi double feature on youtube: the mysterious wall (1967) an obvious inspiration for stalker and well done technology paranoia from soviet union, followed by Idaho transfer (1973) a sort of hippie 'primer' directed by peter fonda. Production values are practically nil but that's part of its charm and theme of young people escaping impending environmental collapse seems timely indeed

[Ofréne]

last few watches were le cercle rouge, le trou, la notte & malcolm x
i wished malcolm x was better but the others were nice little movies

[gmork]

Been watching nothing but dumb comedies and Hollywood fluff for a while now, especially since the start of the pandemic.

The last thing new thing I watched that I can remember that wasn't bad was https://mubi.com/films/come-true

The story kinda sucks, but technically it's pretty amazing. I think the director is someone to watch for sure.

You can check my favorite films list here - https://letterboxd.com/gmork/list/favorite-films/

If anyone has an invite to CG or PTP or something similar please hit me up! I'd really appreciate it. I have like a 6 something ratio on KG that I can prove. But it doesn't have a lot of the trashier stuff that I've been looking for.

[Ofréne]

i imagine joining and immediately advertising yourself for an invite to a private tracker isn't the best way to get around

[gmork]

Yeah I'm just not up to beating around the bush these days. Forum's such as this was what led me to a KG invite. I don't know how much I plan on contributing to this site, but I know I'll at least be checking it from now on to get recommendations and stay in the know.

[Joks Trois]

The Card Counter: First Reformed was a fluke. Overrated but still quite good and Schrader's best in years. This is mediocrity as usual since the release of Autofocus, with 1 or 2 exceptions. Only dye-in-the-wool autuerists need apply. 4.5/10.

[Roscoe]

THE NIGHT STALKER -- the original 1971 TV movie, low budget and TV and all, and still by and large a good ride. Maybe the last time a vampire was depicted as a pure out and out monster, instead of a polished cultivated sex object designed to set hearts a flutter -- this guy's mean, and he wants dinner, and he means business. And one of the few times American law enforcement isn't portrayed as a bunch of morons, these guys do more than enough to catch their serial killer, the only problem is that he's a fucking vampire, and bullets don't exactly mean much to him -- a tasty moment comes when the police commissioner is having a hard time believing the accounts of his own officers who claim to have repeatedly shot the guy, only to ask McGavin's Kolchak, since he was there, how many times the guy was shot, only to have Kolchak reply, "only about thirty or forty times."

[Roscoe]

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK -- David Chase's prequel of sorts to THE SOPRANOS tries to cram way too much into its two hour running time, and it feels rushed and incomplete. The depiction of race tensions in 1960s Newark almost comes off as cliche and a bid for capital R RELEVANCE more than anything that actually has anything to do with the SOPRANOS universe, despite some fine performances. I'll cop to enjoying one tasty bit of revelation in that universe, as Vera Farmiga's performance as the monstrous Livia Soprano seems to recall Edie Falco as Carmela rather than Nancy Marchand's imperishable Livia in the original series -- something strikes me very funny about the notion that Tony wound up marrying his mom on some level. Alas, near film's end, one character does something so utterly stupid

Spoiler!

(I'm referring to Giuseppina's confession to Dickie that she's slept with someone else, and then confessing that she's slept with a black man, and then she seems shocked, SHOCKED that he doesn't take the news well, there's just now way that anyone would do that, at all, at all, at all)

that I can't view it as anything other than a serious lapse on David Chase's part.

[rischka]

You guys I went to the cinema! A fancy one with reclining seats good thing since the latest bond is at least 3 hours long. Seemed like a retread but I'm glad Daniel Craig was able to extricate himself

edit:this was because i was early and my room wasn't ready as i overestimated the time it would take to get through the blizzard. but i lived and tmrw i'm going to zion

[Roscoe]

KHRUSTALYOV, MY CAR! found its way to my Blu-Ray player for the first time in a while, and I finally managed to make it all the way through, and got a lot out of it. Fascinating and infuriating and I can't wait to check it out again. I kept being reminded of Terry Gilliam's FEAR AND LOATHING than anything else, the constant onslaught of onscreen information got frankly exhausting, but in a good way. Repeat viewings eagerly anticipated, hopefully maybe someday on a bigger screen than my TV.

[rischka]

kautner's black gravel (1961) streaming on kinocult - best thing i've seen there yet. intense and unrelentingly bleak on literally trying to bury the past in postwar west germany. bravo

[rischka]

And a good double feature with the flower in hell (1958) on Korean classics youtube channel, for more on the corrosive effects of American occupation. I've been using YouTube, tcm, cinephobe and kinocult for my movie fix on the road. In fact I've stayed in bed til noon today watching Greer Garson and Laurence olivier in pride & prejudice for the 10th time
..

