A reporter on Radio 4 the other night said he knew the answer. He’d tried on the trooper’s helmet and the vision was crap.
https://youtu.be/dBQaLuqwtl8
I watched High-Rise recently, and being a huge fan of A Field in England, Kill List, and Ballard I was looking forward to it, but it disappointed me somewhat - it didn't seem very coherent.
I grew up reading Deadpool, so was apprehensive about the film, as I generally hate comic adaptations - with the recent Dredd being an exception - but found it pretty good and funny. The comics are still waaay better though.
Went to see Hateful Eight a couple of months back at the cinema only to find queues for it stretching around the corner. Asked if there were any tickets left and the cashier gave us a look of "is that a joke mate?". Saw Carol instead, in an empty theatre, and actually really liked it. Beautifully shot, nice characterisation. Found out the next day that Quentin Tarantino was actually in the building with Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson, and that was the reason it was so busy. I just thought it was because of "Cheap Tuesday".
Also saw the first Mad Max accompanied by a live afro/shaolin-futurist jazz band, and it was a fucking amazing experience, they were so tight. Just snippets of dialogue were heard every now and again in between the live score. Great stuff.
Hello Standfied, haven't seen you for quite a while. How goes it?
Hey man, alright? Took me a while to figure out you've changed your name!
I'm good man, got out of the UK, fresh start, etc. How you doing man?
Where out of the U.K.? Anywhere exotic?
I'm ain't so well but in fine spirits so all good really.
Stick around and hit the forums, you know you want to!
My Old Lady (2014) directed by Israel Horovitz with Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith.
Acting is brilliant and disturbing/unusual story line which kept me guessing. Best appreciated if you like Paris and think most ‘action’ type movies are wasted time.
Yes it is. It's really good, really brings some issues of the time to the fore. Apparently it has so much energy because it was shot in about 8 weeks. Two of the stars, Carlyle and Tomlinson had worked in the building trade themselves and Tomlinson had actually been in prison for organising activities.
I'm having a bit of a classic social commentary (don't exactly know what to call the genre) binge at the moment.
Yeah, Riff-raff is top notch. I've also recently been watching Loach's Days of Hope series from the 70s. I saw it first time round and now can't believe that was scheduled on the peak viewing slot on BBC2 because today it wouldn't even get a 3am slot on the most obscure channel no cunt watches.
The Human Condition is a Japanese epic film trilogy made between 1959 and 1961, based on the six-volume novel published from 1956 to 1958 by Junpei Gomikawa. It was directed by Masaki Kobayashi and stars Tatsuya Nakadai. The trilogy follows the life of Kaji, a Japanese pacifist and socialist, as he tries to survive in the totalitarian and oppressive world of World War II-era Japan. Altogether, the trilogy is 9 hours, 47 minutes long, not including intermissions, and is one of the longest fiction films ever made.
The Scorch Trials. Wanted to watch a mindless flick, but got more than I bargained for. It was so mindless that it got confusing. The entire film consisted of running. Utter garbage! And I have a very low threshold for mediocre pop culture.
Edit; it's the sequel to The Maze Runner, which I found entertaining.
Julieta, the new Almodovar film. It was as good as Volver, which I personally like the best of his films, maybe even a tiny bit better. Had some good temas and motifs. I used the Spanish word tema because I don't think that the English word theme has quite the same meaning. I want to dissect it endlessly but it would give the plot away, anyway see it if you can. It is a film for film students and absolutely prototypical Almodovar, he was almost parodying himself at points I think and it was all the better for it. Some social commentary along the way but I think it was incidental to the film, he manages to talk about society without getting bogged down in it.
As an ex-pat Londoner I enjoyed watching 'London:The Modern Babylon' recently. It's a 2 hour Julian Temple film produced using archive footage from the BBC and BFI with music from the periods covered. Broadly chronological from Victorian times to nearly the present day with an underlying theme of changes and conflict around class and race and a positive gloss on the recurrent rise of ''the mob''. Has anyone else seen this?
American Honey, I don't know if I liked this film or not, if it had a strong message or if it was just gratuitous style over substance, it's definitely stuck in my head though.
I, Daniel Blake, about as subtle as a fucking sledgehammer but I guess as a polemic that was kind of the point. Did reduce me to tears at one point. Although I was more or less aware of the state of affairs one thing the film did for me was to remind me that this situation is unnecessary and unacceptable and remind me to give to food banks.
The Art of the Steal - heist movie with Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon and lots of twists and double crosses. Nothing special, enjoyable enough.
Nick and Norah's infinite playlist - Michael Cera was in every single film in the world for a couple of years. He does his thing here, it's likeable enough and the movie works out and is enjoyable.
"As an ex-pat Londoner I enjoyed watching 'London:The Modern Babylon' recently. It's a 2 hour Julian Temple film produced using archive footage from the BBC and BFI with music from the periods covered. Broadly chronological from Victorian times to nearly the present day with an underlying theme of changes and conflict around class and race and a positive gloss on the recurrent rise of ''the mob''. Has anyone else seen this?"
No, but now I want to.
Paterson. I really struggled to get over the fact that it was made by Amazon studios so I can't really give a fair assessment of this film. It was a bit dull in the middle but I loved the end. Just, Amazon making a super-cute little indie film? Epitomized everything that's wrong with 2016.
I've just seen that the same director made Broken Flowers and the film makes a bit more sense now.
the killers, 1946. every frame has something to see but there are some top bits of film shooting in there. lancaster and gardner are top billed but o'brien, levene, and conrad are the stars. bonus: got it in a 50% off sale of criterion DVDs.
on the waterfront. been many years since i saw it last and it has that great dialogue and those great scenes and lee j. cobb is great as well as brando, but at root, i'd forgotten, it's about a palooka saved by the love of a good woman. fred gwynne's one line is pretty funny.
on the waterfront. been many years since i saw it last and it has that great dialogue and those great scenes and lee j. cobb is great as well as brando, but at root, i'd forgotten, it's about a palooka saved by the love of a good woman. fred gwynne's one line is pretty funny.
A great film. I love the bit when he stands up to the dodgy bossman at the end of the film and the bit where he says " just a couple extra potatoes, thats all I want" in the car, classic. As you say, great dialogue and also great, believable acting.
First Contact. Good film, it kind of seems like there's a big plot hole but it's easily ignored and otherwise the film was interesting and thoughtful. Short summary: linguist gets sent to talk to aliens.
I am not a Serial Killer : does a pretty good job considering the book is from the viewpoint of an uncommunicative sociopath. I enjoyed it, will watch a sequel but preferred the book. The film was much more about growing old, or so it seemed to me, than growing up like the book.
Just watched an old favourite, John Ford’s ‘Stagecoach’ (1939).
It’s a great movie in all respects, with the caveat that the Native Americans are presented like a force of nature, with no information about their motivations. In mitigation, Ford had respect for the ‘Indians’, and through the years built up a good relationship using them in his movies.
Best bit: I’d forgotten how the ‘respectable’ banker expounds the same political line that Trump successfully sold to his supporters (almost word for word).
the thin blue line, errol morris. i'd never seen an errol morris film, this one fully lived up to its reputation. the DVD has a 30 minute or so interview with morris himself shot recently (2014) which is almost as entertaining as the movie itself.
Watched John Pilgers' documentary film ''The Coming War on China''. The emphasis in the 'on' in terms of the dominant role of the USA facing the Chinese challenger and despite his leftist sympathies doesn't represent it as anything other than a battle between two big capitalist powers. Well worth a watch with some good background material at the beginning. Maybe a useful popular style film which could be used by anarchist/socialist groups to start a discussion meeting?
Frantic (1988) starring Harrison Ford. Like The Game, it's a film where the main characters haven't got a clue what is going on and neither have you. A good film but corny in places.
Well I saw the 'Paterson' film at the cinema in December but I'm afraid it didn't grab me. There is a reasonable review I found later on this Trot site here: www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/03/pate-j03.html
But I did watch on the telly a 2011 American film called ''A Better Life'' centred on a father/son relationship which is set against the troubled background of the legal and illegal Mexican and Latino population of East side LA. Better than most I thought.
I just saw an amazing documentary called Half Way, shot by a young woman whose family became homeless. It's amazing both in being a beautifully shot and told human story and a shocking tale about housing in the UK today. Definitely see it if you can.
The 13th, a documentary about the mass incarceration of blacks. Very useful for people who (like me) don't know that much about race relations in the US.
What Happened, Miss Simone?, a fascinating portrait of Nina Simone. What a lifetime. I never knew she was so heavily involved in the civil rights movement, that she rejected "non-violence" and was friends with Carmichael etc. Shame about the separatism, though.
Could someone please recommend some other documentaries that deal with race in the US?
I remember seeing an interview about the 13th doc on Democracy Now. I just saw it myself and would recommend it to anyone else wanting to learn about the different forms racism has taken in America after slavery. I can't think of any other documentaries off the top of my head. Chomsky and Davis (who's featured in this doc) have sat down before to discuss US racial history (among other topics), if you're interested in seeing that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQe_eBtghn8
I'm watching the documentary based off Herman and Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent.
The 13th is excellent and I would really recommend watching it. I can't really recommend any documentaries because I hardly ever watch TV but the book which The 13th heavily draws from is excellent - The New Jim Crow. Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. (Michelle Alexander appears in the film.)
Also looking at race in America from a historical perspective - Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon.
I guess I should have put them in the recommended reading thread but seeing as The 13th came up here.... :)
Cameraperson - mindblowingly good art film/ documentary by a documentary cameraperson incorporating some of her favourite footage from different projects. Makes you think hard about the role of the documentary filmmaker and the nature of the human species. Some of the best moments are the informal moments during shooting that would never make it into a finished film.
Nick and Norah's infinite playlist - good indie film/ superior romcom with the guy out of Juno in.
Transamerica. Another charity shop buy. Touching story of a transsexual woman who goes on a road trip with her son. Would have been nice if it had a transsexual lead but it's a nuanced and enjoyable watch.
My Darling Clementine. The first western I have ever watched. It was quite good. I think you have to kind of tune in to a genre though. I still wasn't sure who a lot of the characters were by the end.
The Shining. Very fucking scary film. Also I have seen it before but this time I took it to be all about male violence against women and children and this was a very satisfying interpretation of it.
Black Swan. I watched half of it, anyway. That was enough.
20th Century Women. It was ok. The feminism stuff was pretty cool, took me back to when I was 18 and people told me all that stuff. But those kind of Hollywood Indie films leave me a little bit cold and make me wish I was watching a proper indie film.
The Shining. Very fucking scary film. Also I have seen it before but this time I took it to be all about male violence against women and children and this was a very satisfying interpretation of it.
The Shining is a visually interesting film but I don't think it's scary at all, and therefore fails as a horror film.
Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942.) An aircraft worker is wrongly accused of sabotage and has to clear himself while being hunted by the FBI. He discovers that the 5th columnists are either wealthy individuals or small shopkeepers. In his effort to clear himself he's helped by other working people and marginalized folks (a blind man, freaks from a carnival freak show). Much good anti-police and anti-fascist propaganda in the dialogue.
Netflix recommended me the film Allende, about the overthrow of Salvador Allende. It was pretty interesting, it handles the building tension and keeps interest despite most of the film being a bunch of men in suits moving around the presidential police, trying to get men in uniforms to answer the phone, occasionally firing AK's from open windows while they wait.
Politically it was surprising, the film is completely sympathetic to Allende, its a little grating how hero worshipped he is, but it makes sense given that he was surrounded by people so loyal to him they were willing to die for him. They also acknowledge that one of the main reasons for his downfall was his disarming of the Chilean workers and trusting in other generals, particularly Pinochet to guard against a potential coup by other generals.
Also in one scene Allende gives credit to the anarchist Juan de Marchi for much of his political development.
