Last Watched

[Roscoe]

Truth indeed -- TABOO was my first, and not last, Kitano. I was bowled over by him. I will be checking out as many of what I can as soon as I can.

[wba]

You're in for a treat!! One of those ultra rare people with an incredible screen presence who you can't take your eyes from even if they are only standing there, doing nothing. In my opinion not even Garbo, Wayne, Cooper or Valentino had this much charisma without having to do at least something.

[pabs]

I saw a wonderful 105 minute face-to-face interview with an unknown (to me) person called Jason Holliday, Portrait of Jason Holliday (1967, Shirley Clarke)
It was amazingly entertaining, and sometimes hilarious. The subject is a gay black man who seeks to entertain you with anecdotes from his life, but underneath his sassy, knowing nods at society, he inadvertently (?) suffuses into all his tales a sad story of a person who was thwarted at every turn by a racist and homophobic society. He wanted to be a cabaret performer, but was banned because of his sexuality.

Not sure if I completely agree that Clarke is guilty of exploiting Jason (real name Aaron Payne) by having him consume so much alcohol over the entire duration of the interview, but maybe she is...

Anyhow, highly recommended to anybody interested in racial and minority issues who also likes listening to a great raconteur. Jason really has the gift of the gab.

[Roscoe]

THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR 6/10 Sydney Pollack's spy drama manages some fine moments but seems mired in a 1970s lower key vibe. The magic really happens when Max von Sydow graces the screen. The movie doesn't quite know what to do with Faye Dunaway, which it seems is the point for a change -- they handle all that about as well as it could be handled.

[rischka]

rio 40 graus (1955)-- which is like 104F but it was 101 here yesterday so close enough. amazing neoralismo look at the life of favela kids who sell peanuts all over the city while interacting with every class of society. nelson pereira dos santos' debut that kickstarted the cinema novo. comedy, tragedy, music, life

[kanafani]

I watched Long Day's Journey Into Night (Bi Gan, 2018) in 3D. An insufferable self-important mess for the most part. Approaches unintentional art-house parody: faux-Tarkovsky indoor raining/defective plumbing; glamorous/elusive dreamlike lady a la Wong Kar Wai; off-screen ponderous narrator pontificating on the essential difference between movies and dreams (shut up, nobody gives a fuck what you are talking about is my take); some dude bawling while eating an entire apple and staring right at us so so intensely (surely not the first time compulsive eating is used to symbolize the dark night of the soul, or something like that?); mixtures of whimsy and violence ripped off from numerous Hong Kong new wave sources (they sometimes work elsewhere, but unfortunately here they just feel derivative and dumb). The first 75 minutes or so are really quite bad. I guess they were shooting for some dreamlike/surreal/nightmarish vision, but it really misfires into an incoherent mess. Things do get better with the switch to 3D for the last hour of the movie. It's one long take, which was fun and gripping for the most part, although it does fall back to superficial fake profundity now and then. Part of me is kind of pleased and impressed that such a difficult (if ultimately very flawed) movie got a run in a semi-mainstream movie theater. There were only 3 other people watching, and two of them took an extended break (came back with some popcorn to help relieve the tedium), but it was Monday at 14:00, so maybe it's getting more traffic at other times.

[rischka]

so... not the one with katherine hepburn then? tho if i recall that was also a bit of an insufferable self-important mess. had me fooled for a minute

i'm watching rangeela. perfect summer movie

[wobblyshoes]

Watched Frederick Wiseman's Welfare: Its attention to the detail of the overlapping human interactions is overwhelming. The barriers are constant, and every subject here slips through the cracks. Part of me wishes he had pulled back to add the building's interior architecture into the bureaucratic mix, but what it misses in that he more than makes up for by putting the people at the center. It might be 1975, but from my limited experience working in/with government agencies, the labyrinth of departments only expands.

