Films we're watching in 2020

Started off the new year with a gloomy Swedish science fiction film, "Aniara".

A colony ship en route to Mars is propelled off-course, destined for the empty reaches of space. What kind of society survives aboard a ship where everyone knows there's no hope of ever setting foot on solid land?

Not altogether effective but the film does not shy away from existential despair and for that--

Recommended.

>1 CliffBurns: "Hello, we noticed you are moving kind of slow recently - would you like to join us as...um... for dinner?" ;-)

:::explaining my attempt at wit - an anticipated conversation in the flick.::

I note that Ian picked "Aniara" as his favorite film of 2019 and I can see why.

It's above and beyond the usual SF trash. The last few minutes are absolutely haunting. It's hard for us to imagine the true immensity of space, the time required to traverse even a relatively short distance (say, a couple of light years), let alone an entire galaxy.

And the vast majority of it is completely empty. A true void.

Terrifying to ponder.

>3 CliffBurns: I have it on my list, when I can find it.....

Watch it as a double bill with Claire Denis' "High Life".

It'll blow your mind like a dose of Owsley-era acid...

>3 CliffBurns: It's also Swedish :-)

>5 CliffBurns: I loved the first act of High Life, which reminded me a bit of video installations and the films of Ben Rivers. But then it went all clichéd and violent and I went off it.

"High Life" isn't perfect but I think you'll agree that in terms of SF cinema the bar is pretty fucking low.

"High Life" is, I assert, more original than most and therefore deserving of some credit.

Again, when you compare it to a waste of celluloid like "Ad Astra"...

>7 CliffBurns: Hollywood sf cinema, perhaps - *that* bar is low. And the Denis is hardly Hollywood. But the idea of putting a bunch of prisoners in a sealed spacecraft and watching them kill each other is as old as the genre itself, if not older. I also found the spacesuits really annoying because they clearly weren't airtight, but I'll admit that's just a quibble :-)

I think prolonged exposure to the void, especially when there's no hope of return, is enough to drive anyone to murder and mayhem--in that sense, there is some similarity between "High Life" and "Aniara".

>9 CliffBurns: Point taken, although I think Aniara is driven by despair but High Life simply presents criminals as inherently violent and brutal.

I'm currently rewatching Ad Astra and I do actually think I like it. It has its flaws - bodies don't explode in a vacuum, not even baboons - and the lighting is too fierce of interplanetary space, but... I like its distant, unemotional tone. In fact, I despise movies that all about the "feels" - like the new Star Wars films - and much prefer ones that are cold. OTOH, why do all space movies seems to have some irredeemable flaw? Gravity could have been great, but the ending implied everything that had gone before was the consequence of hubris, like some bad Greek myth. I suspect Ad Astra is the same. The only space movie, and it was actually a made-for-TV mini-series, that is actually driven by a love of science that I can think of is this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Odyssey_(TV_series)

i'm invariably disappointed when I watch contemporary SF cinema. Sometimes there are pleasant surprises, like "Cargo" a few years back, but that's mighty rare.

It's either a monster-in-space movie or utterly witless (lacking humor and intelligence, a la the recent offerings in the "Alien" franchise).

But what's really missing is, here I go again, that sensawunda. I'm not talking about eye-popping CGI, I mean a film that gives some hint of the vastness and scale of space that dwarfs our tiny, inconsequential human presence--there are 100 BILLION galaxies in the observable universe and our Milky Way is positively tiny compared to many others.

It is an awe-inspiring setting for a movie, yet few film-makers (Kubrick, Tarkovsky) grasp the spiritual and existential questions it engenders.

>11 CliffBurns: Totally agree. I loved Cargo - thoroughly clichéd but lots of nice spins on the clichés. Alien is still the best film in the Alien franchise. But there's been some good stuff this century - like these https://iansales.com/2014/11/24/best-sf-films-since-2000/

And, of course, don't get me started on TV sf, most of which is either shit or fascist or both. I love BSG because of the choices it was forced to make. I loathe The Expanse. Stargate Sg-1 is lots of fun. Andromeda is meh.

Have you seen the re-booted "Lost in Space"?