I watched that last night. A brilliant, beautiful and funny film, it was great. Hard to pick a favourite part of the film but the Noam Chomsky quote at the end was awesome.
Watched In Dubious Battle. Always nice to see a film about a strike, and this one even mentions the IWW, but story-wise and generally film-wise it was very disappointing. Like something on Hallmark on a Saturday afternoon.
Watched In Dubious Battle. Always nice to see a film about a strike, and this one even mentions the IWW, but story-wise and generally film-wise it was very disappointing. Like something on Hallmark on a Saturday afternoon.
I watched that last night. A brilliant, beautiful and funny film, it was great. Hard to pick a favourite part of the film but the Noam Chomsky quote at the end was awesome.
And a happy Noam Chomsky day to you too! Easily my favourite film over the last 12 months.
They could have just called that film "Noam Chomsky." They mention him in like three different scenes. I don't know what "Captain Fantastic" is all about. I liked it anyway, even though I thought they could have filmed some more scenes or developed the story in some areas (guess they're leaving it to the viewer's imagination). I liked that one bit: "I'm hungry!" and he responds, "Well then maybe one of you should have shot the fucking sheep."
Moonlight. I didn't love this as much as I was hoping to but then when Mark Kermode says it's probably the best film he'll see this year a film has a lot to live up to. I really liked (not the right word) the drugs theme. I thought this was really strong and not much trailed. The treatment of the main character growing up gay was a bit weaker I thought and I wasn't surprised to learn that the director is straight, it didn't hit me in the guts like I wanted it to. Some great dialogue as you would expect from a play adaptation. I'd like to see it again though.
Fist fight : pretty basic film with Charlie Day and Ice Cube. Ice Cube plays an angry shouter and Charlie Day a wussy person that isn't Charlie from Sunny. Not really worth a watch, at points it does seem like they actually planned a proper story but couldn't really be bothered to actually write most of it in.
My Blind Brother : Nick Kroll being surprisingly unshit as a guy upstaged by his blind borther played by Adam Scott and a love triangle with Jenny Slate. Pretty simple romantic comedy, worth an hour and a half although nothing amazing happens. The brothers' dynamic is quite good.
I watched that last night. A brilliant, beautiful and funny film, it was great. Hard to pick a favourite part of the film but the Noam Chomsky quote at the end was awesome.
And a happy Noam Chomsky day to you too! Easily my favourite film over the last 12 months.
I liked that one bit: "I'm hungry!" and he responds, "Well then maybe one of you should have shot the fucking sheep."
That bit was hilarious. There were atleast a few funny bits for me, including when they went to meet the more conventional members of the family and them being shocked about how open he was with his kids and when he asked his youngest child to demonstrate his knowledge of the Bill of Rights compared to what their, much older, kids knew.
Fist fight : pretty basic film with Charlie Day and Ice Cube. Ice Cube plays an angry shouter and Charlie Day a wussy person that isn't Charlie from Sunny. Not really worth a watch, at points it does seem like they actually planned a proper story but couldn't really be bothered to actually write most of it in.
Jef, I really do think you've missed your calling as a film critic.
e2a, speaking of Cusack, i should watch Grosse Point Blank again.
so i did. better than i remembered it. thin story, but good performances from alan arkin (as always), and j. cusack (there are four cusacks in the movie). curious fact: most of the top billers are irl from around chicago.
The Selfish Giant. A rewatch. One of the best films I've seen in recent years. Aesthetically stunning if maybe a tiny bit glossy and a story that rewards attention. Of particular note for the details of the scrap metal trade, the vernacular spoken by the characters and the film's brutal ending. Incredible acting from the two young actors in the lead roles.
Yeah, I thought Daniel was a beautiful movie, even though I'm from the states and don't know much about the UK. (I googled and learned what a CV is.) It really captures all the degrading and bureaucratic crap some people must go through just to survive, begging for horrible jobs and being looked down on as lazy and whatnot when they need support.
Yeah, who didn't start crying when they both start bawling at the brothel? Or in the food deposit. Heavy shit.
I didn't cry in the brothel but I nearly choked trying to swallow my sobs at the scene in the food bank. The shame of poverty has got to be one of the worst things, seriously, fuck it. Really got to me.
I've had the week off so I've had a bit of a mini film festival.
Certain Women - loved this film, a very dignified and beautifully told film. I never wanted it to end. Absolutely incredible structure as well, three stories with different tone and style but which fitted together really well. The only bum note in the film was (I thought) slight comedy in the tale of the guy with brain damage which didn't sit well with me, definitely see this film if you like your films thoughtful.
The Fits - a low budget, near experimental film about a girl who joins a dance team who start experiencing mysterious fits. Really good, interesting film.
Old Joy - I liked this film about two guys on a road trip to find hot springs, low budget but that kind of got you closer to the characters. Felt very authentically true to the little that I know of America. A satisfying watch.
Wendy and Lucy - I liked this film too, but it's very sad. Michelle Williams is a near penniless drifter heading to Alaska to try and make some money in the salmon factories there. Again low budget and again that got you close to the character.
Lovetrue - I really liked Bombay Beach by the same director but I was a little disappointed by this film. Also it is really quite depressing, didn't have the same anarchic joy in as Bombay Beach and really suffered for this. Also didn't really seem to have a message which I think Bombay Beach did albeit a complicated one.
Meeks Cutoff - really liked this film, about pioneers lost and starting to get desperate to find water. Well worth a watch even though I usually don't like period films.
Archipelago - literally the most relentlessly middle class film I have ever seen. I couldn't get past this and I was quite glad it ended.
Petty Romance. A Korean romcom about a comic book artist and a story writer. It was quite good, nice to see something different. Some of it made the feminist in me wince but then I think that's generic to romcoms.
Manchester by the Sea - it was ok. I wasn't massively feeling it. My reservations about big budget indies apply to this too. Somehow, although it was all supposed to be so realistic, it just didn't feel real to me. I mean, it was good and everything, just not as great as I'd thought it was going to be. It was both too hardhitting and too saccharine to be really good, almost a bit clumsy.
Edit: I just checked and it didn't really have a big budget. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. I think it's difficult when something's been hyped up, has a lot to live up to. It's a lot easier to love something when you feel like you've discovered it yourself.
Tiny Furniture - Lena Dunham stars as a girl who moves home to New York after college. I don't know why I watched this, I don't really like Lena Dunham and it was pretty middle class. But I really liked it, it was really funny and cute and painful at times.
Hell or High Water. Although I had a few objections to this film, one of them being how macho it was- I liked the hostility shown throughout the film towards the banks being robbed and the hostility to poverty expressed by the characters in the film and it was a pretty good film.
The film is about two brothers who are poor who decide to get revenge on one particular bank after it ripped off their family. One of the brothers is a hothead who has not long come out of prison and the other is a more law abiding and level-headed guy. Jeff Bridges is the cop, about to retire, who is after them, on his last case.
This thread could be renamed to "What was the last film cactus9 watched?" ;)
Anyhoo, lately I've been watching a lot of war documentaries (Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria mostly). Can't even remember most of the titles, but rewatched Restrepo and Korengal that were both really good. There's also a great doc about the photographer of those documentaries called Which Way to the Frontline? that is also really good. The next such documentary I will likely watch is the White Helmets one.
Anyhoo, lately I've been watching a lot of war documentaries (Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria mostly). Can't even remember most of the titles, but rewatched Restrepo and Korengal that were both really good. There's also a great doc by the photographer of those documentaries called Which Way to the Frontline? that is also really good. The next such documentary I will likely watch is the White Helmets one.
I raided my DVD shelf and found a film I hadn't watched yet. That was Underfire starring Gene Hackman and Nick Nolte. I'm pretty sure I got this after I watched Salvador. Its a bit like Salvador only this time the liberal American journalist is in Nicaragua in the last days of Somoza.
Didn't really like it, but I didn't find it to be a chore to watch if that makes sense? Its a weird film, nearly every plus point has a negative and it just sort of balances out. It has a lot of accurate information in it (even included the Mussolini statues trivia). The Sandinistas aren't being backed by the Russians and are clearly the good guys, and reporter explains how corrupt and despotic Somoza is to his face which was nice.
And it depicts the death of the American news anchor (with names changed of course) and some of the street fighting is pretty clever. But it has this really weird plot about a fictional Sandinista leader whose dead, but they fake that he's still a live, and the action sense just don't have any tension, a couple look like they were filmed for a farce and spliced in.
Oh and it did have a scumbag American PR toady sucking up to Somoza. That was nice and you don't really see the PR for depots types get criticized enough.
Probably just watch Salvador instead if your curious.
Angele et Tony - Beautiful French film about an unlikely love affair between Angele, recently released from prison for causing an accident that killed her husband and Tony, a fisherman. Beautifully shot, acted and directed. Subtle in the best possible way.
Kramer vs Kramer - Classic seventies film starring Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman about a divorce and the subsequent custody battle over their child. A great study of human communication and relationships only slightly marred by what I felt was a slight MRA subtext.
Beauty and the Beast - So far, so Freudian. Disney cement their brand for another generation with this epic retelling of the fairytale classic. Very enjoyable but with a touch too much royalty appreciation for me. If the servants sang one more time about how much they loved to serve I think I might have lost it right there in the cinema.
Elle - A film that could only have been made by a man who really really hates women. It has some good bits, the storyline about the protagonist and her father is, at times, interesting, insightful and touching. The film is mostly notable for how much rape and sex it contains. See this film only if the idea of a rape film made by a man sounds like a good one to you.
Saw Logan. Generally not an action fan, but I did love the X-Men when I was a kid so I keep up with the franchise. A bit hokey at times, but a legitimately well-done film. Bit weird to see Steven Merchant in there though, not really sure it worked.
This has not been made yet so obviously I've not watched it but with Jake Gyllenhaal reportedly on board it looks as though it will indeed be made into a movie.
It's said to be inspired by the recent Rolling Stone article by the same name.
I'll reserve judgement, but personally I'd be much more interested in seeing a movie about western anarchists aiding refugees of imperialist wars while combating racist xenophobia and militarism at home then one about anarchists traveling to far off lands and involving themselves in nationalist wars the context of which they often seem to know little about. I just hope that this movie doesn't promote the idea that anarchism is supportive of the imperialist ambitions of the US led international anti-IS coalition or the so-called 'war on terror'.
Well I saw the 'Paterson' film at the cinema in December but I'm afraid it didn't grab me. There is a reasonable review I found later on this Trot site here: www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/03/pate-j03.html
I was going to watch it and then saw that it was by Jim Jarmusch. He cannot be forgiven for ghost dog.
Chilli Sauce
Jef, I really do think you've missed your calling as a film critic.
Maybe I should get a twitter...
potrokin
Submarine, it's a comedy film about a guy growing up in Wales in the 1980s, directed by Richard Ayoade. It was great.
Will check it out, just watched The Double
The Double : not a bad film although it basically strips out the whole psychological aspect from Dostoyevsky's story and sets up a world so weird that the character's bewilderment seems a little off. If you live in a kafkaesque nightmare then you'd probably takes things in your stride a little better.
Der einsame Wanderer (The lonely wanderer) by Werner Philipp Sauber (1968), Sauber made this movie when he was a film student in Berlin. He was killed by the police 1975 being member of the 2nd June Movement, trying to set up a factory cell at the engineering plant Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz in Cologne, where he was working under a false identity ... the movie is from a period in which he was only starting to become engaged in radical politics and is considered by some critics as a masterpiece about alienation/solitude
In 1925 Damascus, the Syrians are engaged in a guerrilla war against the French rule of Syria. Harry Smith (Humphrey Bogart) is an amoral American black marketeer secretly selling them weapons. As the situation deteriorates, French General LaSalle (Everett Sloane) orders that civilians be executed each time his soldiers are killed, but his head of military intelligence, Colonel Feroud (Lee J. Cobb), persuades him to rescind the plan.