[kanafani]

i'm watching rangeela. perfect summer movie

OH YES

[rischka]

i was unprepared for this movie

[liquidnature]

Kubrick's Spartacus (1960) - the 2015 4k restoration, first time seeing the film, and oh my. Maybe the most pristine and gorgeous looking restoration I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot. Even if you've seen the film and dislike it, watching it in this quality is likely an entirely different experience. I'm leery about sharing it, but you can find it on SC (if you don't have access and want to watch it, I'll see what I can do). Oft labeled Kubrick's worst, but I loved everything about it - a true epic, one with heart and virtues I can get behind. Took 46 screenshots, if that's any indication. Here are a few:

Spoiler!

[pabs]

Wow! Thank you for those screenshots - they're stunning! What a magnificent job they did!

[wba]

Hmm, personally I don't like the look of it. Seems way too clean and the colors are off. This is a film from the 50s/60s, not some digital retro stuff from today. Seems like somebody was too eager to play with all the buttons.

[Roscoe]

METROPOLIS -- the Fritz Lang behemoth, just a grand mad avalanche of cinema. Outlandish from start to finish, and for all the operatic craziness there are little moments of quiet that always catch me off. Look close at Brigitte Helm during her entrance -- there's more going on in that face than mere Virginal Purity: the look of defiance she gets when those butlers appear to shoo her back to the depths is really something. And that shot of Alfred Abel, alone in his office, as the reflected lights of his city play on the walls behind him...

10/10, and H.G. Wells can go fuck himself.

[rischka]

i've never made it through spartacus and probably never shall. i enjoy peplum but kirk throws me right out of it

[rischka]

still in the noir mood so i watched cagney in kiss tomorrow goodbye (1950) he plays basically the same guy as in white heat (which is a lot better imo), a vicious older ex-con who somehow attracts gorgeous women, even an heiress. it's probably cagney's meanest character and i almost turned it off for how awful he was to poor tragic barbara payton, in one of her biggest roles. she isn't very good but cagney is great/terrible. he's just too old to pull it off. also the plot makes little to no sense. it did compel me to watch til the end tho

[bipolarvision]

Pinneyum (Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 2016)

adoor's foray into digital cinema is a mishmash of existentialist themes & the familiar adoor milleu showcasing the decline of a nair family. based on the infamous 'sukumara kurup' case, adoor critiques two rising issues in the society- unemployment and high levels of education and also desperation of the youth for 'fast money'-- looking into the dark crevices of a good man thrown off by money and pleasure bringing out the criminal in him. all this could've made for a gripping narrative, but adoor seems to be in a time warp repeating his technique over, and also the rather outdated dialogues -- kavya madhavan turns in an interesting performance, especially in the climatic moments.

[wobblyshoes]

La Cienaga (Martel, 2001): My first by Martel. Its care for everdayness coupled with its elliptical storytelling—not to mention its long payoffs with motifs—is wonderful. Not to mention its Latin American class relations are extremely familiar to me too. I'm really excited to see how she pushes class in Zama, since she clearly has the touch for it.

[Roscoe]

THE CRANES ARE FLYING -- in the latest restorationwhatsitpalooza. Considering how much I dislike the same director's camera-gimmick-laden asslick to Castro called I AM CUBA, it was probably foolish for me to bother with this, but hope springs eternal, and well, so much for hope -- Kalatazov grabs hope by the stem and tears it out by the fucking roots, as CRANES is a junkyard of barely one dimensional characters, familiar war drama melodramatics, flashy camera gimmicks, only occasional flashes of actual humanity. Another "indisputable masterwork" that I find myself disputing.

[liquidnature]

They Live by Night (1948, Ray)

oh god my heart. this is as good as it gets

[DT.]

Domino (2019) - De Palma directs low-budget fodder set in Europe like it's a Hitchcockian thriller set in San Francisco. Mirrors and reflections are reconfigured as surveillance and livestreams, culminating in a balletic set piece involving drones and matadors (trust me, it plays better than it sounds!). Much better than I was expecting, and much more of a return to form than Passion was.

[kanafani]

I watched Point Break over the weekend. Very impressed by its go-for-broke action sequences and its delirious energy. So much fun. I only know Bigelow as the academy-award winning chronicler of the amazing heroic feats of the CIA and the Armed Forces. Was not aware of her apparently much more interesting rugged past. Ordered Near Dark and Strange Days from the library. I need to check those out!!