The original Irwin Allen series from the 1960s was shite, shite, shite, but the new version has its moments. There's too much family drama (especially in the midst of crisis) but the acting is good and there have been some cool twists and turns. Love the robot in the new series too, it's shit scary.

#12--I liked a number of the films you list--I wasn't a fan of "Under the Skin", I might substitute "Equilibrium" for that one.

>10 iansales: The strange thing about 'Space Odyssey' (which I rate highly, too) is that it was actually made as a documentary: "This is what we think a future Solar System Grand Tour will look like". And yet the production team and the players got the spirit of exploration and discovery right, and the emotional landscape was really convincing.

Compare and contrast with the National Geographic's 'Mars', which didn't succeed on either front, in part precisely because the documentary they shoehorned in was "A Day in the Life of Elon Musk". Apart from anything else, it meant there was a great big discontinuity between the documentary and drama threads in the series, whereas the planetary science in 'Space Odyssey' was (and still is) seamlessly inserted, even though we know some of it has been overtaken by new discoveries since.

I already know 99% of the movies I'll be watching in 2020: Pre-70s, preferably b/w & with dire special effects, ones about alien robots, mysterious killer heat waves, invisible Earth-invaders, unearthed malevolent prehistoric creatures. A couple channels here show only oldies and some of those are bound to turn up on them. Also the occasional documentary film.

>14 CliffBurns: I've seen the first season but not the second. Yes, it had its moments and it was much better than the camp farce that was the original.

Took advantage of a free introductory offer for streaming from Shudder TV and watched Issa Lopez's "Tigers Are Not Afraid".

Sherron and i were blown away.

Stunning film, realistic performances--imagine "Los Olivados" mixed with "City of God", with a supernatural angle thrown in.

Young girl in crime-ridden Mexico loses her mother and falls in with a street-smart gang of kids. They are being hunted by narco-killers but the ghosts around them guide and (sometimes) protect them.

Cannot praise this film highly enough.

Must see film.

Here's a good interview with the director:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/issa-lopez-on-the-horrors-of-tigers-are-not-afraid-her-1...

Dipping into my week-long Shudder-TV membership, watched an old horror film shot in Canada in 1980.

I remembered "The Changeling" with fondness but...I was wrong.

The film does not date well--hard to believe it was directed by Peter Medak, the man responsible for "The Ruling Class".

"The Changeling" is dull, formulaic, very little to recommend it.

So I won't.

Gord sent me this:

Hidden gems of cinema from the 2010s:

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6738-hidden-gems-of-the-2010s

I'll second Alex Ross Perry's opinion on "Hard to be a God". A MONUMENTAL film, among the greatest ever.

A double feature on Shudder TV tonight (gotta watch as many films as I can before the trial subscription runs out).

The first was a real find, Xander Prince's "Are We Not Cats".

Unsettling, to say the least. Loser falls in with a gal who, like him, has a thing for eating human hair. Sounds too weird, right? But this small, indie film really captures the psyches of marginal figures, barely scraping by on the fringes of society. It's an accomplished effort, no amateurism and it will likely sneak on to my year's best list for 2020.

The second flick was one I'd seen before, James Whale's creaky "Old Dark House". Love Ernest Thesiger in this one. Stagy and dated, at 71 minutes it was just the right length.

Just finished Onibaba a 1964 film by Kaneto Shindo. This was kind of a surprise. It is always talked about as a horror classic but it is really more of a psychological thriller. Very few characters, very precise well developed conflict. And it is super sexy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2SkmwgU8qs

>21 CliffBurns: & others. If you liked “Hard to be a God”, I don’t think I finished watching it, then the movie I watched last night will be orgasmic for you.

“Lighthouse”, is a black & white/washed out grey film slimed over with misery from head to foot. Admittedly an artistic journal of a trip to madness it is still a flick you will need a break from after watching. Some of the gay rape overtones made me uncomfortable {not romantic!}. Two people meeting for the first time are stranded in their jobs as lighthouse keepers by a huge storm. Two people with serious grooming issues.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7984734/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

"The Lighthouse" is indeed on my list--should be arriving as an inter-library loan in a week or two.

I tend to like movies that others find nihilistic or incomprehensible or intolerable.

"Eraserhead' is a top ten all-time movie for me.