Who's gonna love me now? A documentary about Saar, a gay man from Israel living in London, dealing with the fall-out of living with AIDS and his family's reaction to this. It's really good. Definitely see it, take some tissues. It's very thought-provoking.
The Olive Tree - great little vaguely activism themed Spanish film about a woman who travels to Dusseldorf to get back an olive tree that her family sold and which she believes will help her grandfather who has dementia. Laugh out loud funny but also very touching and very inspiring.
A Sinner in Mecca by Parvez Shama. A short documentary of a gay muslim attending Hajj recording footage using an Iphone. Its very interesting, it shows quite a lot of what Mecca is like and how the Hajj is run.
Its not the best shot film I've ever seen but that comes with the territory of undercover filming. It also shows some of the really nasty features of the Saudi regime, the destruction of Islamic historical sites, the public executions and having a massive shopping mall less than a kilometer away from the Kabaa.
The footage was a bit light, its 70 minutes long but had to use homemovies of the directors married life in the US to reach it. I'd have preferred less of that and more information on the foundation of Wahhabi Islam and the Saudi Kingdom. We get a few details on that but not much.
Oh and at the end of the film a goat is ritually sacrificed. I recommend watching it though you might want to turn it off at the final five minutes or so.
A box came to Brooklyn - very stagey short film about paranoia erupting in a small neighbourhood in Brooklyn when a mysterious box is left in the street. The actors are a bit self-conscious and at the end they get very anvilicious.
Also watched Rogue One and The force awakens. Pretty much like watching the first star wars twice more, nothing bad but it neither grabbed my atention.
Edit: also watched a The Millenial Dream which seems to be some kind of advert for millenials as well as a propaganda piece to argue that it isn't really that bad for them.
The Levelling - beautiful film set in Somerset a few months after the floods. Clover returns home to the family farm after the death of her brother. A stunning human story but I also felt like it was a really important film about the politics of the countryside.
‘The Lunchbox’ (2013), is set in present day Mumbai and is a mix of Hindi and English. It is a modest light drama, which has lots of detail of life in the city and the scenes of cooking will make your mouth water. I wanted it to go on, as it appears to circle round the question: can the wrong train get you to the right station? I enjoyed it.
A Sinner in Mecca by Parvez Shama. A short documentary of a gay muslim attending Hajj recording footage using an Iphone. Its very interesting, it shows quite a lot of what Mecca is like and how the Hajj is run.
Its not the best shot film I've ever seen but that comes with the territory of undercover filming. It also shows some of the really nasty features of the Saudi regime, the destruction of Islamic historical sites, the public executions and having a massive shopping mall less than a kilometer away from the Kabaa.
The footage was a bit light, its 70 minutes long but had to use homemovies of the directors married life in the US to reach it. I'd have preferred less of that and more information on the foundation of Wahhabi Islam and the Saudi Kingdom. We get a few details on that but not much.
Oh and at the end of the film a goat is ritually sacrificed. I recommend watching it though you might want to turn it off at the final five minutes or so.
this sounds fascinating.
still in theaters, apparently, not yet on video.
Citizen Jane: Battle for the city. Documentary about Jane Jacobs, writer and activist who wrote a book called The Life and Death of Great American Cities. A fascinating film about urban planning, even if that sounds like a bit of an oxymoron.
Citizen Jane: Battle for the city. Documentary about Jane Jacobs, writer and activist who wrote a book called The Life and Death of Great American Cities. A fascinating film about urban planning, even if that sounds like a bit of an oxymoron.
Not at all, I find urban planning fascinating, especially in cities where there is informal sprawls (like Cairo).
Colossal, not at all what I was expecting. Not really a comedy, especially once it gets going, in spite of its extremely silly premise. Anne Hathaway is an alcoholic who moves back to her hometown and when she goes to the park a monster starts destroying Seoul, turns out the monster symbolises something but not quite what I expected. It wasn't too bad but it wasn't compellling.
Hot Rod, amusing film, an affectionate spoof of 80s movies about Andy Sambereg as a man-child obsessed with being a stuntman and beating his stepfather in a fight who then needs to raise 50 grand to save the stepdad's life.
As a spectator we are until the end encouraged to empathize with the main character, Jessica Biel, who snatches kids from 'white trash' parents to deliver them to more privileged foster parents, all of this for the good of human kind.
What's disturbing is that, viewers with not enough critical thinking can easily be led to see the children snatcher as a genuine hero who sacrifices her own life for the common good.
First Biel is presented as a hero, then definitely a moral monster, though at the end indeed possibly again hero (so I agree with the reviewer's basic point).
Biel is jailed for life by falsely confessing that she murdered the children (feigning a kind of madness, she tells that by killing them she saved them – at that point we do believe she is a monster), whereas in fact she 'merely' abducted them for an adoption-network and thus "really" saved them (from a life of misery).
She sacrifices herself by falsely confessing to "saving-killing" the children, in order to "really" save the children.
A false confession to this crime is rare, although in a BBC-documentary on child sacrifice in Uganda the shamans did exaggerate their victims in order to seem more dangerous. Perhaps the principle is the same as in Dzerzhinsky's Cheka which published false numbers of executions, just to inspire terror but without actual killing.
There are abuses with adoption-networks, but the particular false confession in this movie is non-existent in real life, so that to ponder on its psychological motivation or morality is an academic exercise (clearly it'd be horrendous to the parents who think their child has been killed). Regarding false confession (or forsaking proper self-defense) in general though, it is a most serious crime itself.
‘The Lunchbox’ (2013), is set in present day Mumbai and is a mix of Hindi and English. It is a modest light drama, which has lots of detail of life in the city and the scenes of cooking will make your mouth water. I wanted it to go on, as it appears to circle round the question: can the wrong train get you to the right station? I enjoyed it.
A box came to Brooklyn - very stagey short film about paranoia erupting in a small neighbourhood in Brooklyn when a mysterious box is left in the street. The actors are a bit self-conscious and at the end they get very anvilicious.
I enjoyed this film and it has a good message I feel.
Colossal. Do not see this film unless you are extremely high. I have also seen Their Finest recently which was also terrible. For such a wonderful actor Bill Nighy certainly guarantees a turkey every time he appears in a film.
My partner and I watched Rahul Jain's short film 'Machines' a 'fly on the wall' ducumentary about the poorly paid, monotonous and hazardous working conditions in an Indian textile factory where ageing machinery is run into the ground and the only really high tech stuff is the bosses computer run surveillance of his workers. Pretty depressing really but would make a good basis for a more political discussion group with lots of issues hinted at in the various comments from both workers and bosses.
Found a short review here but maybe others around:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/machines-958481
Finally watched Reds, I thought it was great although the Emma Goldman character was different to the picture of her character that I had in my mind. I actually liked the cynicism of Eugene and after all, he was pretty much right in being pessimistic. When I talked about this with another Libcommer I was informed that I'm an asshole if I like him!
I'm going to see The Hippopotamus when it comes out. To say I can't bear Stephan Fry would be a gross understatement but the book from which the film is taken is such a brilliantly bawdy, vulgar and puerile romp that I simply have to check it out.
I just watched Blame! on Netflix, I was so excited when it came out because I'd read the manga a long time ago (excuse me if I sound like a weeabo) and it really left an impression on me. The film wasn't as good as I expected, but they got the atmosphere right.
Table19, a comedy film that wasn't really that funny and as the characters were pretty cartoonish the serious moments didn't quite come off. A bit of a shame as there were the bones of an interesting story there, they just didn't seem bothered to flesh out the characters at all before the dramatic moments.
My partner and I watched Rahul Jain's short film 'Machines' a 'fly on the wall' ducumentary about the poorly paid, monotonous and hazardous working conditions in an Indian textile factory where ageing machinery is run into the ground and the only really high tech stuff is the bosses computer run surveillance of his workers. Pretty depressing really but would make a good basis for a more political discussion group with lots of issues hinted at in the various comments from both workers and bosses.
Found a short review here but maybe others around:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/machines-958481
I can't seem to find this anywhere, a shame because the trailer looks really interesting. Did you see an in-person screening of it?
Alien Covenant - Ridley Scott made one incredible shot of the spaceship with its sails out and then dialled in the rest of the film. Ideally treated as a warm up for Blade Runner 2049 or a reminder that Prometheus wasn't actually that bad.
We watched this really good film currently on general UK release. It's the second of a trilogy by a Finnish director that deals in a humane and surprisingly humorous way with the personal results of migration for people fleeing the ongoing middle east wars. Haven't seen the first film in the trilogy though. See this review here:
www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/28/the-other-side-of-hope-aki-kaurismaki-review
We watched this really good film currently on general UK release. It's the second of a trilogy by a Finnish director that deals in a humane and surprisingly humorous way with the personal results of migration for people fleeing the ongoing middle east wars. Haven't seen the first film in the trilogy though. See this review here:
www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/28/the-other-side-of-hope-aki-kaurismaki-review
I decided to watch the Babadook after a day or two of seeing all those memes about it being reclaimed as an LGBT icon. Very good and creepy horror, the Babadook looked physically real and otherworldly and the slow burning escalation was very effective pacing.
I decided to watch the Babadook after a day or two of seeing all those memes about it being reclaimed as an LGBT icon. Very good and creepy horror, the Babadook looked physically real and otherworldly and the slow burning escalation was very effective pacing.
Someone's watching me - John Carpenter thriller, nothing special but the main cast were pretty good, if slightly 80s wooden. Interestingly the new best friend is a lesbian and that is a minor detail and doesn't come up in the plot.Probably only really worth it for Carpenter completists (not a good idea to be one of those Ghosts of Mars is awful)
I was out of town this weekend, playing with the company team, and we saw Pirates of the Caribbean part 385639. It was awful. Irredeemably bad. Avoid. I would have been so angry if I had paid for this. Last year, same tournament, it was the World of Warcraft movie. There is something seriously wrong with my boss's taste in movies.
Last year, same tournament, it was the World of Warcraft movie
That was the movie I last watched. It was ok, but then again I had extremely low expectations of it. It's the first miss by Duncan Jones (I loved Moon and thought Source Code was pretty interesting and entertaining).
I haven't seen the Pirates movies between the first and this one, so it's conceivable that I've missed some nuance and most of the jokes. And quite frankly I'm sick of Johnny Depp. I guess this is what happens when you're stuck in Disney and Tim Burton world.
I really liked Moon and Source Code, so I had moderate expectations for the Warcraft movie, not least because the visuals on the trailer were stunning. I wasn't expecting a plot or anything like that but even so it managed to fall well beneath my expectations. A friend who plays WoW did tell me it makes some sense if you play the game.
The last proper film I saw was Moonlight, which I thought was outstanding.
I saw the first three Pirates movies; the first was really fun, the second was decent, but the third was a turd. And I agree with being sick of Johnny Depp.
The Warcraft movie was actually based on the RTS Warcraft games and not WoW. IIRC, the story line largely follows that of the RTS games and not the MMO. (/Nerd)
The Nice Guys (2016). Made me laugh and kinda, almost had an anti-capitalist message/theme but you'd have to watch the whole film to get what I mean. Set in the 1970's. A professional 'enforcer' (Russell Crowe) crosses paths with a down on his luck, unprofessional private detective (Ryan Gosling) when a girl they are both searching for goes missing. Directed by Shane Black.
The Edge of Seventeen. Not an original movie by any means (I've seen plenty of versions of the same story of socially anxious teenager figuring out the world), but well executed and good to great acting.
Also watched Blame!, which is an adaptation of the mange by the same name. Decent enough adaptation, but couldn't really live up to the source material.
