Recently Watched Films 2010

[oldirtybastien]

Un homme qui dort (1974)
Bernard Queysanne



Absolutely amazing. This 'voix' evoked something my mind was already poisoned with, so time remains unbeatable in its cocoon.
Mute and deep.

I've always wanted to see this - is there a (reasonably priced and still available) DVD?

http://www.parutions.com/index.php?pid= ... 2&ida=1117

30 euros though but that's the only edition I know

[Dan Warburton]

Thanks mon ami - Christmas is coming, what the hell..

[Dan Warburton]

Robert Bresson, Lancelot du Lac, 1974

http://ihatemusic.noquam.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2497

[surfer]

Rembrandt's J'accuse (Greenaway, 2008)

[Dan Warburton]

Arthur Penn, Night Moves, 1975

The DVD finally showed up, late. And what a cracking film! Not much to add to the fine Senses of Cinema article Michael linked to three pages back http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2010/feat ... t-moves-2/ (Ebert and Rosenbaum have some good things to say about it too), but MAYBE THE FOLLOWING COULD BE A SPOILER SO WATCH OUT did anyone else spot a North by Northwest connection? Both films' "McGuffins" are antiques (or, in the Hitchcock, something purportedly hidden in an antique), and the attack by plane at the end is a kind of watery equivalent of the famous crop duster plane scene in NxNW (a totally gratuitous scene by the way, completely absurd and adding nothing at all to the film - Hitch indulging in cinema for cinema's sake).
Anyway, great movie, one I'll be watching again and again. As Joan La Barbara sez in her liner notes to the new Alvin Curran box on New World: "The Seventies. You had to be there."

[MRS]

Glad you finally got it Dan, I'll paraphrase whatever Leroy said when it came up last, hard to believe Penn put something together with such depth (after Bonnie & Clyde).

[quinn]

2304297733_59416e761c.jpg (147.8 KiB) Viewed 8117 times

Mike Leigh, Life Is Sweet, 1990

social realism...the first Mike Leigh film I've seen and a good introduction to his work as I'll definitely be trying to see more of his films soon

[Dan Warburton]

Try and get hold of Meantime next - or, if you want to see another side of pineapple mauling Timothy Spall above, Secrets and Lies. Funny, I saw Timothy Spall yesterday in this



They don't call it Harry Potter 7 for nothing!

Oh yes, Timothy Spall plays Wormtail

[Gaendaal]

Rare Exports (Jalmari Helander, 2010)

A fun little film and a nice twist on the usual kid-centric Christmas fare. Surprisingly creepy in parts but nicely done with it. I'll never look at Santa's elves in the same light again...

[Dan Warburton]

Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men, 2006

Watching the French riot police patrol the streets in their thousands, or seeing images of the Sangatte refugee camp (see below), I have a horrible feeling that the world Cuarón depicts so stunningly in this film (the attention to detail is simply staggering) is not too far away. Had a similar premonition back in 1991 when I saw Wenders' flawed, undeniably self-indulgent but thought provoking Until The End Of The World - and now see it happening every day, watching people plugged into their iPods, gawping at their iPhones and sending their little incoherent text messages to fellow addicts.



Last one out turn out the light..

[billygomberg]

Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men, 2006

I will continue to insist that this is one of the very best movies of the last 10 or 20 years, especially considering that it is really a Hollywood film. The technical artistry in the photography, design, and editing is incredible, yet so transparent in service of the story.

[Dan Warburton]

Couldn't agree more, Billy. The 2 DVD version I picked up (cheap) from Amazon also came with a bonus disc including fun interviews with Slavoj Žižek, Tzvetan Todorov, Naomi Klein, James Lovelock et al., plus excellent interviews with the designers and a "how it was done" featurette on how they filmed the baby being born. Oops, hope that isn't a spoiler..

[Dan Warburton]

Lionel Rogosin, Come Back Africa, 1959

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Back,_Africa As usual the same sometimes awkward but touching mix of scripted dialogue (which can come off as rather wooden, as none of the actors are pros) and amazing raw footage of Sophiatown township life. Also notable for featuring the then unknown Miriam Makeba in a shebeen jam session - this film, or rather Rogosin himself, helped her get out of South Africa, and she thanked the director for paying her way to Venice by rounding on him in the press as a rank amateur and running off to bigger and brighter (but not always better) things with Harry Belafonte.

[splityourwig]

Dietmar Brehm - Schwarzer Garten aka Black Garden (1987 - 2000)

[INDEX DVD 016]

[billygomberg]

b/c our netflix of the last disc of Berlin Alexanderplatz was cracked clean through...

Magnificent Obsession (Sirk, 1954)


it's been a very long time since I've hung out in this corner of film history!

[Dan Warburton]

Not my favourite Sirk, but it has its moments. I prefer All That Heaven Allows, Imitation Of Life, There's Always Tomorrow and Written On The Wind.. and Todd Haynes' superb Far From Heaven which manages to pilfer ideas from all of them.

[splityourwig]

Todd Haynes' superb Far From Heaven which manages to pilfer ideas from all of them.

I imagine you've seen Haynes' Safe? I feel it's his masterpiece and one of my very favorite films. Still every bit as devastating and effective as when it was released in 1995.

p.s. Dan - check yr mail

[billygomberg]

Not my favourite Sirk, but it has its moments. I prefer All That Heaven Allows, Imitation Of Life, There's Always Tomorrow and Written On The Wind.. and Todd Haynes' superb Far From Heaven which manages to pilfer ideas from all of them.

yeah it was pretty fluffy straight through. I recall Haynes' interpretation to incorporate much more of the bit that exists only as subtext in Sirk's stories. but I also think that Haynes is pretty untouchable.

[Dan Warburton]

Tommy Lee Jones, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, 2005

Third time, even better. Great performances from Jones and Barry Pepper. Makes for an interesting comparison with No Country for Old Men and Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia

[billygomberg]

Tommy Lee Jones, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, 2005

Third time, even better. Great performances from Jones and Barry Pepper. Makes for an interesting comparison with No Country for Old Men and Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia

I feel like this movie has come up before - very underrated/underappreciated contemporary western.