Thank, Ecurb. Very useful as some of these films will be shown here only in February. Had a good laugh at the ironic passages.
Thank, Ecurb. Very useful as some of these films will be shown here only in February. Had a good laugh at the ironic passages.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
Darkest Hour with Gary Oldman - really liked it id give it an 8
The Post
A film every American should see. Though I should like to see a film focused on Daniel Ellsberg himself. This one centers on the newspaper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrXlY6gzTTM
8,5/10,00
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
I saw "Phantom Thread" last night, induced to do so by the rumor that it would be Daniel Day Lewis's final film. Lewis is one of the best film actors of the past 30 years, and the son of former Poet Laureate Cecil Day Lewis. In addition he quit acting for five years to become a cobbler, which makes his interest in fashion and clothing piquant.
The film is gorgeous. The actors, the clothes, the still-lifes of the interior sets and the all-too-rare outdoor scenes all look great. The music by Johnny Greenwood --mostly piano -- adds to the creepy and claustrophobic atmosphere. Day Lewis's film sister Cyril is clearly designed to resemble Mrs. Manvers from "Rebecca", and adds to the creepy, stylized atmosphere. Day Lewis (Mr. Woodcock) gets rid of one model and muse, and picks up another one (Alma) at a restaurant. How Day Lewis and his models retain their slender figures is something of a mystery, considering the amount of food they order and consume. Trays of delicious-looking sweet rolls appear at each breakfast, but remain uneaten -- perhaps representing the control needed for artistic production.
Unfortunately, all of the beauty and creepy claustrophobia that the film so skillfully produces leads nowhere. Cyril is a cipher, clip-clopping about the house in her sensibly blocky high heels. I kept waiting for her to do something, but she never does. Alma and Woodcock wander through a sickly, co-dependent relationship with neither resolution nor (despite the dramatic details) drama. I suppose this is a post-modern motif -- things just happen that lead nowhere, or to walls so high their tops cannot be seen. In addition, I was annoyed with the notion that an artist is, by nature, deranged, and that his psychoses must be indulged, and his life ordered, to facilitate his creativity.
At one point Alma runs off to attend a New Years Eve party solo, and I whispered to my companion, "Let's hope they wrap it up sometime this year." Still, the positives of the film far outweigh the negatives, and it's well worth seeing.
just puttin' in another plug for wonder woman!!
Last film i watched is illumination by krzysztof zanussi. Great film. It's about a guy who faces an existential crisis seeks answer through his study physics. Later thinks about joining biology but ends up with mathematics. In between he takes turn towards religion too. In each of his pursuits he finds the institutions to be in one way or other corrupt, not sufficient enough to satisfy his quest.
one of the great polish films i have seen.
This filmmaker i recently identified can be considered along with the lines of wajda, kieslowski and other polish greats.
I have seen another of his film too "Structure of crystal" . Another one centering on science graduates, professionals. Pretty good one.
Just saw Justice League. It's terrible.
Three billboards outside ebbing missouri
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thr...bing_missouri/
10/10
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
"The Rider" is an independent film directed by Chloe Zhao, who hails from Beijing. Her father was a businessman , and she was shipped off to England for secondary school, and to America for further education at NYU's Tisch school of Film. From this life, she has evidently become fascinated with Native Americans, and her two films are set on the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation, in southwest South Dakota. This area was home to the last of the Ghost Dances, and the notorious incident at Wounded Knee.
The film uses Native American non-actors in the starring roles, playing fictionalized versions of themselves. The star is Brady Jandreau (playing Brady Blackburn). IN both the movie and in real life, he is a budding rodeo star who has his skull fractured by a bronc. He struggles with his doctor's advice to quit both rodeo and horse training (both of which he loves). His film debut is a smash hit -- the camera loves him. His sister and father in the film are played by (you guessed it) his sister and father. His father is irresponsible and alcohol-loving, but also loves his children and teaches them well. Brady's sister is mentally handicapped, and the film captures the self reliance of the Blackburn family in loving her and taking care of her. (In real-life she has asperger's syndrome.)