The Duellists (1977). Armand d'Hubert (Keith Carradine) and Gabriel Féraud (Harvey Keitel) are French soldiers under Napoleon. A trivial quarrel between d'Hubert and Féraud escalates into a lifelong grudge. Directed by Ridley Scott.
Barry Lyndon (1975) How does an Irish lad without prospects become part of 18th-century English nobility? For Barry Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal) the answer is: any way he can! Directed by Stanley Kubrick and today considered one of his finest films.
Steam Boy (2004) I was surprised after watching how little impression it made here but apparently that was because it was given a very limited release, so not many people saw it.
Its an animated film set in 19th century Britain (Manchester and London) during the industrial revolution. The plot is entirely about how capitalism and the state pervert scientific advancement and often only care about using technology for weapons and war sales. A family of scientists have discovered a new way to harness steam, meaning they've discovered unlimited energy but the company funding their research decides the best way to get a return on investment is to us it to power steam tanks and the like. They're opposed by the British Empire, but they're only getting involved because the company is selling to rival empires and they also want this new tech for themselves.
It looks fantastic, and the dubbing is impressive, characters from Manchester sound like their from Manchester and they even use 19th century appropriate slang and expressions. You also get to hear Patrick Stewart explain how and why war is manufactured by capitalists to increase share holder dividends. The credit sequence is surprisingly bleak though.
Steam Boy (2004) I was surprised after watching how little impression it made here but apparently that was because it was given a very limited release, so not many people saw it.
Its an animated film set in 19th century Britain (Manchester and London) during the industrial revolution. The plot is entirely about how capitalism and the state pervert scientific advancement and often only care about using technology for weapons and war sales. A family of scientists have discovered a new way to harness steam, meaning they've discovered unlimited energy but the company funding their research decides the best way to get a return on investment is to us it to power steam tanks and the like. They're opposed by the British Empire, but they're only getting involved because the company is selling to rival empires and they also want this new tech for themselves.
It looks fantastic, and the dubbing is impressive, characters from Manchester sound like their from Manchester and they even use 19th century appropriate slang and expressions. You also get to hear Patrick Stewart explain how and why war is manufactured by capitalists to increase share holder dividends. The credit sequence is surprisingly bleak though.
That sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out. Sounds like the sort of thing that should be shown to people as part of their education.
The Dark Crystal (1982). Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Jen (Stephen Garlick), raised by the noble race called the Mystics, has been told that he is the last survivor of his own race, the Gelflings. He sets out to try to find a shard of the dark crystal, a powerful gem that once provided balance to the universe. After the crystal was broken, the evil Skeksis used sinister means to gain control. Jen believes that he can repair the dark crystal and bring peace back to the world, if he can only find the remaining shard.
I enjoyed it. I thought it a better film than the Labyrinth, I don't know if it was because of the cliffhanger at the end or just the fact that it was the first time I've seen this film- where as I' saw the Labyrinth quite a few times when I was a kid.. I think perhaps there is more to this film. The animatronics were groundbreaking. The Skeksis kinda reminded me of Theresa May, and not just in the way they behaved.
Pulp Fiction, I think cultural osmosis didn't do this any favours I found I was predicting most of what would happen next thanks to all the references, parodies and homages I've seen over the years. I was surprised how much of what I thought was random bits came from this film though.
I was also really shocked at about twenty minutes from the end when the guy from the direct line insurance adverts turned up.
[youtube]ir791xwvOP4[/youtube]
I still enjoyed it but I probably should have watched it much sooner.
Pulp Fiction, I think cultural osmosis didn't do this any favours I found I was predicting most of what would happen next thanks to all the references, parodies and homages I've seen over the years. I was surprised how much of what I thought was random bits came from this film though.
I often get that when watching classic films and recognising the simpsons' parodies. I remember watching one film (cn't remember which one now) and realising that I had seen parodies in probably half a dozen shows without knowing where it originateD.
I thought I had put people off fist fight :)
City of Tiny Lights : attempt at a UK noir but the plot is a little convoluted as well as obvious. There are also a lot of bits that don't really make sense except to advance the plot. The camera work at times seems like the director is over-excited and trying to try new things (not his first film, which I thught might be the reason) for example in one scene he throws in some rather pointless jump cuts. The voiceover resurfaces for no reason in the middle of the film which is very intrusive and then again for the very cheesy ending (where Pork Pie from Desmonds is there!). The film isn't bad but it feels like it is trying too hard to be a noir film without quite understanding why people like them In general a bit of a wasted opportunity in spite of some nice moments.
Dunkirk. While mostly avoiding the big hero stories, aside from Tom Hardy, and being quite well written it was still a story of heroism and that doesn't sit well. It's been a while since I watched a war film and I am not sure I can really watch them. When you see the german planes strafing helpless soldiers on the beach you are angry, but the scale of this film just reminds me of the stupidity of the meat grinder of the war, even if they do give the (heroic) dad a statement along the lines of "it's men my age sending boys out to fight the war so I have to do my bit" it isn't enough.
So on the whole a good film for what it is, I just hadn't realised to what point I can no longer stand war.
No Country For Old Men. I first saw this film several years ago and despite pretty much knowing most of what happened I enjoyed it even more this time around, don't know why either.
Dunkirk. While mostly avoiding the big hero stories, aside from Tom Hardy, and being quite well written it was still a story of heroism and that doesn't sit well. It's been a while since I watched a war film and I am not sure I can really watch them. When you see the german planes strafing helpless soldiers on the beach you are angry, but the scale of this film just reminds me of the stupidity of the meat grinder of the war, even if they do give the (heroic) dad a statement along the lines of "it's men my age sending boys out to fight the war so I have to do my bit" it isn't enough.
So on the whole a good film for what it is, I just hadn't realised to what point I can no longer stand war.
I saw "Operation Dunkirk" and didn't realize it was the wrong movie until an hour in... It was disappointing.
Mean Girls (2004), based on Rosalind Wiseman's (2002) book Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence (a 3rd edition appeared in 2016). Scenes of the movie are known to provide material for unfunny jokes about Trotskyist groups.
When the movie tries to don a sociological/anthropological hat, it turns to a cheap comparison with the animal kingdom. But the schoolyard dynamic is a valid subject of study in its own right, even aside from more "deeper" theorising as e.g. the "theory" of rackets, or Tiqqun's Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl (1999).
The notion of popularity/attention/fame/respect often is invoked to explain people's acts. For example the behaviour of bullying is explained by the laughter which the bully seeks to elicit from the crowd. Why do children start smoking? - to gain acceptance by their friends. Etc.
It could be just classified under conformism. But even if you say that you do not care about popularity, your anti-conformism still is marked by it.
And caring what your community/group (not the state) thinks about you is normal, in the sense that it indicates what is in the common ("moral") interest, otherwise you'd be a psycho.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Saw it on Netflix. It's a kids film obviously, but I really enjoyed it. I loved Roald Dahl books as a kid and this didn't disappoint me.
A friend of mine saw the remake of Stephen King's It the other day and said that it is very good, more true to the book and so obviously better than the first film. It also appears that there is going to be a a sequel because they didn't get to the end and I believe the film was about three hours.
A Man Asleep. I have also read the novel. Great film, but the novel is better, especially considering the main point of interest of the film is the narration.
Libertarias. A film about anarchist women during the spanish civil war, written and directed by Vicente Arande.. I have mixed views on this film and found it's ending depressing (though ofcourse that reflects the reality of the end of the war and it's outcome). I thought the seance scene was silly and unnecessary and the bit where an anarchist guy grabs and forcibly kisses the main character was creepy. Also, the guy who played Durruti looked nothing like him. Other than that it was a good film.
Just got round to watching the black and white 1954 film 'Salt of the Earth' a pro-working class, pro-feminist propaganda drama based on a 1951 strike of miners in New Mexico. Most enjoyable.
More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_of_the_Earth_(1954_film)
Just scroll down the list.
Just got round to watching the black and white 1954 film 'Salt of the Earth' a pro-working class, pro-feminist propaganda drama based on a 1951 strike of miners in New Mexico. Most enjoyable.
More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_of_the_Earth_(1954_film)
Just scroll down the list.
Kingsman : The Golden Circle. Don't bother, watch the first one. This is exactly the same only the fights are not as good, the plot is stupider the gadgets more nonsensical and the repeated and completely half-arsed attempts at drama which get forgotten immediately are annoying. It's just really lazy, it should also either commit to the silliness or actually have real characters in the story, there's no point having a big dramatic scene with no build-up character-wise that is then forgotten.
Anyone watch Blade Runner 2049 yet? I've not been able to make it to the theatre yet, but I am really looking forward to this one. Almost three hours long though...
It - 3 hour long
It - 3 hour long
Auld-bod wrote: A reporter
Auld-bod
https://youtu.be/dBQaLuqwtl8
I watched High-Rise recently, and being a huge fan of A Field in England, Kill List, and Ballard I was looking forward to it, but it disappointed me somewhat - it didn't seem very coherent.
I grew up reading Deadpool, so was apprehensive about the film, as I generally hate comic adaptations - with the recent Dredd being an exception - but found it pretty good and funny. The comics are still waaay better though.
Went to see Hateful Eight a couple of months back at the cinema only to find queues for it stretching around the corner. Asked if there were any tickets left and the cashier gave us a look of "is that a joke mate?". Saw Carol instead, in an empty theatre, and actually really liked it. Beautifully shot, nice characterisation. Found out the next day that Quentin Tarantino was actually in the building with Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson, and that was the reason it was so busy. I just thought it was because of "Cheap Tuesday".
Also saw the first Mad Max accompanied by a live afro/shaolin-futurist jazz band, and it was a fucking amazing experience, they were so tight. Just snippets of dialogue were heard every now and again in between the live score. Great stuff.
Hello Standfied, haven't seen
Hello Standfied, haven't seen you for quite a while. How goes it?
Just found the episodes on
Just found the episodes on Youtube. In the process of downloading them ( Days of Hope).
Noah Fence wrote: Hello
Noah Fence
Hey man, alright? Took me a while to figure out you've changed your name!
I'm good man, got out of the UK, fresh start, etc. How you doing man?
I just watched What We Do In
I just watched What We Do In The Shadows. It's a comedy horror about vampires and it's fucking funny.
petey wrote: re-watched O
petey
A good film which I enjoyed. As for Hail Caesar, it was funny in places but I lost interest about half way through.
A film called Adult Life
A film called Adult Life Skills, it's really good. Maybe appeals to a certain audience but that audience was me.
Standfield wrote: Noah Fence
Standfield
Where out of the U.K.? Anywhere exotic?
I'm ain't so well but in fine spirits so all good really.
Stick around and hit the forums, you know you want to!
Comrades (1987); about the
Comrades (1987); about the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the making of the English working class.
Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home :-(
Dead pool - Not bad not good
Dead pool - Not bad not good either. Just in the middle. I was kind a forced to watch it because someone had organised a screening of it for free
American Ultra. It was meh,
American Ultra. It was meh, but ok.
My Old Lady (2014) directed
My Old Lady (2014) directed by Israel Horovitz with Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith.
Acting is brilliant and disturbing/unusual story line which kept me guessing. Best appreciated if you like Paris and think most ‘action’ type movies are wasted time.
Up the junction, it was ok,
Up the junction, it was ok, not as good as Cathy Come Home.
Riff-Raff, fucking great
Riff-Raff, fucking great film.
That's by Ken Loach, no?
That's by Ken Loach, no?
Khawaga wrote: That's by Ken
Khawaga
Yes it is. It's really good, really brings some issues of the time to the fore. Apparently it has so much energy because it was shot in about 8 weeks. Two of the stars, Carlyle and Tomlinson had worked in the building trade themselves and Tomlinson had actually been in prison for organising activities.
I'm having a bit of a classic social commentary (don't exactly know what to call the genre) binge at the moment.
