Recently Watched Films 2012

[schiksalgemeinschaft]

heavy-handed to the point of feeling abusive.

m

I think that was the directors intention actually. not that that makes you & surfer less right.

[sevenarts]

Yeah, Requiem is very intentionally over the top, I find it pretty grating. Great performances and some really interesting scenes (the split-screen sex scene, some of the intense closeups) but on the whole I think it's Aronofsky's worst film by some distance. Even his rough debut Pi is better.

I really like The Fountain, The Wrestler and Black Swan, though, even though in different ways they're every bit as unsubtle.

[Dan Warburton]

Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer, 2010

So this is what Roman was up to when he was under house arrest in his Swiss chalet last year, cooking up a cool was-the-British-PM-a-CIA-stooge thriller based on Robert Harris's book, with its intentional sideswipes at the Blair / Bush "partnership" (funny, we were just talking about going ass-to-ass on the last page..). Of course, he couldn't jet over to film it in Martha's Vineyard - well, he could have, and the Americans would have welcomed him with open (fire)arms - so he headed north instead and did the location shooting on the windswept Danish island of Sylt, which, if the weather is anything to go by, looks like about the last place you might want to build yourself a snazzy holiday home (it was all cooked up in the studio, of course - but what a set). Still, he managed to persuade 94-year-old Eli Wallach to drop in for a great little cameo, joining a solid cast - McGregor and Brosnan but also Jim Belushi, Timothy Hutton and Tom Wilkinson - working with a well-wrought screenplay, even if the dénouement is a bit underwhelming (I won't spoil it for you). Elegantly edited and paced, not as stellar as Chinatown (well, very few films are), but good work.

[presquepartout]

yasujiro ozu's the end of summer

[dialectics of shit]

the ghost writer was one of the worst movies i saw in 2010. i was pretty baffled because i had heard such good things.

[leroysghost]

Ewan McGregor should always be a red flag.

[Dan Warburton]

the ghost writer was one of the worst movies i saw in 2010.

Care to elaborate on that? What didn't you like about it? Meanwhile, last night's entertainment, all 203 minutes of it



Martin Scorsese, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, 2011

Most of the reviews I've read of this so far have gone overboard on Part Two, but I'd have preferred fewer clichés from widow Olivia ("The secret of a long marriage? Don't get divorced.." Rrrright..) less Jackie Stewart and Eric Idle and more archive footage of the period up to and including Dark Horse. Even so, if you're not familiar with Beatles history (and the biographical details on Stu Sutcliffe, Astrid Kirchherr, Brian Epstein et al.) you might find it rather confusing. I suppose retelling the story again would have made the film even longer, and it's long enough as it is. Great archive footage, for sure, and some illuminating interviews, but sprawls more than Scorsese's other celebrated music documentaries.

[presquepartout]

my god this was awful



peter watkins' punishment park

this wasn't awful



joel and ethan coen's miller's crossing

[Dan Warburton]

I still haven't seen that Watkins film yet, but I would like to know why you didn't care for it (seem to be asking this question quite a lot in this thread today!). Meanwhile, I love the Albert Finney screenshot.. Never quite been convinced by Finney's American accent in recent years, but he's still a mighty actor.

[billygomberg]

I still haven't seen that Watkins film yet, but I would like to know why you didn't care for it (seem to be asking this question quite a lot in this thread today!). Meanwhile, I love the Albert Finney screenshot.. Never quite been convinced by Finney's American accent in recent years, but he's still a mighty actor.

I would also like to know yr complaints w/Punishment Park - I don't think it is outstanding, but not terrible.

I think Finney's American is alright, enjoyably alright.

[presquepartout]

it had neat to cinematography and editing, but i just couldn't stand any of the "interviews." whether the film was meant to genuinely express its politics, all of the imprisoned folk were just unbearable to listen to. actually, i found myself sympathizing with the police force, in particular the sergeant. the sequence of him demonstrating how to use a handgun and a shotgun was by far the best part of the fim. i honestly wish the film was much more brutal, enacting far more "punishment" upon the captors.