The scenes depicting Brady training wild horses are great (the real life Brady quit the rodeo, but continued to train horses). Brady's obvious expertise, concentration, skill and talent all shine. The wild Western Prairie terrain looks fabulous -- the clouds, the Badlands, and the wind-swept grass set the mood perfectly.
This isn't a big movie. There are no super-heroes. But the film captures the melding of American motifs. The rodeo is (doubtless) a white mans' invention -- but Brady (who looks partly white) and his Native pals love it. It is the acceptance of a new way of life that honors the Native Lakota tradition of loving horses, and the notion that one's identity as a man is largely defined by one's skills as a horseman. "The Rider" probably won't stay at your local theater for long: don't miss it.
Last edited by Ecurb; 05-14-2018 at 03:02 PM.
All You Need is Cash aka The Rutles, which is a TV film really. It's a mockumentary of the Beatles filmed in 1978. It's a little patchy, but the good bits more than make up. It has a strong set of near copyright infringing Beatles pastiches. When it was first broadcast on the NBC in 1978, it was the least watched prime time show that week. George Harrison assisted making it; John Lennon loved it so much he refused to give the tape back; Ringo Starr found most of it funny but the bits about their manager and the squabbling made him sad. Paul McCartney really did not like it, but Linda did and persuaded him not to stop it. I'm a little surprised Lennon liked it, because they parodied him mercilessly. I have been around for fifty years and have only just watched it.
According to Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence once said that Balzac was 'a gigantic dwarf', and in a sense the same is true of Dickens.
Charles Dickens, by George Orwell
The Sndrome of Berlin and i liked it 8.10
Lord of the Flies by Peter Brook
Found it in the net:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puglTctwozM
Good film but the book is better.
8,5/10
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
A great film which I actually like more than the book. Thanks for posting it, Danik.Originally Posted by Danik 2016
i saw "Old Man with a Gun" and "Widows" recently. "Old Man" is (reputedly) Robert Redford's last movie. It's based on a "New Yorker" article by David Grann -- an excellent long-form journalist -- about an elderly bank robber. The aging thief is polite charmer who simply can't resist the thrill of robbing banks and escaping from jails. Redford is appealing and cute in the film -- but let's face facts. He's not as appealing or cute as he was 40 years ago, and cuteness is pretty much the limit of his talent. Sissy Spacek plays his love interest, and in one scene she makes tea. I know old people often live unexciting lives. I also know that they (we?) sometimes drink tea, and that the scene took only 20 seconds. But that's the kind of detail that could be omitted from a heist movie, and I couldn't help but think that if she had only made coffee it might have improved the pace of the film.
"Widows" is directed by Steve McQueen (no, he hasn't returned from the dead, he's the British director of "Twelve Years a Slave"). It stars Viola Davis. A heist has gone wrong, and the four thieves are slain in a hail of police bullets. One of their widows (Viola) finds a notebook outlining plans for another big heist. Three of the widows join forces to steal the $5 million. The movie is well done and set in my former home town of Chicago. Robert Duval plays an aging Chicago alderman, and the black crook running against his son is appropriately evil (as are Duval and his son). The movie lacks something, though. The heist plotted in the notebook isn't sufficiently complicate or ingenious to carry the plot. What's the point of the notebook, with its pedestrian plot? Also, since when do crooks keep detailed plans in notebooks? Couldn't that provide evidence for District Attorneys? I'll say this: the movie is reasonably fun anyway, certainly more fun than "TWelve Years a Slave", which was about as enjoyable as being flogged with a bamboo cane.
Haven't seen a film since 3 Billboards, then 2 in one week.
Bohemian Rhapsody cleaned up Freddy Mercury's story a little but was wonderful anyway. I intend to let my 8 and 9yos see it, since they love the music. Lots of background info on the band and insights into Freddy's life and personality that were already in the public domain, but very well portrayed here.
Juliet, Naked lightweight drama with lovely message. Think Love Actually but slightly less comedic. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
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