Yeah, Riff-raff is top notch.
Yeah, Riff-raff is top notch. I've also recently been watching Loach's Days of Hope series from the 70s. I saw it first time round and now can't believe that was scheduled on the peak viewing slot on BBC2 because today it wouldn't even get a 3am slot on the most obscure channel no cunt watches.
The Human Condition - No
The Human Condition - No Greater Love
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Condition_(film_series)"
No God, No Master - Despite
No God, No Master - Despite it being a bit shallow and almost annoying with "the good guys" message, I find it a fine TV film.
Predestination - decent time
Predestination - decent time traveling movie that with some tweaking could have. been great.
Weiner dog. Really terrible.
Weiner dog. Really terrible. An hour and a half of my life that I won't get back. Also very depressing.
Long Way
Long Way Round
https://vimeo.com/133900897
Saw all the episodes in one day :D
Spirit of 45. Very good film,
Spirit of 45. Very good film, I think I will watch it again.
The Scorch Trials. Wanted to
The Scorch Trials. Wanted to watch a mindless flick, but got more than I bargained for. It was so mindless that it got confusing. The entire film consisted of running. Utter garbage! And I have a very low threshold for mediocre pop culture.
Edit; it's the sequel to The Maze Runner, which I found entertaining.
Julieta, the new Almodovar
Julieta, the new Almodovar film. It was as good as Volver, which I personally like the best of his films, maybe even a tiny bit better. Had some good temas and motifs. I used the Spanish word tema because I don't think that the English word theme has quite the same meaning. I want to dissect it endlessly but it would give the plot away, anyway see it if you can. It is a film for film students and absolutely prototypical Almodovar, he was almost parodying himself at points I think and it was all the better for it. Some social commentary along the way but I think it was incidental to the film, he manages to talk about society without getting bogged down in it.
The Obvious Child, it was ok.
The Obvious Child, it was ok.
As an ex-pat Londoner I
As an ex-pat Londoner I enjoyed watching 'London:The Modern Babylon' recently. It's a 2 hour Julian Temple film produced using archive footage from the BBC and BFI with music from the periods covered. Broadly chronological from Victorian times to nearly the present day with an underlying theme of changes and conflict around class and race and a positive gloss on the recurrent rise of ''the mob''. Has anyone else seen this?
American Honey, I don't know
American Honey, I don't know if I liked this film or not, if it had a strong message or if it was just gratuitous style over substance, it's definitely stuck in my head though.
I, Daniel Blake, about as
I, Daniel Blake, about as subtle as a fucking sledgehammer but I guess as a polemic that was kind of the point. Did reduce me to tears at one point. Although I was more or less aware of the state of affairs one thing the film did for me was to remind me that this situation is unnecessary and unacceptable and remind me to give to food banks.
The Babadook. Australian
The Babadook. Australian horror. Really good and is sort of a feminist take on the genre. Quite refreshing.
The Addams Family Values.
The Addams Family Values. Great film.
The Art of the Steal - heist
The Art of the Steal - heist movie with Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon and lots of twists and double crosses. Nothing special, enjoyable enough.
Nick and Norah's infinite playlist - Michael Cera was in every single film in the world for a couple of years. He does his thing here, it's likeable enough and the movie works out and is enjoyable.
The Violators. Solid
The Violators. Solid Brit-flick. It passed the time but didn't really wow me.
Hector. Another Brit-flick,
Hector. Another Brit-flick, way superior this time. Proper feel-good in a funny kind of way. A feel-bad feel-good, or something.
Arrival. Exactly like I
Arrival. Exactly like I thought it was going to be only a bit worse.
"As an ex-pat Londoner I
"As an ex-pat Londoner I enjoyed watching 'London:The Modern Babylon' recently. It's a 2 hour Julian Temple film produced using archive footage from the BBC and BFI with music from the periods covered. Broadly chronological from Victorian times to nearly the present day with an underlying theme of changes and conflict around class and race and a positive gloss on the recurrent rise of ''the mob''. Has anyone else seen this?"
No, but now I want to.
When Marnie was there. I
When Marnie was there. I quite enjoyed this, probably not one of the best Studio Ghibli but good nonetheless.
Paterson. I really struggled
Paterson. I really struggled to get over the fact that it was made by Amazon studios so I can't really give a fair assessment of this film. It was a bit dull in the middle but I loved the end. Just, Amazon making a super-cute little indie film? Epitomized everything that's wrong with 2016.
I've just seen that the same director made Broken Flowers and the film makes a bit more sense now.
the killers, 1946. every
the killers, 1946. every frame has something to see but there are some top bits of film shooting in there. lancaster and gardner are top billed but o'brien, levene, and conrad are the stars. bonus: got it in a 50% off sale of criterion DVDs.
Fury. That movie was absolute
Fury. That movie was absolute trash.
An Inspector Calls (1982).
An Inspector Calls (1982). Very good.
Dawn of the Planet of the
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I enjoyed it.
Arrival. Enjoyed it a lot.
Arrival. Enjoyed it a lot. Interesting take on first contact that is not all about blowing shit up.
on the waterfront. been many
on the waterfront. been many years since i saw it last and it has that great dialogue and those great scenes and lee j. cobb is great as well as brando, but at root, i'd forgotten, it's about a palooka saved by the love of a good woman. fred gwynne's one line is pretty funny.
Khawaga wrote: Arrival.
Khawaga
I've meaning to watch Arrival but not got round to it yet. Will definately have to watch it now you say it's a good film, cheers.
petey wrote: on the
petey
A great film. I love the bit when he stands up to the dodgy bossman at the end of the film and the bit where he says " just a couple extra potatoes, thats all I want" in the car, classic. As you say, great dialogue and also great, believable acting.
First Contact. Good film, it
First Contact. Good film, it kind of seems like there's a big plot hole but it's easily ignored and otherwise the film was interesting and thoughtful. Short summary: linguist gets sent to talk to aliens.
I am not a Serial Killer : does a pretty good job considering the book is from the viewpoint of an uncommunicative sociopath. I enjoyed it, will watch a sequel but preferred the book. The film was much more about growing old, or so it seemed to me, than growing up like the book.
Anyone seen In Dubious Battle
Anyone seen In Dubious Battle yet?
The Wave (Bølgen). Norwegian
The Wave (Bølgen). Norwegian attempt at a Hollywood style disaster movie. Absolutely mediocre.
Just watched an old
Just watched an old favourite, John Ford’s ‘Stagecoach’ (1939).
It’s a great movie in all respects, with the caveat that the Native Americans are presented like a force of nature, with no information about their motivations. In mitigation, Ford had respect for the ‘Indians’, and through the years built up a good relationship using them in his movies.
Best bit: I’d forgotten how the ‘respectable’ banker expounds the same political line that Trump successfully sold to his supporters (almost word for word).
The Game (1997) with Michael
The Game (1997) with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. It was very good and I enjoyed it but I'm not sure I was convinced by the ending.
the thin blue line, errol
the thin blue line, errol morris. i'd never seen an errol morris film, this one fully lived up to its reputation. the DVD has a 30 minute or so interview with morris himself shot recently (2014) which is almost as entertaining as the movie itself.
Watched John Pilgers'
Watched John Pilgers' documentary film ''The Coming War on China''. The emphasis in the 'on' in terms of the dominant role of the USA facing the Chinese challenger and despite his leftist sympathies doesn't represent it as anything other than a battle between two big capitalist powers. Well worth a watch with some good background material at the beginning. Maybe a useful popular style film which could be used by anarchist/socialist groups to start a discussion meeting?
The Rasberry Reich If you
The Rasberry Reich
If you like porn, Atari Teenage Riot and communism then this is the film for you.
https://youtu.be/_E2cJ9gbWnQ
Frantic (1988) starring
Frantic (1988) starring Harrison Ford. Like The Game, it's a film where the main characters haven't got a clue what is going on and neither have you. A good film but corny in places.
Star Wars - Rogue One. If
Star Wars - Rogue One. If this film wasn't Star Wars I would be ripping the shit out of it, as it is it was ok.
Unconditional. Off beat coming of age story which gets unexpectedly dark. Beautifully shot and acted.
Can I have another go at
Can I have another go at Paterson. "A film in which the most exciting thing that happens is that a bus breaks down".
Fighting the Bill
Fighting the Bill (1970):
www.rmt-television.org.uk/video/video62
Well I saw the 'Paterson'
Well I saw the 'Paterson' film at the cinema in December but I'm afraid it didn't grab me. There is a reasonable review I found later on this Trot site here: www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/03/pate-j03.html
But I did watch on the telly a 2011 American film called ''A Better Life'' centred on a father/son relationship which is set against the troubled background of the legal and illegal Mexican and Latino population of East side LA. Better than most I thought.
I just saw an amazing
I just saw an amazing documentary called Half Way, shot by a young woman whose family became homeless. It's amazing both in being a beautifully shot and told human story and a shocking tale about housing in the UK today. Definitely see it if you can.
https://www.halfwayfilm.co.uk
Submarine, it's a comedy film
Submarine, it's a comedy film about a guy growing up in Wales in the 1980s, directed by Richard Ayoade. It was great.
The 13th, a documentary about
The 13th, a documentary about the mass incarceration of blacks. Very useful for people who (like me) don't know that much about race relations in the US.
What Happened, Miss Simone?, a fascinating portrait of Nina Simone. What a lifetime. I never knew she was so heavily involved in the civil rights movement, that she rejected "non-violence" and was friends with Carmichael etc. Shame about the separatism, though.
Could someone please recommend some other documentaries that deal with race in the US?
I remember seeing an
I remember seeing an interview about the 13th doc on Democracy Now. I just saw it myself and would recommend it to anyone else wanting to learn about the different forms racism has taken in America after slavery. I can't think of any other documentaries off the top of my head. Chomsky and Davis (who's featured in this doc) have sat down before to discuss US racial history (among other topics), if you're interested in seeing that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQe_eBtghn8
I'm watching the documentary based off Herman and Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent.
The 13th is excellent and I
The 13th is excellent and I would really recommend watching it. I can't really recommend any documentaries because I hardly ever watch TV but the book which The 13th heavily draws from is excellent - The New Jim Crow. Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. (Michelle Alexander appears in the film.)
Also looking at race in America from a historical perspective - Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon.
I guess I should have put them in the recommended reading thread but seeing as The 13th came up here.... :)
Attack The Block. A great
Attack The Block. A great film, I really enjoyed it.
That is a great little alien
That is a great little alien invasion film. I love that the setting was an estate.
Quote: I love that the
Well, it's not there anymore. It was bulldozed and gentrified.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-6bdc-Studio-flat-on-ex-council-estate-site-going-for-500k#.WI-FqLYrJsP
Cameraperson - mindblowingly
Cameraperson - mindblowingly good art film/ documentary by a documentary cameraperson incorporating some of her favourite footage from different projects. Makes you think hard about the role of the documentary filmmaker and the nature of the human species. Some of the best moments are the informal moments during shooting that would never make it into a finished film.
Nick and Norah's infinite playlist - good indie film/ superior romcom with the guy out of Juno in.
Quote: Nick and Norah's
I absolutely hated that movie (and I've got nothing against Michael Cera). I felt like I was watching a hipster's wet dream or something.
Khawaga wrote: Quote: Nick
Khawaga
Well, I liked it for what it was. It cost me £1.50 in the charity shop and was a nice Saturday night film.
Transamerica. Another charity
Transamerica. Another charity shop buy. Touching story of a transsexual woman who goes on a road trip with her son. Would have been nice if it had a transsexual lead but it's a nuanced and enjoyable watch.
