Films Recently Watched

[Soloman Tump]

I watched Wild at Heart again at the weekend. Really sexy and freaky.

Loved Cage and Dern. Especially the flashback scenes of Dern with her creepy uncle, and her scene with Bobby Peru in the motel. wtf. 

It's also spot the Twin Peaks cameo, which Lynch used the film as a casting couch for the series.

 

I also watched Birdman, which I really, really enjoyed.  Michael Keaton was great! And so was Edward Norton to be fair. Naomi Watts is great is most things she is in, although I thought she was a bit underused in this.  Also cameo spot for the guy who plays Charlie from Twin Peaks (Audrey's dwarfish husband in The Return) - and plenty of other Twin Peaks style feel's from the film, especially the musical score and lighting.  Great.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Soloman Tump

[dr lopez]

keaton is in the hall of fame. just the best

[cruising for burgers]

Fantastically stylish, this couple of directors delivers once again:

Edited September 24, 2020 by Tim_J

[Soloman Tump]

On 9/13/2020 at 9:42 PM, MaartenVC said:

I just saw the full  2 hours and 14 minutes of I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020).
My opinion: Whu...?
_{(do yourself a favour and don't watch this movie)}

 

I watched this last night and really enjoyed it.  Of course it makes you think Whu...? but I like films that make me think.  Big spoilers (from my point of view)...

Spoiler

At first I thought it was about suicide, with the girl wanting to end her life.  This made me think twice about watching the film as I have had a few dark thoughts recently.  Then it becomes apparent she just wants to leave him.  Then you as a viewer question her existence with the mad time jumping scenes in the house, and it becomes apparent she is just an apparition from Jake's imagination as he is the only one who could have known all of the information.  The picture of the young girl is possibly from his school job. 

But then the sad realisation of age, deterioration, loneliness and missed opportunities.... ending how I first thought the film would but in a completely different way.  A great film actually.

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Soloman Tump

[TRiP]

Love on Delivery

Really enjoyed this. Effortlessly charming, funny, extertaining and creative at every turn. Its on Netflix at the moment here in IRE if anyone else gets the same selections. Also a Shaw Brothers film so you know you're in good hands

 

[Silent Member]

Here's my take on I'm thinking about ending things.

Spoiler

I'm thinking it's about the Janitor wanting to end his life (and possibly going dement). The girl is a woman he tried talking to in a bar that rejected him when he was young. He keeps fantasizing about their life together and plays these fantasies back repeateadly (all the ice cream buckets represent all the times he's done this, what we're seeing is just one iteration of them).  The Janitor is Jake (notice he likes musicals, the ones that are staged in the school where he works). In the home of his parents various stages of his life are played back, the girlfriend injected into them, and the memories turn into a garbled mess, he can't remember what the dog looks like so you can never see its face etc, he probably loses control of the fantasy here because of all the traumatic shit he went through. Notice that the girl has various names and jobs, interests throughout, he doesn't really know her and keeps changing her to what he feels would be best. The Ice Cream place is a metaphor for his incestous/forbidden lust for the girls in the school, the ice cream is sex. The Janitor killing the idolized version of Jake is probably him realizing his real self not being like he is in his fantasies, and him wanting to end his life.  I'm not really sure about the musical in the end though, soz !

K. I think I'm done editing this now, the more I think about this film, the more there is to discover. why the hell did I think I was replying to timj post?

Edited September 24, 2020 by Silent Member

[Soloman Tump]

1 hour ago, Silent Member said:

Michael, here's my take. 

  Hide contents

I'm thinking it's about the Janitor wanting to end his life (and possibly going dement). The girl is a woman he tried talking to in a bar that rejected him when he was young. He keeps fantasizing about their life together and plays these fantasies back repeateadly (all the ice cream buckets represent all the times he's done this, what we're seeing is just one iteration of them).  The Janitor is Jake (notice he likes musicals, the ones that are staged in the school where he works). In the home of his parents various stages of his life are played back, the girlfriend injected into them, and the memories turn into a garbled mess, he can't remember what the dog looks like so you can never see its face etc, he probably loses control of the fantasy here because of all the traumatic shit he went through. Notice that the girl has various names and jobs, interests throughout, he doesn't really know her and keeps changing her to what he feels would be best. The Ice Cream place is a metaphor for his incestous/forbidden lust for the girls in the school, the ice cream is sex. The Janitor killing the idolized version of Jake is probably him realizing his real self not being like he is in his fantasies, and him wanting to end his life.  I'm not really sure about the musical in the end though, soz !

K. I think I'm done editing this now, the more I think about this film, the more there is to discover.

Spot on, I think the musical and award ceremony just plays into his deluded fantasy and end of life trauma. Possibly also dementia as you say. Don't think that's a spoiler as it won't make sense until you've seen it

[Squee]

On 9/22/2020 at 1:59 PM, Soloman Tump said:

It's also spot the Twin Peaks cameo, which Lynch used the film as a casting couch for the series.

Come again? Twin Peaks was made before Wild at Heart.

[MadameChaos]

Not quite Squee. He made the pilot for twin peaks in the summer of 89 then took a break to make wild at heart which began filming on August 9th 89. 

[Nebraska]

a documentary version of this book about the console wars of the 90s. a little better than this netflix doc 

[Kid Lukie]

I cannot get past this film. So many interwoven themes and ideas, beautifully done.