Not too many people ask for my film recommendations. They've learned better over the years...

>25 CliffBurns: I may have mentioned this before but when Eraserhead first came out it was all a friend of mine would talk about for a week - kindred soul ? ;-)

Once you experience "Eraserhead", you're never the same.

I saw what some consider the Japanese equivalent, "Tetsuo", not long ago.

Didn't hold a candle to Lynch's masterpiece.

Jordan Peele's "Us" last night.

There were some good jolts but I found the final explanation for the strange events taking place throughout the movie unconvincing. I thought there was a similar issue with his first effort "Get Out".

I think if Peele isn't careful he'll devolve into another M. Night Shyamalan--great premises but the films become increasingly ridiculous as they progress.

"Attack the Block", directed by Jon Cornish.

Savage aliens invade inner city London neighborhood and fun and mayhem result.

Actually quite fun, though brainless as a Trump supporter.

Check out Chris Morris's latest film, "The Day Shall Come":

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/sep/27/this-isnt-a-paranoid-future-nightma...

This really is must-see cinema.

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", directed by Quentin Tarantino.

No spoilers...but the last 20 minutes suck like a freshly formed black hole.

I know Tarantino feels it his right to change history to his convenience but this is ridiculous. I hated "Inglorious Bastards" except for a few gripping scenes. "Once Upon a Time..." is actually a brilliant evocation of a bygone era...until the last bit, where it falls apart like cheap jeans.

My wife was more forgiving but I was wild with rage. The "Tate-Lobianca" killings traumatized the entire city of Los Angeles, but in Tarantino's version the horror is trivialized and somehow made right.

Over the years, I've read a lot of material on Manson and that made Tarantino's aesthetic crimes all the more grievous in my eyes.

It's rare that I've seen movie that falls so completely apart as it reaches its climax.

Woof!

"1917" was worth the trip to the theatre, and I was taken by surprise with how full an audience we had. The gimmick to is that the camera stays with the characters the whole time, no cut scenes or cutaways, as they traverse the WW1 trenches and no-man's-land, etc. Funny thing, the next morning I discovered I could replay the whole thing scene for scene in my mind, because of its being filmed that way. I've generally no memory for doing that.

...and as a companion piece to my takedown of "Once Upon a Time...", here's a NEW YORKER style look at other alternate histories Tarantino might explore:

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/even-more-historical-events-as-reim...

(Hats off to Gord for sending me this one.)

>32 Cecrow: The first single-take film was Sokurov's Russian Ark in 2002. The next successful one was probably Victoria, the 2015 German film. Of course, Hitchcock tried to mimic one back in 1948 with Rope.

Welles used that great long, continuous take at the beginning of "Touch of Evil". And Robert Altman's famous tracking shot from "The Player". A good one in Alejandro González Iñárritu's "Birdman" too.

Hard to carry off, especially when modern movies are edited in short, snappy takes of a few seconds. Audiences, as a result, have a hard time dealing with filmmakers like Tarkovsky, Mizoguchi, Sokurov, etc. Their minds can't process the more leisurely pace of such efforts.

>34 iansales: i found the crowd scenes in 'Russian Ark' highly immersive, as much because they are filmed at eye level as for the single take, together with the snatches of conversation overheard as the p.o.v. character is jostled in the throng. (I have just enough Russian to pick out the odd word, and after ninety minutes of subtitles I was certainly beginning to feel part of the whole. Indeed, it's been about six weeks since I watched it, and just pausing for a moment and thinking, I found I could recollect quite large stretches of the film in a comparatively unbroken way.)

La Haine by Mathieu Kassovitz. A day in the life of three working class friends in the Paris suburbs during the race riots of the 1990's. Sometimes it feels like it's aiming for hipness, sometimes it smells of liberal condescension. A good movie though. Two of the three main actors are really good.

There's a new short film by David Lynch on Netflix:

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2020/01/david-lynch-short-film-netflix.ht...

Here's a sweet short film my wife sent me this morning:

https://vimeo.com/184859361?ref=em-share

"Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search for a Cool Place", documenting the bizarre trip across America taken by Kesey and the Merry Pranksters back in 1964. The footage is rough, the sound worse, but there's still a lot of worthwhile material, including footage of Neal Cassady speed-rapping and Jack Kerouac, looking drunken, sullen and washed up.