Oh, don't get me wrong. Glad
Oh, don't get me wrong. Glad you liked the movie; to each their own etc. A lot of ppl are horrified at the amount of reality TV I watch ;)
My Darling Clementine. The
My Darling Clementine. The first western I have ever watched. It was quite good. I think you have to kind of tune in to a genre though. I still wasn't sure who a lot of the characters were by the end.
The Shining. Very fucking
The Shining. Very fucking scary film. Also I have seen it before but this time I took it to be all about male violence against women and children and this was a very satisfying interpretation of it.
The Japanese, ‘Our Little
The Japanese, ‘Our Little Sister’ (2015), a gem of a film.
As a critic wrote, ‘full of quiet joy and simple pleasures’.
Black Swan. I watched half of
Black Swan. I watched half of it, anyway. That was enough.
20th Century Women. It was ok. The feminism stuff was pretty cool, took me back to when I was 18 and people told me all that stuff. But those kind of Hollywood Indie films leave me a little bit cold and make me wish I was watching a proper indie film.
Singing in the rain. What a
Singing in the rain. What a lovely film, made me smile all the way through.
Batman v Superman is
Batman v Superman is noteworthy for just how bad it was.
cactus9 wrote: The Shining.
cactus9
The Shining is a visually interesting film but I don't think it's scary at all, and therefore fails as a horror film.
Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur
Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942.) An aircraft worker is wrongly accused of sabotage and has to clear himself while being hunted by the FBI. He discovers that the 5th columnists are either wealthy individuals or small shopkeepers. In his effort to clear himself he's helped by other working people and marginalized folks (a blind man, freaks from a carnival freak show). Much good anti-police and anti-fascist propaganda in the dialogue.
Meet me in St Louis. Slightly
Meet me in St Louis. Slightly pedestrian musical romance completely lifted by Judy Garland. What an amazing performer and actress she was.
Captain Fantastic. Really
Captain Fantastic. Really enjoyed it.
Netflix recommended me the
Netflix recommended me the film Allende, about the overthrow of Salvador Allende. It was pretty interesting, it handles the building tension and keeps interest despite most of the film being a bunch of men in suits moving around the presidential police, trying to get men in uniforms to answer the phone, occasionally firing AK's from open windows while they wait.
Politically it was surprising, the film is completely sympathetic to Allende, its a little grating how hero worshipped he is, but it makes sense given that he was surrounded by people so loyal to him they were willing to die for him. They also acknowledge that one of the main reasons for his downfall was his disarming of the Chilean workers and trusting in other generals, particularly Pinochet to guard against a potential coup by other generals.
Also in one scene Allende gives credit to the anarchist Juan de Marchi for much of his political development.
Serge Forward wrote: Captain
Serge Forward
I watched that last night. A brilliant, beautiful and funny film, it was great. Hard to pick a favourite part of the film but the Noam Chomsky quote at the end was awesome.
Watched In Dubious Battle.
Watched In Dubious Battle. Always nice to see a film about a strike, and this one even mentions the IWW, but story-wise and generally film-wise it was very disappointing. Like something on Hallmark on a Saturday afternoon.
jura wrote: Watched In
jura
Was afraid of this :-/
Clerks - what a great film.
Clerks - what a great film. Gripping, hilarious, visually stunning. Love it. The benchmark against which all indie films should be measured.
The Grifters - never seen this before, really enjoyed it. A great eighties film. Trancended the crime/ heist genre to be a great study of character.
potrokin wrote: Serge
potrokin
And a happy Noam Chomsky day to you too! Easily my favourite film over the last 12 months.
They could have just called
They could have just called that film "Noam Chomsky." They mention him in like three different scenes. I don't know what "Captain Fantastic" is all about. I liked it anyway, even though I thought they could have filmed some more scenes or developed the story in some areas (guess they're leaving it to the viewer's imagination). I liked that one bit: "I'm hungry!" and he responds, "Well then maybe one of you should have shot the fucking sheep."
Moonlight. I didn't love this
Moonlight. I didn't love this as much as I was hoping to but then when Mark Kermode says it's probably the best film he'll see this year a film has a lot to live up to. I really liked (not the right word) the drugs theme. I thought this was really strong and not much trailed. The treatment of the main character growing up gay was a bit weaker I thought and I wasn't surprised to learn that the director is straight, it didn't hit me in the guts like I wanted it to. Some great dialogue as you would expect from a play adaptation. I'd like to see it again though.
Fist fight : pretty basic
Fist fight : pretty basic film with Charlie Day and Ice Cube. Ice Cube plays an angry shouter and Charlie Day a wussy person that isn't Charlie from Sunny. Not really worth a watch, at points it does seem like they actually planned a proper story but couldn't really be bothered to actually write most of it in.
My Blind Brother : Nick Kroll being surprisingly unshit as a guy upstaged by his blind borther played by Adam Scott and a love triangle with Jenny Slate. Pretty simple romantic comedy, worth an hour and a half although nothing amazing happens. The brothers' dynamic is quite good.
Quote: Moonlight https://you
https://youtu.be/WJTwFjX6Pzk
wojtek
wojtek
Yeah, basically that.
Fences. I really enjoyed
Fences. I really enjoyed this, more a film of a play than a film but then I like plays.
Home. An unconventional
Home. An unconventional French family find their idyllic existence changes when the disused motorway they live next to reopens. Good film.
Wadjda. A story about a
Wadjda. A story about a young Saudi girl and her quest to buy a bike. A thought-provoking and powerful film. Really excellent.
I Daniel Blake- moving and
I Daniel Blake- moving and powerful.
Serge Forward
Serge Forward
Cheers serge :) same to you
zugzwang wrote: I liked that
zugzwang
That bit was hilarious. There were atleast a few funny bits for me, including when they went to meet the more conventional members of the family and them being shocked about how open he was with his kids and when he asked his youngest child to demonstrate his knowledge of the Bill of Rights compared to what their, much older, kids knew.
Quote: I, Daniel Blake, about
Yeah, a couple of those scenes are fucking brutal, huh?
jef costello wrote: Fist
jef costello
Jef, I really do think you've missed your calling as a film critic.
Not most recent, but I saw
Not most recent, but I saw Lobster a while a go and I really enjoyed that. Pretty bizarre and has some really great dark comedy.
cactus9 wrote: Clerks - what
cactus9
i saw grifters when it came out. i thought huston was convincing but not cusack, just too soft in the face. good film though.
e2a, speaking of Cusack, i should watch Grosse Point Blank again.
Chilli Sauce wrote: Not most
Chilli Sauce
As disturbing as that film is, it is atleast original.
petey wrote: e2a, speaking
petey
so i did. better than i remembered it. thin story, but good performances from alan arkin (as always), and j. cusack (there are four cusacks in the movie). curious fact: most of the top billers are irl from around chicago.
The Selfish Giant. A rewatch.
The Selfish Giant. A rewatch. One of the best films I've seen in recent years. Aesthetically stunning if maybe a tiny bit glossy and a story that rewards attention. Of particular note for the details of the scrap metal trade, the vernacular spoken by the characters and the film's brutal ending. Incredible acting from the two young actors in the lead roles.
Re: I, Daniel Blake Yeah, who
Re: I, Daniel Blake
Yeah, who didn't start crying when they both start bawling at the brothel? Or in the food deposit. Heavy shit.
Yeah, I thought Daniel was a
Yeah, I thought Daniel was a beautiful movie, even though I'm from the states and don't know much about the UK. (I googled and learned what a CV is.) It really captures all the degrading and bureaucratic crap some people must go through just to survive, begging for horrible jobs and being looked down on as lazy and whatnot when they need support.
el psy congroo wrote: Re: I,
el psy congroo
I didn't cry in the brothel but I nearly choked trying to swallow my sobs at the scene in the food bank. The shame of poverty has got to be one of the worst things, seriously, fuck it. Really got to me.
I've had the week off so I've
I've had the week off so I've had a bit of a mini film festival.
Certain Women - loved this film, a very dignified and beautifully told film. I never wanted it to end. Absolutely incredible structure as well, three stories with different tone and style but which fitted together really well. The only bum note in the film was (I thought) slight comedy in the tale of the guy with brain damage which didn't sit well with me, definitely see this film if you like your films thoughtful.
The Fits - a low budget, near experimental film about a girl who joins a dance team who start experiencing mysterious fits. Really good, interesting film.
Old Joy - I liked this film about two guys on a road trip to find hot springs, low budget but that kind of got you closer to the characters. Felt very authentically true to the little that I know of America. A satisfying watch.
Wendy and Lucy - I liked this film too, but it's very sad. Michelle Williams is a near penniless drifter heading to Alaska to try and make some money in the salmon factories there. Again low budget and again that got you close to the character.
Lovetrue - I really liked Bombay Beach by the same director but I was a little disappointed by this film. Also it is really quite depressing, didn't have the same anarchic joy in as Bombay Beach and really suffered for this. Also didn't really seem to have a message which I think Bombay Beach did albeit a complicated one.
Meeks Cutoff - really liked this film, about pioneers lost and starting to get desperate to find water. Well worth a watch even though I usually don't like period films.
Archipelago - literally the most relentlessly middle class film I have ever seen. I couldn't get past this and I was quite glad it ended.
Petty Romance. A Korean
Petty Romance. A Korean romcom about a comic book artist and a story writer. It was quite good, nice to see something different. Some of it made the feminist in me wince but then I think that's generic to romcoms.
Manchester by the Sea - it
Manchester by the Sea - it was ok. I wasn't massively feeling it. My reservations about big budget indies apply to this too. Somehow, although it was all supposed to be so realistic, it just didn't feel real to me. I mean, it was good and everything, just not as great as I'd thought it was going to be. It was both too hardhitting and too saccharine to be really good, almost a bit clumsy.
Edit: I just checked and it didn't really have a big budget. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. I think it's difficult when something's been hyped up, has a lot to live up to. It's a lot easier to love something when you feel like you've discovered it yourself.
Tiny Furniture - Lena Dunham
Tiny Furniture - Lena Dunham stars as a girl who moves home to New York after college. I don't know why I watched this, I don't really like Lena Dunham and it was pretty middle class. But I really liked it, it was really funny and cute and painful at times.
Hell or High Water. Although
Hell or High Water. Although I had a few objections to this film, one of them being how macho it was- I liked the hostility shown throughout the film towards the banks being robbed and the hostility to poverty expressed by the characters in the film and it was a pretty good film.
The film is about two brothers who are poor who decide to get revenge on one particular bank after it ripped off their family. One of the brothers is a hothead who has not long come out of prison and the other is a more law abiding and level-headed guy. Jeff Bridges is the cop, about to retire, who is after them, on his last case.
This thread could be renamed
This thread could be renamed to "What was the last film cactus9 watched?" ;)
Anyhoo, lately I've been watching a lot of war documentaries (Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria mostly). Can't even remember most of the titles, but rewatched Restrepo and Korengal that were both really good. There's also a great doc about the photographer of those documentaries called Which Way to the Frontline? that is also really good. The next such documentary I will likely watch is the White Helmets one.
Khawaga wrote: Anyhoo,
Khawaga
Interesting recommendations, thankyou.
I raided my DVD shelf and
I raided my DVD shelf and found a film I hadn't watched yet. That was Underfire starring Gene Hackman and Nick Nolte. I'm pretty sure I got this after I watched Salvador. Its a bit like Salvador only this time the liberal American journalist is in Nicaragua in the last days of Somoza.
Didn't really like it, but I didn't find it to be a chore to watch if that makes sense? Its a weird film, nearly every plus point has a negative and it just sort of balances out. It has a lot of accurate information in it (even included the Mussolini statues trivia). The Sandinistas aren't being backed by the Russians and are clearly the good guys, and reporter explains how corrupt and despotic Somoza is to his face which was nice.
