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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Apr 29, 2018 19:42:00 GMT -5
Brawl in Cell Block 99. Better written, more original, and more engaging exploitation flick than Refn's Drive. After this and Bone Tomahawk, Zahler is definitely on my radar as a director from now. Also really dug the 70s R&B inspired songs, which apparently were co-written by Zahler for the movie.
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Post by Reba on Apr 29, 2018 19:53:54 GMT -5
wasn't aware that drive was supposed to be an exploitation movie. brawl in cell block 99 was insanely disgusting though.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Apr 29, 2018 20:13:47 GMT -5
drive definitely is. (though it's mixed with the more conventional crime thriller genre.) the slick direction (which is memorable and the best thing about the film) might detract attention from the exploitation aspect, but in the scenes of violence (esp. one slow-mo shot), that's what it boils down to. i'd call most, if not all of refn's movies exploitation films. EDIT: Also updated my favs of 2017 list. "brawl" on 12th spot.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on May 18, 2018 18:31:54 GMT -5
Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
Intense film based on the eponymous teenagers' true accounts. Incredible flick, great Bowie soundtrack.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Jul 4, 2018 11:26:22 GMT -5
Hereditary. First half was terrifying, tragic, and promising; second half disappointed by turning into conventional and superficial haunted house horror (like what I imagine Insidious or The Conjuring to be).
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Post by Reba on Jul 29, 2018 16:04:00 GMT -5
suite française. it's so funny how in mission impossible (1996) kristin scott thomas was smooching tom cruise and now in 2018 tom cruise is still doing mission impossible movies whereas 4 years ago KST was already being cast as a stern old crone
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Post by Reba on Nov 27, 2018 0:22:42 GMT -5
finally saw First Reformed. absolutely baller, best flick of 2018 by far. the last ~60 seconds made me furious, but every other scene, every line of dialogue was superb.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Nov 27, 2018 13:10:09 GMT -5
I wanna see First Reformed real bad, but I haven't seen it playing anywhere near me yet :/ I'd be disappointed, if I missed it. Watched Paolo Sorrentino's Berlusconi flick 'Loro' last. First half is kind of like 'Wolf of Wall Street' in Italy, and second half is a bit more solemn, elegant Sorrentino. All in all, pretty great (not quite as great as 'La Grande Belleza', but still).
EDIT: Reba I just saw that you watched The Killing of a Sacred Deer and liked it. What are your thoughts on it? I feel like I would've gotten more out of it had I read about the Greek mythology it's supposedly based on (Iphigenia of Tauris).
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Post by Reba on Dec 4, 2018 10:58:32 GMT -5
i didnt read the synopsis at all and for the first ~50 minutes thought it was just gonna be another creepy-awkward drama, but i was delighted to see it suddenly become an overt thriller, much more so than dogtooth or the lobster. i think that's the logical conclusion of lanthimos' form. i've also never seen a villain quite like the creepy kid, his whole slovenly insincere manner was great.
i dunno how much the greek play really matters to it other than the title.
looking forward to seeing The Favourite in an opera house this month, rather than a stuffy indie kinema. i hope it's his best because i'm all about period drama now, hell i love period drama so much they callin me Aunt Flo..
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Dec 4, 2018 14:09:02 GMT -5
I went blind into the movie as well, and I also really liked the creepy kid. Firstly because of the enigmatic, strange relationship with Farrell's character he had (which kind of turns out to be a red herring?), and then for the same reason you mentioned -- the actor really nailed that performance, too. And I really liked the strange affliction that befalls the kids and how realistically this kind of magical-realist thing is portrayed, but was actually disappointed how it turned into a thriller, because it was such a substandard one. I didn't really believe the parents' actions, and I didn't get the very ending, which felt uninspired to me (or like I didn't get some message). I did like it more than Dogtooth, even if the latter had theoretically more interesting ideas. However, the Lobster is definitely still my fav Lanthimos film, as its unique world is immersive, and the story is much more elegantly constructed (the ending is great, too). I heard very good things about The Favourite -- Have fun at the Opera House! hell i love period drama so much they callin me Aunt Flo.. Ew.
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Post by gothicarchiesfan on Dec 4, 2018 15:36:36 GMT -5
Frauds (1993) Dir. Stephan Elliot. A very uneven but hugely entertaining Australian dark comedy. Hugo Weaving and Josephine Byrnes play a young married couple who get mixed up in a scheme involving death by crossbow and insurance fraud. Phil Collins(!!!) is genuinely a blast as their psychopathic insurance claims adjuster who decides to ruin their lives just for fun.
