Films Recently Watched

[Taupe Beats]

Interesting viewing weekend. 

Went to the theater and saw the new 4k restoration of Nina Menkes's "Queen of Diamonds". Some of the best sound design I've ever heard in a film. Reminded me quite a bit of Eraserhead where there were constant drones  (things like Air Conditioners, engines, wind, etc.) that would add a palpable feeling of claustrophobia. Along with that, the imagery was striking and set in long takes. If you let yourself immerse in what you were seeing, it became quite hypnotic. Highly recommend this film for the more adventurous.

Sunday night, against my own sanity, I decided to put my soul to the test and rewatch "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days". Spoiler alert for those who have only seen it once, it doesn't get any easier. Mungiu films are wonderful for how they play against a viewers sympathies/logic, by suppressing the environment that you're witnessing, but then suddenly pulling the perspective out wider and you realize that there's not as much subjectivity in judging the actions of the characters as you may want. His film "Beyond the Hills" is esp. brilliant for this.

[chronical]

Any of you familar with "The Big Blue" by Luc Besson? The BOC societas tape reminded me of it a good bit, love that movie. 

[Nebraska]

what do you get when you mix predator and robocop with no-holds barred action and a killer soundtrack? i'll give you a hint: this movie. 

co-written by rosella drudi who helped pen d'amato's erotic masterpiece 11 days 11 nights (as sarah asproon)  this fierce piece of robotic exploitation mayhem is exactly what the internet was made for

[Candiru]

The House That Jack Built, or Lars Von Trier Hates Women vol 33442224766

 

[Nebraska]

unwatchably bad. this is also one of those films where everyone talks under there breath and anything else happens at STUPIDLY HIGH VOLUMES

boring. also was it just me or does dumbo not look cute? 

self-indulgent as fuck. basically, a slower and much more brightly lit version of hereditary with a few more annoying characters that took their acting classes from eli roth's school of "i really hope i never see or hear from any of these people ever again"

[hello spiral]

lol hereditary is great and I think you broke your brain with too many trashy movies. I'm stoked for Midsommar.

Saw Peter Strickland's In Fabric today. Very strange film, even for him. His most ambitious to date but possibly also his worst. I enjoyed it but it was kinda long and disjointed. Still, some very great ideas in there and terrific set pieces. Very steeped in that tacky 70s hauntology/ghostbox vibe. Skaters and NWW on the soundtrack! (another) cameo by Adam Bohman!

[dr lopez]

midsommar looks dumb as shit. it's also been hyped way too much

Edited July 1, 2019 by dr lopez

[hello spiral]

wrong

[dr lopez]

i miss zaphod

[Nebraska]

19 hours ago, hello spiral said:

lol hereditary is great and I think you broke your brain with too many trashy movies. I'm stoked for Midsommar.

[TRiP]

 

Quatermass and the Pit

Nice and meaty sci-fi, practical effects could have been a lil' better but happy to go along with the fun, the story is engaging enough for you not to care so much and experience it like a stage play

Good stuff!

[T3551ER]

Surprisingly entertaining low-budget horror/time-loop found footage-y flick (I'm not spoiling things for you by writing that btw - you'll know something is up, but not how, 10 minutes in). Two bro-dude youtubers who have a paranormal show go to investigate a haunted location and weird shit happens. 

What makes this unique is the near constant self-narration/banter between the two leads which is friggin' ridiculous. You absolutely buy that these guys are total asshats which makes it all the more interesting that they wrote, directed, and shot this piece (which does some legitimately interesting things with the genre, particularly towards the end. Some things one might even call "cerebral"). It takes smart to play dumb. 

Probably best to go in expecting very little and be pleasantly surprised. I legit lol'd multiple times throughout this, which I did NOT expect from what I would typically call a "Shitty Sunday Matinee Feature." 

[cwmbrancity]

17 hours ago, TRiP said:

 

Quatermass and the Pit

Nice and meaty sci-fi, practical effects could have been a lil' better but happy to go along with the fun, the story is engaging enough for you not to care so much and experience it like a stage play

Good stuff!

Surreal synchronicity, watched this last night after trying to sort out my old man's dvd collection, easy enough when half of it is/was steam engine docs.

It def stands the test of time, remember seeing it as a teenager & it seeming very much akin to clunky early Dr Who styles, but it's grown on me over the years. Using the London Underground as a descent into sketchiness, avoiding certain Hammer-ish gore techniques so it can be funny how age affects perspective like that.