And it depicts the death of the American news anchor (with names changed of course) and some of the street fighting is pretty clever. But it has this really weird plot about a fictional Sandinista leader whose dead, but they fake that he's still a live, and the action sense just don't have any tension, a couple look like they were filmed for a farce and spliced in.
Oh and it did have a scumbag American PR toady sucking up to Somoza. That was nice and you don't really see the PR for depots types get criticized enough.
Probably just watch Salvador instead if your curious.
Quote: This thread could be
Dammit potrokin and Reddebrek, now my joke's not working.
Angele et Tony - Beautiful
Angele et Tony - Beautiful French film about an unlikely love affair between Angele, recently released from prison for causing an accident that killed her husband and Tony, a fisherman. Beautifully shot, acted and directed. Subtle in the best possible way.
Kramer vs Kramer - Classic seventies film starring Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman about a divorce and the subsequent custody battle over their child. A great study of human communication and relationships only slightly marred by what I felt was a slight MRA subtext.
Beauty and the Beast - So far, so Freudian. Disney cement their brand for another generation with this epic retelling of the fairytale classic. Very enjoyable but with a touch too much royalty appreciation for me. If the servants sang one more time about how much they loved to serve I think I might have lost it right there in the cinema.
Elle - A film that could only
Elle - A film that could only have been made by a man who really really hates women. It has some good bits, the storyline about the protagonist and her father is, at times, interesting, insightful and touching. The film is mostly notable for how much rape and sex it contains. See this film only if the idea of a rape film made by a man sounds like a good one to you.
Saw Logan. Generally not an
Saw Logan. Generally not an action fan, but I did love the X-Men when I was a kid so I keep up with the franchise. A bit hokey at times, but a legitimately well-done film. Bit weird to see Steven Merchant in there though, not really sure it worked.
This has not been made yet so
This has not been made yet so obviously I've not watched it but with Jake Gyllenhaal reportedly on board it looks as though it will indeed be made into a movie.
Anarchists Vs ISIS
It's said to be inspired by the recent Rolling Stone article by the same name.
I'll reserve judgement, but personally I'd be much more interested in seeing a movie about western anarchists aiding refugees of imperialist wars while combating racist xenophobia and militarism at home then one about anarchists traveling to far off lands and involving themselves in nationalist wars the context of which they often seem to know little about. I just hope that this movie doesn't promote the idea that anarchism is supportive of the imperialist ambitions of the US led international anti-IS coalition or the so-called 'war on terror'.
Spikymike wrote: Well I saw
Spikymike
I was going to watch it and then saw that it was by Jim Jarmusch. He cannot be forgiven for ghost dog.
Chilli Sauce
Maybe I should get a twitter...
potrokin
Will check it out, just watched The Double
The Double : not a bad film although it basically strips out the whole psychological aspect from Dostoyevsky's story and sets up a world so weird that the character's bewilderment seems a little off. If you live in a kafkaesque nightmare then you'd probably takes things in your stride a little better.
Der einsame Wanderer (The
Der einsame Wanderer (The lonely wanderer) by Werner Philipp Sauber (1968), Sauber made this movie when he was a film student in Berlin. He was killed by the police 1975 being member of the 2nd June Movement, trying to set up a factory cell at the engineering plant Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz in Cologne, where he was working under a false identity ... the movie is from a period in which he was only starting to become engaged in radical politics and is considered by some critics as a masterpiece about alienation/solitude
Sirocco (1951) wiki
Sirocco (1951)
wiki
Finally found it online, but nothing special.
Who's gonna love me now? A
Who's gonna love me now? A documentary about Saar, a gay man from Israel living in London, dealing with the fall-out of living with AIDS and his family's reaction to this. It's really good. Definitely see it, take some tissues. It's very thought-provoking.
The Olive Tree - great little
The Olive Tree - great little vaguely activism themed Spanish film about a woman who travels to Dusseldorf to get back an olive tree that her family sold and which she believes will help her grandfather who has dementia. Laugh out loud funny but also very touching and very inspiring.
A Sinner in Mecca by Parvez
A Sinner in Mecca by Parvez Shama. A short documentary of a gay muslim attending Hajj recording footage using an Iphone. Its very interesting, it shows quite a lot of what Mecca is like and how the Hajj is run.
Its not the best shot film I've ever seen but that comes with the territory of undercover filming. It also shows some of the really nasty features of the Saudi regime, the destruction of Islamic historical sites, the public executions and having a massive shopping mall less than a kilometer away from the Kabaa.
The footage was a bit light, its 70 minutes long but had to use homemovies of the directors married life in the US to reach it. I'd have preferred less of that and more information on the foundation of Wahhabi Islam and the Saudi Kingdom. We get a few details on that but not much.
Oh and at the end of the film a goat is ritually sacrificed. I recommend watching it though you might want to turn it off at the final five minutes or so.
A box came to Brooklyn - very
A box came to Brooklyn - very stagey short film about paranoia erupting in a small neighbourhood in Brooklyn when a mysterious box is left in the street. The actors are a bit self-conscious and at the end they get very anvilicious.
Also watched Rogue One and The force awakens. Pretty much like watching the first star wars twice more, nothing bad but it neither grabbed my atention.
Edit: also watched a The Millenial Dream which seems to be some kind of advert for millenials as well as a propaganda piece to argue that it isn't really that bad for them.
Get Out, directed by Jordan
Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele.
Excellent horror movie, genuinely creepy, don't trust rich white people. Ever.
The Levelling - beautiful
The Levelling - beautiful film set in Somerset a few months after the floods. Clover returns home to the family farm after the death of her brother. A stunning human story but I also felt like it was a really important film about the politics of the countryside.
‘The Lunchbox’ (2013), is set
‘The Lunchbox’ (2013), is set in present day Mumbai and is a mix of Hindi and English. It is a modest light drama, which has lots of detail of life in the city and the scenes of cooking will make your mouth water. I wanted it to go on, as it appears to circle round the question: can the wrong train get you to the right station? I enjoyed it.
Reddebrek wrote: A Sinner in
Reddebrek
this sounds fascinating.
still in theaters, apparently, not yet on video.
Fleur wrote: don't trust rich
Fleur
understood. :D
Citizen Jane: Battle for the
Citizen Jane: Battle for the city. Documentary about Jane Jacobs, writer and activist who wrote a book called The Life and Death of Great American Cities. A fascinating film about urban planning, even if that sounds like a bit of an oxymoron.
cactus9 wrote: Citizen Jane:
cactus9
Not at all, I find urban planning fascinating, especially in cities where there is informal sprawls (like Cairo).
Quote: Not at all, I find
Same, but I am regarded as a bit of a nerd at times :)
See this film!
See this film!
Colossal, not at all what I
Colossal, not at all what I was expecting. Not really a comedy, especially once it gets going, in spite of its extremely silly premise. Anne Hathaway is an alcoholic who moves back to her hometown and when she goes to the park a monster starts destroying Seoul, turns out the monster symbolises something but not quite what I expected. It wasn't too bad but it wasn't compellling.
Hot Rod, amusing film, an affectionate spoof of 80s movies about Andy Sambereg as a man-child obsessed with being a stuntman and beating his stepfather in a fight who then needs to raise 50 grand to save the stepdad's life.
Hunt for the wilderpeople.
Hunt for the wilderpeople.
The Tall Man (2012) IMDB
The Tall Man (2012)
IMDB reviewer (spoiler)
First Biel is presented as a hero, then definitely a moral monster, though at the end indeed possibly again hero (so I agree with the reviewer's basic point).
Biel is jailed for life by falsely confessing that she murdered the children (feigning a kind of madness, she tells that by killing them she saved them – at that point we do believe she is a monster), whereas in fact she 'merely' abducted them for an adoption-network and thus "really" saved them (from a life of misery).
She sacrifices herself by falsely confessing to "saving-killing" the children, in order to "really" save the children.
A false confession to this crime is rare, although in a BBC-documentary on child sacrifice in Uganda the shamans did exaggerate their victims in order to seem more dangerous. Perhaps the principle is the same as in Dzerzhinsky's Cheka which published false numbers of executions, just to inspire terror but without actual killing.
There are abuses with adoption-networks, but the particular false confession in this movie is non-existent in real life, so that to ponder on its psychological motivation or morality is an academic exercise (clearly it'd be horrendous to the parents who think their child has been killed). Regarding false confession (or forsaking proper self-defense) in general though, it is a most serious crime itself.
Serge Forward wrote: Hunt for
Serge Forward
A great film. I laughed throughout.
Auld-bod wrote: ‘The
Auld-bod
A nice film. I enjoyed it too.
jef costello wrote: A box
jef costello
I enjoyed this film and it has a good message I feel.
Colossal. Do not see this
Colossal. Do not see this film unless you are extremely high. I have also seen Their Finest recently which was also terrible. For such a wonderful actor Bill Nighy certainly guarantees a turkey every time he appears in a film.
My partner and I watched
My partner and I watched Rahul Jain's short film 'Machines' a 'fly on the wall' ducumentary about the poorly paid, monotonous and hazardous working conditions in an Indian textile factory where ageing machinery is run into the ground and the only really high tech stuff is the bosses computer run surveillance of his workers. Pretty depressing really but would make a good basis for a more political discussion group with lots of issues hinted at in the various comments from both workers and bosses.
Found a short review here but maybe others around:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/machines-958481
Finally watched Reds, I
Finally watched Reds, I thought it was great although the Emma Goldman character was different to the picture of her character that I had in my mind. I actually liked the cynicism of Eugene and after all, he was pretty much right in being pessimistic. When I talked about this with another Libcommer I was informed that I'm an asshole if I like him!
I'm going to see The Hippopotamus when it comes out. To say I can't bear Stephan Fry would be a gross understatement but the book from which the film is taken is such a brilliantly bawdy, vulgar and puerile romp that I simply have to check it out.
I just watched Blame! on
I just watched Blame! on Netflix, I was so excited when it came out because I'd read the manga a long time ago (excuse me if I sound like a weeabo) and it really left an impression on me. The film wasn't as good as I expected, but they got the atmosphere right.
I love that manga as well.
I love that manga as well. Did you watch Knights of Siodonia?
Table19, a comedy film that
Table19, a comedy film that wasn't really that funny and as the characters were pretty cartoonish the serious moments didn't quite come off. A bit of a shame as there were the bones of an interesting story there, they just didn't seem bothered to flesh out the characters at all before the dramatic moments.
Spikymike wrote: My partner
Spikymike
I can't seem to find this anywhere, a shame because the trailer looks really interesting. Did you see an in-person screening of it?
Hunt for the Wilderpeople was a good film.
We watched 'Hunt for the
We watched 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' at the same cinema as 'Machines' the former being a positive 'feel good' balancing effort.
Alien Covenant - Ridley Scott
Alien Covenant - Ridley Scott made one incredible shot of the spaceship with its sails out and then dialled in the rest of the film. Ideally treated as a warm up for Blade Runner 2049 or a reminder that Prometheus wasn't actually that bad.
We watched this really good
We watched this really good film currently on general UK release. It's the second of a trilogy by a Finnish director that deals in a humane and surprisingly humorous way with the personal results of migration for people fleeing the ongoing middle east wars. Haven't seen the first film in the trilogy though. See this review here:
www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/28/the-other-side-of-hope-aki-kaurismaki-review
Thanks for that Spikymike,
Thanks for that Spikymike, Kaurismäki is always good.
Spikymike wrote: We watched
Spikymike
I watched this film, I really loved it.
I decided to watch the
I decided to watch the Babadook after a day or two of seeing all those memes about it being reclaimed as an LGBT icon. Very good and creepy horror, the Babadook looked physically real and otherworldly and the slow burning escalation was very effective pacing.
I decided to watch the
I decided to watch the Babadook after a day or two of seeing all those memes about it being reclaimed as an LGBT icon. Very good and creepy horror, the Babadook looked physically real and otherworldly and the slow burning escalation was very effective pacing.
