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On 1/20/2023 at 5:04 PM, Devon Malcolm said:

Tår (cinema)

Cate Blanchett's performance is as great as you've heard but Todd Field's return (In the Bedroom and Little Children are excellent films too) has far more to it than that. It could be taken the wrong way in terms of its notes on cancel culture and what-not but it's an uncompromising and bizarrely enjoyable film considering its length and lack of inaction. One of the best final shots you'll ever get, too.

Watched it again today. Its one of the most odd rewatchable films ever. Its an absolute stunner of a film. Blanchett is just fucking superb

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2023 films I've watched so far;

If These Walls Could Sing - A pretty basic documentary about Abbey Road studios. More of a puff piece than anything else. Anybody with any serious interest in Abbey Road or the Beatles will be disappointed.

Till - A pretty gruelling watch with a fantastic performance from Danielle Deadwyler (fantastic name btw). The film isn't as good as the performance but it's worth watching for that alone.

The Old Way - Nicholas Cage's Western is as rubbish as his recent horror output. Also has a horribly overbearing score playing over every scene. I'm a big fan of modern Westerns so this should be right up my street but it was shite. Ryan Keira Armstrong is good though.

Holy Spider - Really effective serial killer thriller, well worth seeking out.

Spoiler

The most disturbing aspect of this is the communitys reaction to the killer and the glorification of his crimes. Really scary stuff.

A Man Called Otto - It's fine if you're new to this story, but completely pointless if you've seen the original. It's a typical Hollywood remake really, and the flashbacks are bordering on Hallmark movie quality. It left the only other couple in the cinema in absolute tears so job done I guess?

TÁR - I found the first hour of this to be really frustrating and didn't think I would be able to get past how much I loathed the central character, but by the end I was won over. It's definitely a lurker of a film, one that has stayed with me. Blanchett's performance is as incredible as hyped. I think I'll need to watch it a few more times to unpack everything in it.

 

M3GAN tonight!

Edited by Lorne Malvo
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Velvet Goldmine

Saw that this was on Netflix, my other half had never seen it, I haven't watched it in years. Luvvy alert - I used to hang out with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers' brother, and so I know an unreasonable amount about this movie, and it was nice to revisit it after a long time.

Cracking soundtrack - Thom Yorke doing a Bryan Ferry voice is hilarious - and a fun romp, gay as anything. A lot of ideas and imagination, not all of it lands, but it tends to move on to the next thing quickly enough that it doesn't matter. Not having Bowie's endorsement or actual music involved actually helps the film, in my opinion, because it means it can diverge from reality and smash up a few stories as much as they like - Curt Wild being Iggy Pop, but with some of the Bowie/Jagger rumours and Lou Reed's backstory, and a bit of Mick Ronson, is perhaps more interesting than if he'd just been a straight-up replacement for any of those people, and almost treating the different ages of Bowie as if they were different people (or claiming to be) is a nice touch.

I never really grasped who Jack Fairy is, though - he seems to be a bit Marc Bolan, in terms of being an early glam rival who is seen as more "original" and "authentic" than Brian Slade picking and copying from other people, but that characterisation doesn't really follow him throughout, and there's a passing reference to him working with Curt Wild in Berlin, which first time around I thought meant he might be Brian Eno, but now I think makes him potentially another version or aspect of Bowie. That, or he's a more mythical figure with no direct parallel, just some kind of embodiment of glam creativity - and him being connected to the Oscar Wilde brooch ties into that. I don't really remember the Wilde aspect being such a big part of it, but half the dialogue is just Oscar Wilde quotes, and whoever has the brooch seems to be the more genuine "star" at any given time. 

The other thing I noticed for the first time on this viewing is that it's structurally just Citizen Kane. The moment that they got to "journalist interviews central character's ex-wife in a bar", it became obvious.

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Skinamarink (cinema)

I loved this, but it absolutely won't be for everyone. It's experimental, abstract, has a grain filter smacked over it, the sound changes with every shot change, and it's all about kids living through an unexplained nightmare. The majority of the film is looking at piles of lego and there's constant white noise, to the point where I'm not sure if I dosed off for a minute once or twice.

However, as sheer, dense atmosphere goes, I loved it. It's apparently come out of a youtube series of short films visualising people's nightmares, and this was a repeated one from kids - being alone in your house, but the doors have vanished and there are noises. 