"Murder by Decree", a 1970s Sherlock Holmes mystery starring Christopher Plummer and James Mason. Not great but not terrible either. The film is choppy in places and Holmes doesn't seem as brilliant as he should be. Not bad for a Canadian film of that era--haven't seen it for 30 years so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane.

>40 CliffBurns: "Murder by Decree": is that part of the "Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper" sub-genre?

Righto...with an intriguing subplot involving Freemasons.

Saw it on late-night tv here sometime in the early 1980s and have been trying to track it down ever since. More usually, we get to see the 1965 excursion along these lines, 'A Study in Terror'.

"The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" was another oddball offering in the Holmes canon. I love Robert Stephens but the film, as I recall, was something of a misfire.

"The Two Popes"--basically a two-hander, featuring Anthony Hopkins at Pope Benedict and Jonathan Pryce as his reform-minded successor. Well-acted but not entirely convincing. Have the two men become as close as the movie indicates? A recent controversy at the Vatican seems to dispute that.

"Son of Saul" Award-winning film with the grimmest possible subject matter. The "Sonderkommando", composed of Jewish prisoners, were given the most harrowing, despicable tasks in the death camps. At Auschwitz, a revolt is brewing, but Saul just wants to find a rabbi to perform kaddish for a boy murdered by the Nazis.

I recall Stanley Kubrick's contention that to show what it was really like inside the camps would be tantamount to pornography and I see his point. A good deal of the scenes in "Saul" are out of focus, as the bodies are dragged out of the gas chambers and disposed of. I wonder if that was done for commercial or aesthetic reasons. It's horrific to show in all its detail but...isn't that the point? Not allowing us to avert our eyes from the cruelest form of genocide?

Can anyone recommend a good All-Regions BluRay/DVD player? One not ridiculously priced.

I've spotted a number of films of late that are only playable in Region 2 machines. Grrrr.

>46 CliffBurns:

Most DVD players can be converted to zone 0. Until recently the Blue Ray would only allow 5 changes of region ever. Watch out for that. Recently I spotted one for about $A150.

I don't thust that so if I were to buy that, I would bring in 2 different region Blu Ray diskis and ask to see it play 6 times :-)

Points noted.

My cinematic tastes are mighty obscure and i want to have the option of viewing a film, wherever it might come from.

In the UK, most DVD players are multi-region but Blu-ray players are locked to Region B. I found a place that multi-region Blu-ray players - mrmdvd.com - but I don't know if they ship to Canada. I brought my Blu-ray player with me to Sweden.

Monte Hellman's "The Shooting" last night. First time I've seen it in several decades.

Not as likable as "Ride in the Whirlwind" but a solid western, with a smashing performance by the always reliable Warren Oates.

Just got back from seeing Guy Ritchie's latest, "The Gentlemen".

It's loads of fun, full of the usual twists and turns Ritchie likes to throw at you. Not as great as "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels" or "Snatch" but well-acted, especially Hugh Grant in a surprisingly sleazy role.

"Blackthorn" last night, a western starring Sam Shepard.

Butch Cassidy escaped death in Bolivia and dreams of returning home to America 20 years later.

Not terrible but ponderously paced and lacking real punch.

Interview with Issa Lopez, director of the best film of 2019, "Tigers Are Not Afraid":

https://audioboom.com/posts/7491364-episode-175-issa-lopez-and-the-journey-to-ti...

Last night it was "Far From Men", a movie set during the Algerian war of independence. Based on a short story by Albert Camus that I read a few years back.

I thought the film makers perfectly captured the essence and tone of Camus and the movie, while slow-paced, was never boring. Excellent use of setting, as well.

Recommended.

Roger Michel's "Venus" tonight, one of Peter O'Toole's last films.

I was worried it would be too saccharine but "Venus" surprised me. There was some edge to it, some uncomfortable moments, O'Toole by turns pathetic and disturbingly lecherous. A brave performance by a gifted, dazzling talent.

Drove in to the big city (Saskatoon) to see "Parasite" on the big screen.