Someone's watching me - John
Someone's watching me - John Carpenter thriller, nothing special but the main cast were pretty good, if slightly 80s wooden. Interestingly the new best friend is a lesbian and that is a minor detail and doesn't come up in the plot.Probably only really worth it for Carpenter completists (not a good idea to be one of those Ghosts of Mars is awful)
Quote: Ghosts of Mars is
Give over. It's ace! :D
I was out of town this
I was out of town this weekend, playing with the company team, and we saw Pirates of the Caribbean part 385639. It was awful. Irredeemably bad. Avoid. I would have been so angry if I had paid for this. Last year, same tournament, it was the World of Warcraft movie. There is something seriously wrong with my boss's taste in movies.
I felt the new Pirates had a
I felt the new Pirates had a very similar plot with worse actors who I couldn't engage with/warm to. Maybe that's Life lol. @.@
Quote: Last year, same
That was the movie I last watched. It was ok, but then again I had extremely low expectations of it. It's the first miss by Duncan Jones (I loved Moon and thought Source Code was pretty interesting and entertaining).
I haven't seen the Pirates
I haven't seen the Pirates movies between the first and this one, so it's conceivable that I've missed some nuance and most of the jokes. And quite frankly I'm sick of Johnny Depp. I guess this is what happens when you're stuck in Disney and Tim Burton world.
I really liked Moon and Source Code, so I had moderate expectations for the Warcraft movie, not least because the visuals on the trailer were stunning. I wasn't expecting a plot or anything like that but even so it managed to fall well beneath my expectations. A friend who plays WoW did tell me it makes some sense if you play the game.
The last proper film I saw was Moonlight, which I thought was outstanding.
I saw the first three Pirates
I saw the first three Pirates movies; the first was really fun, the second was decent, but the third was a turd. And I agree with being sick of Johnny Depp.
The Warcraft movie was actually based on the RTS Warcraft games and not WoW. IIRC, the story line largely follows that of the RTS games and not the MMO. (/Nerd)
Outnerded by Khawaga, I defer
Outnerded by Khawaga, I defer to your superior knowledge of Warcraft games :)
Seven Days in May (1964)
Seven Days in May (1964)
"United States military leaders plot to overthrow the President"
Oliver Stone's JFK.
Interesting scene with Sutherland's exposition (brief claim that Kennedy's appointed directors were powerless in their respective administrations).
The Nice Guys (2016). Made me
The Nice Guys (2016). Made me laugh and kinda, almost had an anti-capitalist message/theme but you'd have to watch the whole film to get what I mean. Set in the 1970's. A professional 'enforcer' (Russell Crowe) crosses paths with a down on his luck, unprofessional private detective (Ryan Gosling) when a girl they are both searching for goes missing. Directed by Shane Black.
The Edge of Seventeen. Not an
The Edge of Seventeen. Not an original movie by any means (I've seen plenty of versions of the same story of socially anxious teenager figuring out the world), but well executed and good to great acting.
Also watched Blame!, which is an adaptation of the mange by the same name. Decent enough adaptation, but couldn't really live up to the source material.
The Duellists (1977). Armand
The Duellists (1977). Armand d'Hubert (Keith Carradine) and Gabriel Féraud (Harvey Keitel) are French soldiers under Napoleon. A trivial quarrel between d'Hubert and Féraud escalates into a lifelong grudge. Directed by Ridley Scott.
Barry Lyndon (1975) How does
Barry Lyndon (1975) How does an Irish lad without prospects become part of 18th-century English nobility? For Barry Lyndon (Ryan O'Neal) the answer is: any way he can! Directed by Stanley Kubrick and today considered one of his finest films.
Steam Boy (2004) I was
Steam Boy (2004) I was surprised after watching how little impression it made here but apparently that was because it was given a very limited release, so not many people saw it.
Its an animated film set in 19th century Britain (Manchester and London) during the industrial revolution. The plot is entirely about how capitalism and the state pervert scientific advancement and often only care about using technology for weapons and war sales. A family of scientists have discovered a new way to harness steam, meaning they've discovered unlimited energy but the company funding their research decides the best way to get a return on investment is to us it to power steam tanks and the like. They're opposed by the British Empire, but they're only getting involved because the company is selling to rival empires and they also want this new tech for themselves.
It looks fantastic, and the dubbing is impressive, characters from Manchester sound like their from Manchester and they even use 19th century appropriate slang and expressions. You also get to hear Patrick Stewart explain how and why war is manufactured by capitalists to increase share holder dividends. The credit sequence is surprisingly bleak though.
Reddebrek wrote: Steam Boy
Reddebrek
That sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out. Sounds like the sort of thing that should be shown to people as part of their education.
The Dark Crystal (1982).
The Dark Crystal (1982). Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Jen (Stephen Garlick), raised by the noble race called the Mystics, has been told that he is the last survivor of his own race, the Gelflings. He sets out to try to find a shard of the dark crystal, a powerful gem that once provided balance to the universe. After the crystal was broken, the evil Skeksis used sinister means to gain control. Jen believes that he can repair the dark crystal and bring peace back to the world, if he can only find the remaining shard.
I enjoyed it. I thought it a better film than the Labyrinth, I don't know if it was because of the cliffhanger at the end or just the fact that it was the first time I've seen this film- where as I' saw the Labyrinth quite a few times when I was a kid.. I think perhaps there is more to this film. The animatronics were groundbreaking. The Skeksis kinda reminded me of Theresa May, and not just in the way they behaved.
Obviously watching Kasparov
Obviously watching Kasparov play. The live streams are film-length.
A Ghost Story. It's good. I
A Ghost Story. It's good. I cried. It didn't totally blow me away though for some reason. But it is heartbreaking.
Pulp Fiction, I think
Pulp Fiction, I think cultural osmosis didn't do this any favours I found I was predicting most of what would happen next thanks to all the references, parodies and homages I've seen over the years. I was surprised how much of what I thought was random bits came from this film though.
I was also really shocked at about twenty minutes from the end when the guy from the direct line insurance adverts turned up.
[youtube]ir791xwvOP4[/youtube]
I still enjoyed it but I probably should have watched it much sooner.
Fist Fight. Ice Cube vs.
Fist Fight. Ice Cube vs. Charlie from Always Sunny. Stupid and funny movie.
Reddebrek wrote: Pulp
Reddebrek
I often get that when watching classic films and recognising the simpsons' parodies. I remember watching one film (cn't remember which one now) and realising that I had seen parodies in probably half a dozen shows without knowing where it originateD.
I thought I had put people off fist fight :)
City of Tiny Lights : attempt at a UK noir but the plot is a little convoluted as well as obvious. There are also a lot of bits that don't really make sense except to advance the plot. The camera work at times seems like the director is over-excited and trying to try new things (not his first film, which I thught might be the reason) for example in one scene he throws in some rather pointless jump cuts. The voiceover resurfaces for no reason in the middle of the film which is very intrusive and then again for the very cheesy ending (where Pork Pie from Desmonds is there!). The film isn't bad but it feels like it is trying too hard to be a noir film without quite understanding why people like them In general a bit of a wasted opportunity in spite of some nice moments.
seen on a double
seen on a double bill
https://letterboxd.com/film/christine-1987/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_(1989_film)
Spiderman: Homecoming. I like
Spiderman: Homecoming. I like my MCU, but this one was disappointing. Wish there was more of the high school stuff than Spidey stuff.
Dunkirk. While mostly
Dunkirk. While mostly avoiding the big hero stories, aside from Tom Hardy, and being quite well written it was still a story of heroism and that doesn't sit well. It's been a while since I watched a war film and I am not sure I can really watch them. When you see the german planes strafing helpless soldiers on the beach you are angry, but the scale of this film just reminds me of the stupidity of the meat grinder of the war, even if they do give the (heroic) dad a statement along the lines of "it's men my age sending boys out to fight the war so I have to do my bit" it isn't enough.
So on the whole a good film for what it is, I just hadn't realised to what point I can no longer stand war.
No Country For Old Men. I
No Country For Old Men. I first saw this film several years ago and despite pretty much knowing most of what happened I enjoyed it even more this time around, don't know why either.
double bill in a
double bill in a theater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRd3Ro1L9zA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEpJn6F3cso
jef costello wrote: Dunkirk.
jef costello
I saw "Operation Dunkirk" and didn't realize it was the wrong movie until an hour in... It was disappointing.
Just watched ‘Paris, Texas’
Just watched ‘Paris, Texas’ (1984). Forgotten just how great a movie it is. This is the trailer with Ry Cooder’s music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic_s0DDNoB8
Mean Girls (2004), based on
Mean Girls (2004), based on Rosalind Wiseman's (2002) book Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence (a 3rd edition appeared in 2016). Scenes of the movie are known to provide material for unfunny jokes about Trotskyist groups.
When the movie tries to don a sociological/anthropological hat, it turns to a cheap comparison with the animal kingdom. But the schoolyard dynamic is a valid subject of study in its own right, even aside from more "deeper" theorising as e.g. the "theory" of rackets, or Tiqqun's Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl (1999).
The notion of popularity/attention/fame/respect often is invoked to explain people's acts. For example the behaviour of bullying is explained by the laughter which the bully seeks to elicit from the crowd. Why do children start smoking? - to gain acceptance by their friends. Etc.
It could be just classified under conformism. But even if you say that you do not care about popularity, your anti-conformism still is marked by it.
And caring what your community/group (not the state) thinks about you is normal, in the sense that it indicates what is in the common ("moral") interest, otherwise you'd be a psycho.
Patti Cake$. Just see it,
Patti Cake$. Just see it, it's amazing and brilliant.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Saw it
The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Saw it on Netflix. It's a kids film obviously, but I really enjoyed it. I loved Roald Dahl books as a kid and this didn't disappoint me.
A friend of mine saw the remake of Stephen King's It the other day and said that it is very good, more true to the book and so obviously better than the first film. It also appears that there is going to be a a sequel because they didn't get to the end and I believe the film was about three hours.
A Man Asleep. I have also
A Man Asleep. I have also read the novel. Great film, but the novel is better, especially considering the main point of interest of the film is the narration.
Libertarias. A film about
Libertarias. A film about anarchist women during the spanish civil war, written and directed by Vicente Arande.. I have mixed views on this film and found it's ending depressing (though ofcourse that reflects the reality of the end of the war and it's outcome). I thought the seance scene was silly and unnecessary and the bit where an anarchist guy grabs and forcibly kisses the main character was creepy. Also, the guy who played Durruti looked nothing like him. Other than that it was a good film.
The Beguiled. Quite good. It
The Beguiled. Quite good. It picks up in the second half.
Is that a remake you watched,
Is that a remake you watched, or the original?
Just got round to watching
Just got round to watching the black and white 1954 film 'Salt of the Earth' a pro-working class, pro-feminist propaganda drama based on a 1951 strike of miners in New Mexico. Most enjoyable.
More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_of_the_Earth_(1954_film)
Just scroll down the list.
The Castle in the Sky, 1986,
The Castle in the Sky, 1986, Studio Ghibli. Visually amazing and just a great film.
Spikymike wrote: Just got
Spikymike
I hope it has a happy ending.
Kingsman : The Golden
Kingsman : The Golden Circle. Don't bother, watch the first one. This is exactly the same only the fights are not as good, the plot is stupider the gadgets more nonsensical and the repeated and completely half-arsed attempts at drama which get forgotten immediately are annoying. It's just really lazy, it should also either commit to the silliness or actually have real characters in the story, there's no point having a big dramatic scene with no build-up character-wise that is then forgotten.
Anyone watch Blade Runner
Anyone watch Blade Runner 2049 yet? I've not been able to make it to the theatre yet, but I am really looking forward to this one. Almost three hours long though...