If it appeals, I'd probably recommend the cinema for this one if you can - it's immersive and weird, and not knowing how long is left or being able to pause it are fairly important here. 

 

Enys Men (cinema)

This ended up being an unexpected double-bill of narratively ambiguous, experimentally shot and recorded films. This one is slow and circular and sort of a folk ghost story - it's got a genuine sense of eeriness, and is deliberately ambiguous about... pretty much everything.

I think, if I'd seen it the day before Skinamarink rather than the day after, I'd have liked it more. As it was, I liked it a lot, but it was too tonally similar to watch so quickly after. A bit like having the same unusual type of meal two days in a row - you end up comparing them more than you would have otherwise. If I'd seen them the other way around, I might have liked this more and Skinamarink less. But it was still very much my kind of thing, and I definitely enjoyed it.

 

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Plane (cinema)

Superb fun, as hoped for. Gerard Butler's stepped into Jason Statham's shoes of fun, mid-budget actioners seamlessly. A disaster film plonked in the middle of a bullet-riddled 80s action film. What's not to love?

Swan Song 

This isn't the Mahershala Ali sci-fi drama (which is also very good) but the Udo Kier as a gay hairdresser comedy-drama. And it's a delight, too, and awesome to see Udo in a rare lead role. One of the most unpredictable and enjoyable careers of any actor of his generation. He kills it here and it's very funny and poignant.

Pleasure (Mubi)

Drama about a Swedish 19 year old who moves to California to become a pornstar. Features a cast almost entirely made up of pornstars playing themselves, and gets a lot right about the industry. Problem is the story's been done a million times before. Bonus point - the director is called Ninja Thyberg.

Bank of Dave (Netflix)

Ooooooh don't them northerners talk funny eh! Fuck off.

The Sandlot

Pretty funny baseball, coming-of-age comedy. Would have watched this a million times as a kid and then a million more when I noticed Marley Shelton.

High Heat

What looks like a really crap DTV actioner turns into something unexpectedly enjoyable after about half an hour. Olga Kurylenko is in it, if you need any convincing, and.... Diamond Dallas Page as the main villain! He's actually quite good too. A good time, this.

The Lair (Shudder)

If you were wondering what happened to Neil Marshall, he now makes films exclusively for his gorgeous younger wife (Charlotte Kirk) who can't act at all and they're total shit. Read up about her though, her backstory is fascinating. This ain't.

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12 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

The Sandlot

Pretty funny baseball, coming-of-age comedy. Would have watched this a million times as a kid and then a million more when I noticed Marley Shelton.

Our teacher showed us this in year 3 and I loved it. Borrowed the video from him before getting my own copy and watching it a million times. I don’t know how many times I’ve used the “you’re killing me, Smalls” line when I’ve been fed up with someone/something. 

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Glass Onion

Enjoyable, not as much as the first though. I felt like there was less of a mystery in this one. It also seemed like they were try to date the movie as much as they could by mentioning COVID, NFTs, crypto and using the word "woke" all within the first ten minutes.

Janelle MonĂĄe was brilliant too.

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Finally got round to watching all the 2022 films I wanted to, and here's my 'Oscars', which are objectively better than the real things, obviously.

Spoiler

BEST FILM

A Hero
Aftersun
The Banshees of Inisherin
Hit the Road
In Front of Your Face
Jackass Forever
Prayers for the Stolen
The Souvenir: Part II
Top Gun: Maverick
The Worst Person in the World

BEST DIRECTOR

Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World)
Joanna Hogg (The Souvenir: Part II)
Panah Panahi (Hit the Road)

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Amir Jadidi (A Hero)
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande)
Honor Swinton Byrne (The Souvenir: Part II)
Lee Hye-young (In Front of Your Face)
Martha Plimpton (Mass)
Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World)
Simon Rex (Red Rocket)
Stephen Graham (Boiling Point)

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Ann Dowd (Mass)
Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Keke Palmer (Nope)
Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Reed Birney (Mass)
Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Suzanna Son (Red Rocket)
Tang Wei (Decision to Leave)
Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe
The House
Kill It and Leave This Town
The Sea Beast
Turning Red