Great film, surprising and suspenseful, with extraordinary acting, along with a dash or two of the bizarre and macabre.

Highly recommended, deserving of the praise it has received.

>56 CliffBurns:, fun bit of trivia: the pizza box folding video is a real YouTube video from Ottawa:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-pizza-box-maker-parasite-1.5460561

That's great, a Canadian connection.

A friend sent me this, reminding me that Western audiences aren't going to pick up on some of the subtleties in "Parasite":

https://gen.medium.com/subtitles-cant-capture-the-full-class-critique-in-parasit...

Missed another film I saw recently, "Sound of My Voice", a gripping look at members of a cult who believe their leader has been sent from the future to guide them through the conflict and carnage to come.

Surprising and creepy.

Recommended.

Watched Once upon a time in Hollywood last night on Blu-ray. I liked it, a lot of that “movie within a movie” (fill in foreign phrase to describe that here) action which resulted in some entertainingly nuanced acting.

The ending was a surprise to me and finally brought home the intended meaning of the title.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7131622/

Corrected link - no idea where LT internal link came from

>59 CliffBurns: Brit Marling is excellent and has made some good films.

"The Draughtman's Contract" last night. Peter Greenaway's first major release, a film I haven't seen in 25 years.

It holds up well, intelligent and original, grim and satisfying.

Anyone else have "fond" memories of this movie?

>62 CliffBurns: I have a copy on DVD (but haven't watched it for a while). I was always fond of the Michael Nyman score, minimalist and baroque at the same time, which suited the film well.

>62 CliffBurns: I was a big fan of Greenaway's film but went off him a bit after rewatching The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover several years ago, but then I watched some of his more recent films and sort of reconnected. I remember liking The Draughtsman Contract the last time I saw it, more so than A Zed and Two Noughts or Drowning by Numbers.

Watched "JoJo Rabbit" tonight.

Hmmm...

I dunno what to think, fellow snobs.

The mix of comedy and drama was jarring at times and I felt that more intimately than Sherron did (who LOVED the film).

I'm a history buff and so I found some bits off-putting and strange--like Hitler offering JoJo cigarettes though the Fuhrer was rabidly anti-smoking (and a vegetarian, by the way).

Bodies hung in a square but no closeups of faces and so, to me, it was more like set dressing rather than reflecting the rabidness of the last days of the Reich. The soundtrack, which featured tunes by Tom Waits and David Bowie.

Yet...there was much to admire about the film. I believe in comedy that takes chances and dares to break preconceptions. Definitely a unique and original film (which I have to admire, despite my reservations).

Anyone else seen this movie and wishes to share their thoughts?

>65 CliffBurns:, I haven't seen it, not sure I will. But the cigarettes bit doesn't bother me. This Hitler is the kid's imagined version (right?), so there's some things the kid isn't going to know. Also a reminder to the (knowledgeable, like yourself) audience that this isn't the real version.

Watched two films recently.

"Uncut Gems" was an enthralling crime flick, great performances by the cast, including Adam Sandler, who blew me away. Directed by the Safdie Brothers, this one on Netflix and shouldn't be missed.

"The Irishman", directed by Martin Scorsese. Waited awhile to see it; don't think the director has made a worthwhile film since "Goodfellas". "Irishman" features a stellar cast and it has its moments...but it's ponderously paced and the source material has been demonstrated to be bogus, the entire storyline about as factual as an episode of "Spongebob". Personally, I'm tired of gangster films, the only mob I'm worried about right now is the bunch who've seized control of the White House.

Coen Brothers anecdotes, from the set of their first film, "Blood Simple":

https://lithub.com/barry-sonnenfeld-we-simply-declared-ourselves-filmmakers/

Comfort cinema:

https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2020/03/27/Some-Comfort-Cinema-For-You/?utm_source=tw...

50 great American indie films:

https://film.avclub.com/the-50-most-important-american-independent-movies-184259...

Decided to throw a mini-film festival in our house.

This week, we're celebrating Russian cinema.

Tonight, it was Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Loveless" (2017).

Have seen 4 of the director's flicks thus far and they've all been great.

"Loveless" just never relents, a family disintegrating, a twelve-year old boy trapped in the turmoil. Powerful and never once over-wrought.

Must-see film.