[cruising for burgers]

On 9/22/2020 at 7:59 AM, Soloman Tump said:

I watched Wild at Heart again at the weekend. Really sexy and freaky.

Loved Cage and Dern. Especially the flashback scenes of Dern with her creepy uncle, and her scene with Bobby Peru in the motel. wtf. 

It's also spot the Twin Peaks cameo, which Lynch used the film as a casting couch for the series.

 

I also watched Birdman, which I really, really enjoyed.  Michael Keaton was great! And so was Edward Norton to be fair. Naomi Watts is great is most things she is in, although I thought she was a bit underused in this.  Also cameo spot for the guy who plays Charlie from Twin Peaks (Audrey's dwarfish husband in The Return) - and plenty of other Twin Peaks style feel's from the film, especially the musical score and lighting.  Great.

I always thought a cameo was when someone played himself... Like if David Lynch made an appearance in Twin Peaks and Laura was like 'Hey David sup?' 

How come the guy that played Charlie in TP appearing in Birdman is a cameo? So everybody is a cameo by that logic... I mean everybody that acted in at least 2 different movies is a cameo?

Sorry I'm a dummy... 

 

I guess Laura Palmer appearing in a different movie (and I mean Laura herself not Sheryl Lee) would also be considered a cameo?

Edited September 25, 2020 by Tim_J

[cruising for burgers]

6 hours ago, Kid Lukie said:

I cannot get past this film. So many interwoven themes and ideas, beautifully done.

This looks sweet thanks! 

[Silent Member]

Yeah, never heard about that one before I think... Will definitely check it out 

[Soloman Tump]

2 hours ago, Tim_J said:

I always thought a cameo was when someone played himself... Like if David Lynch made an appearance in Twin Peaks and Laura was like 'Hey David sup?' 

How come the guy that played Charlie in TP appearing in Birdman is a cameo? So everybody is a cameo by that logic... I mean everybody that acted in at least 2 different movies is a cameo?

Sorry I'm a dummy... 

 

I guess Laura Palmer appearing in a different movie (and I mean Laura herself not Sheryl Lee) would also be considered a cameo?

Ah ok guess poor choice of word. But he does appear to be dressed the same?

[J3FF3R00]

Hitchcock dude. 
Always the goods. 

[IDEM]

6 hours ago, Tim_J said:

I always thought a cameo was when someone played himself... Like if David Lynch made an appearance in Twin Peaks and Laura was like 'Hey David sup?' 

How come the guy that played Charlie in TP appearing in Birdman is a cameo? So everybody is a cameo by that logic... I mean everybody that acted in at least 2 different movies is a cameo?

Sorry I'm a dummy... 

 

I guess Laura Palmer appearing in a different movie (and I mean Laura herself not Sheryl Lee) would also be considered a cameo?

 

4 hours ago, Soloman Tump said:

Ah ok guess poor choice of word. But he does appear to be dressed the same?

Not really, a cameo is just a short, often unannounced and therefore surprising guest appearance, mostly by a well-known actor or actress.

[Silent Member]

 A cameo is most often a miniscule role as an extra, done by the director or someone famous as a sight gag. I think what you're describing is an uncredited appearance (edit: no, you're not we agree and I'm dumb.) Think Hitchcock walking into frame or Stan Lee doing bad one liners in every fucking Marvel movie.

Edited September 25, 2020 by Silent Member

[Squee]

17 hours ago, MadameChaos said:

Not quite Squee. He made the pilot for twin peaks in the summer of 89 then took a break to make wild at heart which began filming on August 9th 89. 

I was 100% sure Wild at Heart was after Twin Peaks. Damn.

[Silent Member]

It's ok, we forgive you Squee. We've all learned a valuable lesson here 

[cruising for burgers]

So we can all agree that no one has a clue what a cameo is right? 

[IDEM]

1 hour ago, Tim_J said:

So we can all agree that no one has a clue what a cameo is right? 

No, you're the only one so far.

[cruising for burgers]

30 minutes ago, IDEM said:

No, you're the only one so far.

Nahhh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameo_appearance

[Silent Member]

That's a Wikipedia article.

[Kid Lukie]

19 hours ago, Tim_J said:

This looks sweet thanks! 

Sweet as!

Surficially, it demonstrates a classic Freudian psychoanalysis client-therapist relationship and various concepts that originally sprung from Freud's work- resistance, transference, latent thoughts, dream analysis and interpretation, etc. But most interesting are the demonstrations of the "what if" questions it asks: What if our dreams became our reality? What if we could actually manifest our unconscious desires into reality? What if we could reform reality (i.e. "play god", as referenced in the title of the film, and perhaps a quip on altering our subjective experience)?

And... what if this power was misused? Surprisingly, there are no antagonists in this film, as even the manipulative therapist has good intentions. But what it does show is that even good intentions by the therapist can go awry. A sneaky critique on Utilitarianism... Just one of the many ways to look at this film~ so enjoy!

 

Plot summary for those interested:

In the near future, George Orr (George Orwell reference!) is charged with abuse of multiple prescription medications, which he was taking to keep himself from dreaming. Orr volunteers for psychiatric care to avoid prosecution, and is assigned to the care of licensed oneirologist William Haber. Orr's explanation of his drug abuse is incredible: He has known since age 17 that his dreams change reality, and tries to prevent himself from this "effective dreaming" because he fears their effects.