[billygomberg]

it had neat to cinematography and editing, but i just couldn't stand any of the "interviews." whether the film was meant to genuinely express its politics, all of the imprisoned folk were just unbearable to listen to. actually, i found myself sympathizing with the police force, in particular the sergeant. the sequence of him demonstrating how to use a handgun and a shotgun was by far the best part of the fim. i honestly wish the film was much more brutal, enacting far more "punishment" upon the captors.

I agree that it is a very beautiful and daring film - but I think you are supposed to get this feeling you describe, Watkins is definitely into this kind of provocation, and that conflicting sympathy I think is part of the film.

[savantgarde]

peter watkins' punishment park

Grabbed this off passthepopcorn recently, planning to watch soonish.

[sevenarts]

I agree that it is a very beautiful and daring film - but I think you are supposed to get this feeling you describe, Watkins is definitely into this kind of provocation, and that conflicting sympathy I think is part of the film.

I think this is true. I like Punishment Park, and the over-the-top, exaggerated politics of the radicals are definitely intentional on Watkins' part. It's a really harrowing film, too.

My favorite Watkins - and one of my favorite films - is Edvard Munch, a true masterpiece. The politics are much more smoothly integrated in that one, and it has some of the best editing I've ever seen.

[billygomberg]

My favorite Watkins - and one of my favorite films - is Edvard Munch, a true masterpiece. The politics are much more smoothly integrated in that one, and it has some of the best editing I've ever seen.

an amazing film that is a bit challenging to find (and get through), but unmatched by anything else I've seen in it's singularity and execution.

[billygomberg]

Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer, 2010

Still, he managed to persuade 94-year-old Eli Wallach to drop in for a great little cameo, joining a solid cast - McGregor and Brosnan but also Jim Belushi, Timothy Hutton and Tom Wilkinson...

the idea that Jim Belushi contributes to a "solid cast" is a curious assessment.

[jon abbey]

My favorite Watkins - and one of my favorite films - is Edvard Munch, a true masterpiece. The politics are much more smoothly integrated in that one, and it has some of the best editing I've ever seen.

an amazing film that is a bit challenging to find (and get through), but unmatched by anything else I've seen in it's singularity and execution.

we had to stop watching it the one time we tried because we found it so powerful that we were empathetically beginning to feel sick.

as for Polanski, I saw Knife In the Water for the first time recently and was very underwhelmed. I should see Repulsion sometime, but I'm beginning to think he's almost as overrated as Brian DePalma was by Pauline Kael.

[Dan Warburton]

the idea that Jim Belushi contributes to a "solid cast" is a curious assessment.

I'm full of curious assessements. Try Dimenticare Palermo (Francesco Rosi) Billy and report back.

as for Polanski, I saw Knife In the Water for the first time recently and was very underwhelmed. I should see Repulsion sometime, but I'm beginning to think he's almost as overrated as Brian DePalma was by Pauline Kael.

He's far from my favourite director, but I'd avoid making blanket statements like the above without having seen one of his major films. That's a bit like taking a dump on AMM while admitting you haven't heard The Crypt. I agree with Ms Kael about De Palma, but if you're talking overrated, I'd say she's a rather good candidate herself.

[Dan Warburton]

Image a bit crappy (apologies), but the film certainly isn't



Chantal Akerman, Sud, 1999

"How do the trees and the whole natural environment evoke so intensely death, blood and the weight of history? How does the present call up the past? And how does this past, with a mere gesture or a simple regard, haunt and torment you as you wander along an empty cotton field or a dusty country road?" Akerman's production notes, quoted in http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2000/feat ... les/south/ Brief extract and some tasty guitar playing here http://www.artevod.com/bandeAnnoncePlay ... icheId=411

[leroysghost]

as for Polanski, I saw Knife In the Water for the first time recently and was very underwhelmed. I should see Repulsion sometime, but I'm beginning to think he's almost as overrated as Brian DePalma was by Pauline Kael.

I would tend to agree. Chinatown is awful, and the other films of his that I've seen (including Repulsion) have been a total waste of time aside from the trio 1967-1971.