[wba]

I watched Point Break over the weekend. Very impressed by its go-for-broke action sequences and its delirious energy. So much fun. I only know Bigelow as the academy-award winning chronicler of the amazing heroic feats of the CIA and the Armed Forces. Was not aware of her apparently much more interesting rugged past. Ordered Near Dark and Strange Days from the library. I need to check those out!!

Point Break is probably her unsurpassed peak as an artist, but some other earlier stuff is similarly impressive. You should also check out BLUE STEEL!

[pabs]

Ordered [...] Strange Days from the library. I need to check those out!!

... and boom! - you just chose the film I'm gonna watch tonight. Thanks.

[rischka]

I watched Point Break over the weekend. Very impressed by its go-for-broke action sequences and its delirious energy. So much fun. I only know Bigelow as the academy-award winning chronicler of the amazing heroic feats of the CIA and the Armed Forces. Was not aware of her apparently much more interesting rugged past. Ordered Near Dark and Strange Days from the library. I need to check those out!!

i love point break so much. i even own the DVD BODHI & JOHNNY 4-EVER. i finally watched the classic Die Mörder sind unter uns (1946)

good use of the bombed out cityscape and a lot of noirish framing. fairly hard-hitting portrait of PTSD in borchert's tortured performance

[Silga]

I want to join this love circle for Point Break. Amazing and dare I say - a timeless film. More exiting and thrilling than most of its 21st century imitators. And I've seen that terrible remake.

I've only seen 4 films from Bigelow, but she certainly has a strong command of the medium and I'm looking forward to watch the rest from her.

As for Blue Steel, I've just watched it a few months ago, and while I would still recommend it, there's a feeling of a somewhat missed opportunity to make an even more menacing and unnerving film about a disturbed maniac running loose.

Also, I've just found that K-19: The Widowmaker is playing on VOD, so I might check this one out. Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson aboard the sub. What could possibly go wrong?

[Silga]

Domino (2019) - De Palma directs low-budget fodder set in Europe like it's a Hitchcockian thriller set in San Francisco. Mirrors and reflections are reconfigured as surveillance and livestreams, culminating in a balletic set piece involving drones and matadors (trust me, it plays better than it sounds!). Much better than I was expecting, and much more of a return to form than Passion was.

On the contrary, I was baffled by how outright terrible this film was.

De Palma is a good director, but he often needs a 'colorful' story to present the world with a distinct atmosphere for him to "dance" around it and do his thing (like it was the case with the flawed but beautiful The Black Dahlia which, of course, owes a lot to Vilmos Zsigmond and James Ellroy's source novel). That's something Domino's vapid story certainly misses and aside from some playful lighting on couple of scenes, there is no exceptional directing here.

There were well-published stories of the troubled production and financial problems that left many on the crew unpaid. I've heard that De Palma sort of disowned the film as it was edited by the producers. But I'm not sure if it was possible to save this wreck under any circumstances.

I'm afraid that De Palma is loosing his grip on film-making and Passion was a clear sign of that too. And yet I'm still hopeful that before he retires, De Palma will return on a high note one day.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Also, I've just found that K-19: The Widowmaker is playing on VOD, so I might check this one out. Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson aboard the sub. What could possibly go wrong?

I recall finding this one tremendously boring, but I watched it in my teens on VHS before I knew who Bigelow was, so who knows.

[pabs]

The dramatic scenes in Strange Days were indeed excellently done. Bigelow is, undeniably, a great tension-builder and this film had me squirming at times. But, for me, most of her films - entertaining as they undoubtedly are - don't amount to very much in the final analysis. I really enjoyed this one, as I did Point Break, but I'm not inclined to see either one of them ever again. On the other hand, Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker are keepers for me, and definitely warrant a second viewing in the next few years.

[Zulawski]

Kali of Emergency by Avikunthak. Long time since my faculties have been this consistently baffled and overwhelmed watching a film. But I would be hard pressed to be able to even pretend to tell you what it was about.