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Post by Reba on Dec 4, 2018 23:15:37 GMT -5
I went blind into the movie as well, and I also really liked the creepy kid. Firstly because of the enigmatic, strange relationship with Farrell's character he had (which kind of turns out to be a red herring?), and then for the same reason you mentioned -- the actor really nailed that performance, too. And I really liked the strange affliction that befalls the kids and how realistically this kind of magical-realist thing is portrayed, but was actually disappointed how it turned into a thriller, because it was such a substandard one. I didn't really believe the parents' actions, and I didn't get the very ending, which felt uninspired to me (or like I didn't get some message). i thought the restrained fury/desperation of colin farrell's character was really well done, but i was a bit disappointed with nicole kidman in the movie. i sensed that she was the only one who didn't quite get the dry acting style of lanthimos movies? then again her character also seemed shallowly and confusingly written, so it might not be her fault. as for the ending, maybe it was uninspired, but i dont know how i would end it either.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Dec 12, 2018 18:19:11 GMT -5
So I watched The House That Jack Built--It's the first film of von Trier's that I hated. I was actually tempted to walk out at around the half-way point, but I wanted the assurance that I hate the film as a whole, and not just up til the point I've seen. The ending did suck me in (partly because of my Catholic upbringing, I'm sure--not to spoil anything), and I liked the end... but it did not make what went before any more worth it. The movie's core remained as hollow by the end as I suspected it was throughout the film.
This is the Lars von Trier that so far I've only read about in disparaging reviews from his haters, about films that I didn't agree with them on, films I did like. As, f.ex., with Nymphomaniac, which I warily decided to watch, but ended up liking a lot, and still find to be quite underrated. But "The House" is finally the film I consider not just self-indulgent (which can be good--not here), but rather terribly boring, which von Trier clearly tried to mask by showing the most graphic violent imagery he could think up. This, combined with the violence being framed as black humour, is probably the element that made me go from disappointed to hating the film. It's exploitation pretending to be provocative smarts, when in fact von Trier seems to have so much internalized his enfant terrible label that he just let it overrule his artistic talents completely (save for technical directorial ability). Which is ironic, considering he tried to force some commentary on art with the film... Of course, not without inserting some contrived meta-supercut of his filmography for good measure (yes, he did).
I can imagine Lars having watched footage on YouTube of Glenn Gould playing Bach in a (likely staged--even though he was a genius) moment of frenzied musical inspiration, and thinking "Wow, what if Gould had become a serial killer instead of a musician??" And then he'd go make a banal movie where he repeatedly inserted that very footage of Glenn Gould into it, to drive his dull point home. That's the movie for ya, basically.
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Post by Reba on Dec 12, 2018 23:35:01 GMT -5
So I watched The House That Jack Built--It's the first film of von Trier's that I hated. I was actually tempted to walk out at around the half-way point, but I wanted the assurance that I hate the film as a whole, and not just up til the point I've seen. The ending did suck me in (partly because of my Catholic upbringing, I'm sure--not to spoil anything), and I liked the end... but it did not make what went before any more worth it. The movie's core remained as hollow by the end as I suspected it was throughout the film. This is the Lars von Trier that so far I've only read about in disparaging reviews from his haters, about films that I didn't agree with them on, films I did like. As, f.ex., with Nymphomaniac, which I warily decided to watch, but ended up liking a lot, and still find to be quite underrated. But "The House" is finally the film I consider not just self-indulgent (which can be good--not here), but rather terribly boring, which von Trier clearly tried to mask by showing the most graphic violent imagery he could think up. This, combined with the violence being framed as black humour, is probably the element that made me go from disappointed to hating the film. It's exploitation pretending to be provocative smarts, when in fact von Trier seems to have so much internalized his enfant terrible label that he just let it overrule his artistic talents completely (save for technical directorial ability). Which is ironic, considering he tried to force some commentary on art with the film... Of course, not without inserting some contrived meta-supercut of his filmography for good measure (yes, he did). I can imagine Lars having watched footage on YouTube of Glenn Gould playing Bach in a (likely staged--even though he was a genius) moment of frenzied musical inspiration, and thinking "Wow, what if Gould had become a serial killer instead of a musician??" And then he'd go make a banal movie where he repeatedly inserted that very footage of Glenn Gould into it, to drive his dull point home. That's the movie for ya, basically. that's been my reaction to all of von trier's movies. i never saw anything as outrageous as that supercut you mention though LOL
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Dec 13, 2018 19:03:48 GMT -5
Most of my hate comes from the way the specific subject was handled, though... The tastelessness of glorifying/trivializing serial murder in such a cheap, empty way. I used to have a bit of a fascination with serial killers myself, with the fact that people like that exist, and read up on some. But the more I read, the more I saw that there is really nothing interesting about them as people, and how little there is to gain from the subject. (A film like We Need to Talk About Kevin is much better, because it focuses on the mother of a mass shooter, instead of the latter.)
Other films of von Trier's have much more exciting material & subject matter to work with (like Dogville or the brillant Breaking the Waves), that he manages to squeeze out more from with his flamboyant stylistic approach.
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