[dr lopez]

into the spider-verse

this was entertaining. story and characters not as charming as the marvel spidermans but wow I was really impressed with the animation. very imaginative. felt like I was watching something "new" in a sense - trying to take 3D animation in a direction beyond the pixar style which is so stale at this point. for that i applaud them because it really worked. some funny bits too (like the fat, loser divorced spiderman being jewish lmao) although jon mulaney was, as usual, not funny. watched on 4K UHD bluray on my OLED and was blown away. recommended !

[Embers]

On 8/23/2017 at 12:24 PM, zaphod said:

finally watched neil breen's double down. a modern masterpiece.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ44FLJA4Js

 

Watched recently. It's beautiful. Has a strong Tomorrow's Harvest vibe to it. Actually shot on film and it has that perfect grainy aesthetic. The heavy use of stock footage adds to the flavour.

Neil gets more and more sunburnt as the film progresses, so the scenes must've been shot in sequence?  

[cichlisuite]

Phantom Thread
excellent performance of everyone, but skillfully crafted anticipation led up to a disappointing end.
maybe I just have an aversion to mentally sick personalities/10

Take Care of Your Scarf Tatiana
very minimalist, almost boring at moments, very funny, cool music
driving into a coffee shop/10

[Brisbot]

On 6/30/2019 at 5:16 PM, hello spiral said:

lol hereditary is great and I think you broke your brain with too many trashy movies.

Hereditary was an awesome movie.

 

[Atop]

I loved Midsommar. The music, The Haxan Cloak! The shot composition. The immersive qualities. The emulation of hallucinatory states of mind. The acting. The set design. The portrayal of shitty Americans being shitty. What's not to love? Best film of the year, by far. 

[lyst]

Saw Spiderman Far From Home last night.

It wasn't bad, it wasn't good either.  I liked the last one with this actor Homecoming I think it was called. The humor in this is forced, I feel like ever since Ragnorok every one of these movies the writers / producers think there has to be slapstick humor every 4 minutes.   If it works it works, if it doesn't it's quite annoying and arduous.

 

Other than that the popcorn was great and the icee machine was a fill it up yourself so I think I had 8 large blue icees.  

[TRiP]

On 7/3/2019 at 12:55 PM, cwmbrancity said:

Surreal synchronicity, watched this last night after trying to sort out my old man's dvd collection, easy enough when half of it is/was steam engine docs.

It def stands the test of time, remember seeing it as a teenager & it seeming very much akin to clunky early Dr Who styles, but it's grown on me over the years. Using the London Underground as a descent into sketchiness, avoiding certain Hammer-ish gore techniques so it can be funny how age affects perspective like that.

Nice!

Defo gave me an appetite to explore more Hammers, dont think i've ever delved in too deep!

 

 

[Rubin Farr]

6 hours ago, lyst said:

Saw Spiderman Far From Home last night.

It wasn't bad, it wasn't good either.  I liked the last one with this actor Homecoming I think it was called. The humor in this is forced, I feel like ever since Ragnorok every one of these movies the writers / producers think there has to be slapstick humor every 4 minutes.   If it works it works, if it doesn't it's quite annoying and arduous.

 

Other than that the popcorn was great and the icee machine was a fill it up yourself so I think I had 8 large blue icees.  

I liked it, got some European Vacation vibes from it, similar to the John Hughes elements from Homecoming.  Gyllenhaal stole the show, I bet he gets a spinoff.

[jules]

On 7/3/2019 at 11:41 AM, dr lopez said:

into the spider-verse

this was entertaining. story and characters not as charming as the marvel spidermans but wow I was really impressed with the animation. very imaginative. felt like I was watching something "new" in a sense - trying to take 3D animation in a direction beyond the pixar style which is so stale at this point. for that i applaud them because it really worked. some funny bits too (like the fat, loser divorced spiderman being jewish lmao) although jon mulaney was, as usual, not funny. watched on 4K UHD bluray on my OLED and was blown away. recommended !

one of the most creative movies I’ve seen in a long time. Absolutely a good flick

[Brisbot]

 

[MadellisTheSixth]

went n saw the new Spiderman with the fam, had low expectations but was underwhelmed.

[dr lopez]

yeah i had a great time in the theater because i was drunk, but then at home i sobered up and thought it was average to below average