[Holdrüholoheuho]

kautner's black gravel (1961) streaming on kinocult - best thing i've seen there yet. intense and unrelentingly bleak on literally trying to bury the past in postwar west germany. bravo

i am surprised nobody voted for THE APPLE FELL or BLACK GRAVEL
and i am still desperately waiting for the subs to THE DREAM OF LIESCHEN MUELLER

Käunter poll 2.0 will witness the ascend of "black gravel".
i like that film too!

[rischka]

More suitable for noirvember probably!

[sally]

i just watched the lighthouse (2019) cuz it was called the lighthouse!

i'm going back to older movies now!

(i had the HOH subtitles on because i can't watch films without now (the ears have withered thru foreign film abuse) and was greatly amused, as they attempted all the sound descriptions as well as speech, to see at one point in the subtitle space simply a succinct & phlegmatic 'masturbation' - who knew it was in some sense in the same category as bird song? lol)

[Lencho of the Apes]

Masturbation is a form of prayer.

[Ofréne]

i watched dune. really drab and boring and very very empty visually and otherwise

[sally]

Masturbation is a form of prayer.

the thing that tickled me was that unless it has a unique aural signature (and maybe it does, but if i hadn't had the subtitles it would have taken me a few seconds to figure out what was going on - i'm not as familiar with all the secret sounds of men as i'd like to be and the silent films i've been immersed in just don't show things like that) it was the only point in the film where the subtitles tipped over from description/transcription into commentary. and i had just been reading this from béla balázs:

"...is certain that no written or oral literature is able to express the ghostly, the demonic and the supernatural as well as the cinematic. for man's language is the product of his rationality, and so the Orphic words of obscure magic spells may be at worst incomprehensible, but they are not 'supernatural'. that is to say, words cannot be understood when they are incomprehensible. this is how human intelligence defends itself. but a sight may be clear and comprehensible even though unfathomable, and that is what makes our hair stand on end"

pattinson having an angsty wank is unfathomable (as is prayer) whereas apparently everything else in the movie, eg mermaid sex or defoe's mega-hamming, required no gnomic announcement for the deaf. which is probably the problem with the film. i'm going back to silents and their polished swords...

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all my non-movie contacts have been raving about dune. i watched the lynch one cuz ummmmm kyle maclachlan but i don't fancy chalamet so probably won't get to this one unless other people shout up for it....

[greennui]

"Fap" would be the name of the sound, no?

I thought Dune was a bland, humourless slog. Found it hard to seperate it from all the recent Star Wars spinoffs, guess the ghastly Zimmer score made it stick out now and then.

[rischka]

i watched an uchida that was subbed while i was away - the lovely twilight saloon with melancholy air to rival osaka no yado. and a classic egyptian film kanafani finally subbed, 'flirtation of girls' from 1949 - it's like a screwball comedy with songs and even tap dancing. lead actor is hilarious but apparently died before the film was released. a shame

i've got dune and the lighthouse hmmmm

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

a classic egyptian film kanafani finally subbed, 'flirtation of girls' from 1949

Many thanks kanafani, been wanting to see this subbed for years

[ofrene]

i enjoyed Villeneuve's Dune better than Lynch's but undeniably slog and desert of Dune is somehow visually unimpressive compared to other movie mainly on desert

[sally]

"Fap" would be the name of the sound, no?

thanks greennui

[Ofréne]

"Fap" would be the name of the sound, no?

I thought Dune was a bland, humourless slog. Found it hard to seperate it from all the recent Star Wars spinoffs, guess the ghastly Zimmer score made it stick out now and then.

hans zimmer must be stopped

[sally]

^ LOL!

last watched:

i thought i'd escaped the fleshy theme with the decorous (and stagey) alsace (1916) - pale sexless albert dieudonné stropping about straddling his mummy-issues dressed up as national identity hysterics (although there was some fantastic sarcasm from his gal, a rarity in silent film)...but then i also watched die würghand (1920) and sorry hedy, but bloody hell, here is carmen cartellieri having ekstase 13 years before your onscreen eye-rolls. and even tho i usually hate whoring movies, this one i loved the sleaze, loved the slow dramatic gestures, and the whole inevitable gravity of damnation. cute.

[rischka]

and i just saw robert pattinson's butt

[Ofréne]

i remember the prometheus stuff being too in your face in lighthouse, didn't work too well for me.

i watched la notte recently and thought it was good, but i thought the dinner/entertainment dance scene was a bit weird. not sure what that says about me

[greennui]

The Lighthouse was just too try-hard for me, desperately loud yet ringing hollow.

Prefer this:

https://youtu.be/LMRQb-RRt5g