What Films Are We Watching?

Started by Something Spanish, March 31, 2018, 04:59:34 PM

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Something Spanish

Not sure is there is already a thread for this, but wanted to put it up mainly for older flicks that don't require a page of their own. Sort of like a Letterboxd thing to see what everyone has seen lately and maybe share some thoughts on recently viewed flicks...

Today I went with Kill Me Again (1989), which I wanted to catch before it expired on Amazon Prime, followed by Death Sentence (2007) because that leaves Netflix tomorrow. Kill Me Again was pretty bad, even with a playfully sadistic Michael Madsen who actually has a scene where he tortures a guy tied to a chair a la "Stuck In The Middle with You", tried to play like early noir, especially in its dialogue,  only to be bogged down by uninspired twists. One of the biggest problems for me aside for the cheesy writing was the dearth of chemistry between Kilmer and the female lead. Has a real late-80's early 90's crime vibe to it.

Death Sentence was equally silly and unbelievable in story but so very damn fun, a pulpy B-movie like I had not seen in a while. Really enjoyed how serious everyone took the schlocky material, and Bacon is fucking killer. Also Garret Hedland came through as a heavy, heavy badass, relishing every cigarette and shoot out like any over the top psycho villain would. The Violence and action was really nicely done.

jenkins

[nerd facts] Kill Me Again is and feels like John Dahl's first. my personal favorite is his next, Red Rock West, with Nic Cage and Dennis Hopper. at the time he was considered a prominent figure within neo-noir, and his third movie, The Last Seduction, was considered the best example. Unforgettable i've never seen and Rounders i always thought of as okay, but Joy Ride is another solid entry. Steve Zahn and Paul Walker. screenwriter JJ Abrams at a pivotal point. Joy Ride i own on blu-ray.

this is a good topic imo. i finished rewatching Napoleon Dynamite today. i felt emotional at the end, after Dynamite's dance, after the clapping, when hope comes to Pedro's face. then when Dynamite and Deb played tetherball at the end. i felt emotional.

Something Spanish

One of the theatre's down here is having a Wes retrospective in conjunction with the release of his new flick, with Rushmore being the only one playing on 35mm, so naturally I went with that over the weekend. Pretty good print for being almost 20-years old. For most of the running time I had this irremovable grin that bordered on embarrassment, in disbelief how strongly the film holds up and how much affection I have for it after all this time. Took me back in memory to seeing it for the first time as a teen.  I can't remember the last time I popped on my Criterion, at least 5-6 years, but I had forgotten just how much I love this flick, so sweet and quirky and full of emotion. Wes has since gotten more sophisticated in his storytelling and subjects, here he's brimming with youth. Had a really good time watching that one.



Also peeped White Ribbon yesterday on FilmStruck. I had seen it at a press screening tail-end of 2009 but nodded out a few times towards the end, having since wanted to revisit it in full. That time was yesterday. The movie is mesmerizing, a masterpiece in my eyes. Such understated evil, all so masterfully done, always shocking you with quiet cruelties. I need to see more Haneke.

polkablues

Quote from: KJ on April 02, 2018, 12:58:01 PM
edit: sorry, I misread that as White Robbin, as if you were talking about jessica robbin. the porn actress. my bad.

edit 2: sometimes I wish that I could ban myself from xixax, or that I had a more sophisticated film taste, so I had anything to add about Haneke.

At least your taste in porn seems to be pretty good.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Something Spanish

Amour is the first movie I've seen in full since the last post. Saw bits and pieces of other movies since (most of Ace in the Hole and half of Downsizing), passing out without fail 20 minutes in; an understandable side effect of being up and at'em for 18/19 hours. Between work and family duties, movie watching tends to suffer. Went with Amour because I guess I'm high on Haneke recently. It's a movie this side of devastation without going over the top and wringing out tears, a direction I could easily see other directors going for. There are many scenes that have stuck with me since last night, such as the husband's nightmare, his firing of a nurse, the final few minutes, and of course the wife's entire disintegration. It's a somber reminder of life's fragility and how temporary these frail bodies of ours really are. If I have one complaint is Isabelle Huppert being underused, could have used more of her onscreen but that's just nitpicking.

Also saw the documentary A Fuller Life, thought it condensed his film career too much but was overall a decent love letter from his daughter. Having read Fuller's autobiography last year, 80 minutes is too little time to devote to this man's monumental life.

