Recently Watched Films 2010

[Dan Warburton]

Nikita Mikhalkov, Raba lyubvi ("A Slave to Love"), 1976

The more I see of this guy's stuff, the more I like it. Add this to the "films about filmmaking" thread, but the often hilarious antics of the crew trying to wrap up a silent movie in Odessa in 1917 is only part of a disturbing story which also includes counter-espionage and nascent revolution, and a leading actress loosely based on the Russian silent cinema diva Vera Kholodnaya. DP Lebechev, music Artemyev so quality guaranteed.

[leroysghost]

Couldn't you have guessed which one, LG?

in hindsight, yeah, probably.


Frederick Wiseman - Titicut Follies (1967)

[Dan Warburton]

Joseph Mankiewicz, No Way Out, 1950

[eraritjaritjaka]

If.... - Lindsay Anderson (1968)

loved this one.

[Dan Warburton]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Satansbraten, 1976

Holy shit, Batman!

[le.son.des.bruits]

Weird and enjoyable...

Takashi Miike's Visitor Q
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290329/

[eraritjaritjaka]

Weird and enjoyable...
Takashi Miike's Visitor Q
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290329/

love this one....definitely my favorite miike film.

[eraritjaritjaka]

One of My Wives Is Missing - Glenn Jordan (1976)

odd, convoluted little mystery/thriller...some outrageous plot conceits here, which is part of the fun.







Full Circle - Richard Loncraine (1977)

somewhat underrated horror/drama/ghost story. more contemplative than thrilling. a bit slow at times, but has a satisfying ending that's nicely shot too.

[cheerios]

Tonight's Double Feature at home started with Andrei Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublev"

[P. Wretch]

Two lesser-known films by Agnès Varda, seen in a current retro:

Lions Love (1969)



Jane B. par Agnès V. (1987)



Both of these films are curious hybrids of fiction and documentary. The first features Viva, one of Warhol's 'superstars', lounging around with Jim Rado and Jerry Ragni (creators of the musical Hair) in an idyllic Hollywood apartment full of plastic fruit and jungle wallpaper, improvising their dialogue and generally behaving like cartoon hippies, while news reports of the RFK assassination play in the background. Captures the whimsical countercultural narcissism of the late sixties at its best... or worst, depending on your perspective.

Jane B began after Jane Birkin wrote Varda a fan letter about Vagabond and the two of them met up. This is no straight documentary portrait, however, but an examination of the idea of portraiture in general, full of ornate tableaux (hints of Greenaway) and fantasy scenes in which Birkin plays various characters. There's an amusing bit where she is asked which male actor she would like to appear alongside in the next scene: she suggests Marlon Brando, but Varda tells her that he's too expensive a choice, and they opt for Jean-Pierre Léaud instead. Again, Birkin is the sort of person who is whimsical to the point of being borderline-irritating, but when integrated into Varda's filmic language (which anticipates her later autobiographical outing, Les plages d'Agnès), the result is difficult to resist.

I'm increasingly coming to regard Varda as a favourite director for her unorthodox and capricious approach to filmmaking, even if one can't always entirely share in her playful euphoria.

[Dan Warburton]

Eric Rohmer, Les rendez-vous de Paris, 1994

Not content with living in Paris, I always enjoy watching it star in its own films. Not a grade A Rohmer imo but it has its moments.

[eraritjaritjaka]

The Changeling - Peter Medak (1980)


decent ghost/haunting flick. bit light on the thrills though.







Who Saw Her Die? - Aldo Lado (1972)


somewhat weak giallo offering. though some great use of locations.

[free math]

MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE (Herzog, 2009)

i can't think of a whole lot to say about it, but it was enjoyable. the theatrical production scenes got a bit bogged down for my taste. some great performances by the cast (many of whom were in PORT OF CALL: NEW ORLEANS). a couple of sort of still-life moments that were pretty awesome.

[leroysghost]

the theatrical production scenes got a bit bogged down for my taste.

i thought it was was interesting how the play in the film was just a huge aggregate of a bunch of lines from famous Greek (?) plays that specifically relate to the film story. i'm sure i would have thought that was a lot cooler if i were more knowledgeable about such things, but that fact that it's slipped in there adds a nice extra layer to things (classical mythology buffs in the audience must have been shitting themselves).


Colin Eggleston - Long Weekend (1978)

"long weekend, sugar. you'll have to to miss tennis and do it on tuesday"

this very tense and moody "end of a marriage" film is a must for fans of foreshadowing and symbolism gone wild. i loved it.

not sure what all the "nature strikes back" nonsense on the dvd box was for though....that was not what the film was about AT ALL.

[cheerios]

Working my way through Tarkovsky's The Mirror

mainly about women and children in families during the cold war, with bouts of surrealism as usually can be expected from Tarkovsky.

[smithy]

Nikita Mikhalkov, Raba lyubvi ("A Slave to Love"), 1976

The more I see of this guy's stuff, the more I like it. Add this to the "films about filmmaking" thread, but the often hilarious antics of the crew trying to wrap up a silent movie in Odessa in 1917 is only part of a disturbing story which also includes counter-espionage and nascent revolution, and a leading actress loosely based on the Russian silent cinema diva Vera Kholodnaya. DP Lebechev, music Artemyev so quality guaranteed.

I've only seen Burnt by the Sun (1994) set in 1936 during the Stalinist purges. I saw it back then in 1994/5 so I don't remember too many details but I liked it a great deal. The director also took the leading role.

[smithy]

Working my way through Tarkovsky's The Mirror

mainly about women and children in families during the cold war, with bouts of surrealism as usually can be expected from Tarkovsky.

I think Mirror is perhaps the most straighforward of Tarkovsky's films though it may not seem so on first viewing. Mirror and Rublev are the two I hold in highest regard. I hope you enjoy the rest.

[grisha]

Nikita Mikhalkov, Raba lyubvi ("A Slave to Love"), 1976

The more I see of this guy's stuff, the more I like it. Add this to the "films about filmmaking" thread, but the often hilarious antics of the crew trying to wrap up a silent movie in Odessa in 1917 is only part of a disturbing story which also includes counter-espionage and nascent revolution, and a leading actress loosely based on the Russian silent cinema diva Vera Kholodnaya. DP Lebechev, music Artemyev so quality guaranteed.

I've only seen Burnt by the Sun (1994) set in 1936 during the Stalinist purges. I saw it back then in 1994/5 so I don't remember too many details but I liked it a great deal. The director also took the leading role.

may do i hate this one. and his next one, "Barber of Siberia", is just laughable. but this one just got a sequel, heard about it? the main guy is still alive, miraculously. he's a talented director, but he's also a greedy megalomaniac of sorts, and that got the best of him at some point. but i advise strongly to watch his debut feature, "At Home Among Strangers".

[Dohol]

It put me to sleep...

[rlrds]

Nine Queens-Fabian Bielinsky 2000
Straight Time-Ulu Grosbard 1978