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The Cordillera of Dreams
Fire of Love
Free Chol Soo Lee
Is That Black Enough for You??!
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Emergency
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
The Grandmother
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
The Sadness

BEST SCENE

Final ten minutes (Watcher)
Mia Goth's swim (X)
Opening scene (Jackass Forever)
Pause (The Worst Person in the World)
Prison scene (Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe)
Richard Ayaode's tantrum (The Souvenir: Part II)
Tent scene (Vengeance)
Train scene (The Sadness)
Tunnel (Men)
Vienna destruction (The Gray Man)

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST

Almudena Amor (actor, The Grandmother and The Good Boss)
Catherine Clinch (actor, The Quiet Girl)
Charlotte Wells (writer, director) (Aftersun)
Chloe Okuno (writer, director) (Watcher)
Frankie Corio (actor, Aftersun)
Hanna Bergholm (writer, director) (Hatching)
Joseph and Vanessa Winter (acting, writing, directing) (Deadstream)
KĂ­la Lord Cassidy (actor, The Wonder)
Panah Panahi (writer, director) (Hit the Road)
Philip Barantini (writer, director) (Boiling Point)

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Bullet Train
Fire Island
Joyride
The Lost City
Resurrection

WORST FILM

Bodies Bodies Bodies
Dashcam
Halloween Ends
I Came By
The Requin

WORST PERFORMANCE

Alicia Silverstone (The Requin)
Annie Hardy (Dashcam)
Harry Styles (Don't Worry Darling)
Nick Cannon (The Misfits)
Sam Rockwell (See How They Run)

MOST COMMENDABLE PERFORMANCE IN A NOT VERY GOOD FILM

Harris Dickinson (See How They Run)
Maya Hawke (Do Revenge)
Rebecca Hall (Resurrection)
Saoirse Ronan (See How They Run)
Tim Roth (Sundown)

 

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I watched See How They Run last night. Don't think I agree with you about Sam Rockwell not being very good, but mostly because it just felt like he was playing Mike Wozniak the whole time, and I think I enjoyed it solely for that.

The film was fine. Almost oppressively twee, with quite an unsatisfying conclusion, and I can't fathom how it got a theatrical release in 2022 all things considered, but it was perfectly acceptable viewing for a Sunday evening when I didn't get out of bed til gone 2pm on account of the Royal Rumble being the night before. Dizzying praise, there.

Agreed that Saoirse Ronan was fantastic, though. 

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6 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I watched See How They Run last night. Don't think I agree with you about Sam Rockwell not being very good

To clarify, I would say he was bloody awful but would extend that to say he's bloody awful all the time.

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Knock at the Cabin (cinema)

I was never going to enjoy this because I hate Shyamalan but even by his standards this is just fucking rotten. Not much actually happens and the ending is just there. We all love Big Dave, of course, and he's excellent in this but this is one of his rare duds outside of Marvel. Did you like this one @Scott Malbranque?

Terms of Endearment

It's weird to me that James L. Brooks was one of the brains behind The Simpsons because his films are all terrible. This is no exception, just Oscar bait miserablism and I can fancy Debra Winger in other stuff that's actually good.

Jerry Maguire

Cameron Crowe is mostly shit and this one is only good because the cast are so amazing. What would we do without Tom Cruise.

The Rules of Attraction

Confirms that I would hate Bret Easton Ellis if I ever made the effort to read one of his books. Awful and boring aside from the dinner scene with Faye Dunaway.

The Man in the White Suit

Another Ealing classic. Might have been the only really good film I watched all week, come to think of it. Not even one of their best but still better than almost everything else.

Edited by Devon Malcolm
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1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Confirms that I would hate Bret Easton Ellis if I ever made the effort to read one of his books. Awful and boring aside from the dinner scene with Faye Dunaway.

To be fair, I don't think any film made of his stuff really ever does the books justice. I know he can be hit and miss, but his stuff really only works from a singular voice and I don't think film can really capture that.

Rules Of Attraction is a shit book through

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5 minutes ago, Factotum said:

To be fair, I don't think any film made of his stuff really ever does the books justice. I know he can be hit and miss, but his stuff really only works from a singular voice and I don't think film can really capture that.

I don't know about 'doing justice', but I thought the American Psycho film was significantly more interesting than the book.

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