Something Spanish

Saturday night saw Kids on 35mm, really good print. By the time the movie started at 12:30am I had been awake 22 hours, ready to nod out through most of it, but went anyway because who knows when, if  ever, I'll have another opportunity to see this one  on film. Kids really is one of a kind, almost like a documentary with no narrator. Now it's a filmed time-capsule of a generation that faded away over two decades ago, still bearing relevance and hitting as hard as any timeless classic does. The authenticity is jaw dropping. Most of the roles were tailored to the person cast in it, so it's no wonder how the conversations and actions feel so natural, the performances so effortless. Having not seen the flick in full for at least 10-years, I forgot just how good it was. First time I heard of this one was waiting for the school bus about 2 months after its release and overhearing a bunch of kids waiting with me go on about how it's easily the best movie ever made. Growing up around skaters at the time, this movie was hard to avoid, everyone I know saw it, spoke about it, reenacted scenes, but I actually did not get around to Kids until probably '02/'03. I have a distinct memory of reading the screenplay in the fall of '97 on my dad's computer and being amazed by the dialogue, how real if felt, like someone was transcribing taped conversations of kids I knew. As big an impact as Kids had on the indie scene, I can't think of many movies that imitated it successfully and were able to stand on their own. I know there were a few cheap knock-offs, although I can't rattle off any titles off the top of my head. Really glad with my decision to man up, fight the fatigue and make the screening, if only for Harmony Korine's fishbowl-lenses glasses cameo. This retro movie theatre down here is playing movies programmed  by Korine all month (titles include Easy Money, OC and Stiggs, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, BMX Bandits, Gleaming the Cube, Any Which Way You Can, Belly,Beat Street)  in addition to all his work. They played Trash Humpers on 35mm last week, which I missed thanks to a cold. Will try to catch julien donkey-boy and Gummo next week, think the only Korine I've ever seen was Spring Breakers, which didn't do much for me mostly due to Franco's sorry excuse for a Riff Raff imitation.

Sleepless

I really enjoyed Spring Breakers the one time I saw it. It's the only HK I've seen. Tried to watch Mister Lonely a couple of days ago and turned it off less than half-way through, I just couldn't get into it at all.
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Robyn

Quote from: Sleepless on April 17, 2018, 01:15:05 PM
I really enjoyed Spring Breakers the one time I saw it. It's the only HK I've seen. Tried to watch Mister Lonely a couple of days ago and turned it off less than half-way through, I just couldn't get into it at all.

you should at least try gummo. not my favorite, I actually like mister lonely more, but it's the one people seem to enjoy the most. it's completely different to mister lonely, too.

Reel

Gummo has been at the top of my list for DVD's I need to own going on something like 2 years now, but I just can't get past the idea of spending $20 for a DVD with no special features... I really need it in my life, though. Harmony Korine's realism and sense of humor is hard to come by in any other filmmaker..

Quote from: Something Spanish on April 17, 2018, 10:45:21 AM
First time I heard of this one was waiting for the school bus about 2 months after its release and overhearing a bunch of kids waiting with me go on about how it's easily the best movie ever made.

First time I heard about KIDS was at a pool party, I must've been about 7. All I heard was that "the first scene is two 12 year olds screwing" lol.

I found the DVD cheap at a thrift store last year and got rid of it soon after rewatching. Just kind of disgusted by Larry Clark's leering gaze throughout.

Robyn

I read somewhere that herzog realized what a genius korine is the moment he saw that piece of bacon taped on the wall in the bathtub scene. I always thought that was hilarious, says a lot about both of them I think.



QuoteIn some of the scenes there's strips of bacon, if you look closely, because like, bacon was my aesthetic.

QuoteSeriously, all I want to see is pieces of fried bacon taped on walls, because most films just don't do that.

Robyn

just imagine for a second korine pitching this scene to herzog, and how much he must have liked it, " flying nuns you tell me? shit, that is good" (in thick german accent)


csage97

I've only been catching the standard new stuff in the cinemas, partly because of being busy, but then also because I'm in sort of a rut for older films being able to grab my attention. Last time I consistently watched things that weren't brand new was last summer or so when I went through Kubrick's films from 2001 on, and went through some of Olivier Assayas' films. I really enjoyed Something in the Air.

Other than that, I tried to get through Killing of a Sacred Deer on Netflix, but shut it off halfway through in only mild interest. I did enjoy The Lobster, but I don't enjoy Lanthimos' style enough to sit through a story that had the mood of The Lobster but a worse story IMO. I also did watch Darjeeling Limited again somewhat recently, which was fun.

I'm trying to look through the Criterion catalogue and see if anything catches my eye, but I haven't been totally successful. My friends and I watched some bad movies a little while ago too. I Know Who Killed Me was a highlight.

jenkins

Gummo has 20 scenes great for party conversation. this is a minor example, that's how good Gummo is



creatively speaking he was born beautiful


Something Spanish


csage97

Actually, I forgot about some Demme films I caught recently. One not very good starring Meryl Streep, and one very good starring Jodie Foster. Other than that, I've watched TWBB, Punch-Drunk Love, and IV more than three times each in the last year.

I've seen Spring Breakers, but I don't know if I have the stomach to see any other HK movies. His new one sounds really cool, though.