I completely agree. I caught up with this film on British TV a while ago and was riveted by it. I love this director's intermingling of character and environment. some of his symbolism puzzles me but I never mind that- nothing wrong with a sense of mystery. He also has great spatial sense. I remember watching 'Elena' and being mesmerised by her moving around a large, uncluttered apartment often with low lighting. simply beautiful.

More Russian cinema tonight.

I'll just repost what I said on Facebook:

"Sherron and I watched another great Russian film tonight, Elem Klimov's "Come and See" (1985).

Another story seen through the eyes of a child, in this instance a fourteen year old boy who joins the Russian partisans to fight German invaders during World War II.

People use the word "harrowing" to describe all sorts of innocuous situations--"Come and See" costs you a little piece of your soul as you witness the destruction wrought on Belarus by the Wehrmacht and Einsatzgruppen forces charged with suppressing Russian resistance and murdering anyone who got in their way.

A horrifying and magnificent movie, makes most war flicks look pretty tawdry and fake by comparison."

And that about sums it up.

This film was hard to find on DVD until recently (there's been a restoration) so we watched a sub-standard version I managed to dig up...and it still blew us away.

Our Russian film festival continues:

Facebook post:

"20 Days Without War", a 1977 movie by (once again) Alexei German.

After surviving the Battle of Stalingrad, Major Lopatin is granted a 20-day furlough to take the personal effects of a dead friend back to his widow in Tashkent. The film opens with an amazing 10-minute monologue of a cuckolded man on the train and shows the dire effects of war on families and those left behind.

But it's also about the efforts of Soviet authorities to create propaganda, jingoistic narratives of the "Great Patriotic War" to instill national pride and fighting spirit.

Well-acted but our print was pretty murky so we didn't get the full effect of a powerful, intimate movie.

Switching to European cinema for our next mini-fest...

Tonight it was Aki Kaurismaki's "Match Factory Girl".

Very little dialogue, mood and emotions conveyed by looks and the accompanying cheesy music.

Actually, it works quite well, preventing the film from becoming too dour.

A cool little character study of a mousy little woman and a life she doesn't want.

Recommended.

Another Kaurismaki film tonight, "Ariel".

What is it with the Finns? Do they never smile, are they as taciturn as they appear in the Kaurismaki films I've seen?

This one's a combination of crime movie and melodrama and both Sherron and I liked it, perhaps a bit more than "Match Factory Girl".

>76 CliffBurns: All Kaurismäki films are like that, even his comedy, Calamari Union. I'm a big fan of his movies, and have a blu-ray box set of them all in storage.

>76 CliffBurns: At the risk of being seen as perpetuating stereotypes: yes, the Finns are like that. (Allegedly.)

The Finnish Tourism Board must just LOVE the guy.

>78 RobertDay: I beg to differ, and I know many Finns. True, they're puzzled by Swedes' reputation for being dour, since they see them as unreasonably happy, but most Finns I know are not at all miserable.

Whereas I am a prototypical Scots-Irish:

Short-tempered, frugal, passionate, gift for gab and a thirst for drink.

A walking cliche.

"Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan."

Grew up on Harryhausen films, introduced my kids to Harryhausen when they were around ten and will do so with my grandchildren when the time comes.

This documentary is o-kay, but too many talking heads and not enough footage from the films themselves. Who gives a shit what Steven Spielberg has to say, about ANYTHING? Some behind the scenes stuff was cool, test footage and old photos...the Extras, while voluminous, were pretty boring.

Give this one 2 1/2 stars out of five.

European film festival, day 3.

I'll just reprint what I posted on Facebook:

Tonight, a Polish classic, "The Hourglass Sanitarium". A 1973 film by Wojciech Has, based on a short story by Bruno Schultz (brutally murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War).

It appears to be an extended dream sequence, a movie taking place in some interstitial space, a purgatorial setting of decaying buildings, half naked sirens, clocks, birds, skulls, symbolism galore.

Anyone looking for a narrative through line is out of luck, you just have to give yourself over to visions and episodes that MAY be centered around the guilt Josef, the central character, feels for living a free and easy life (carousing and whoring) while his parents work tirelessly to keep their shop afloat.

The film is a Rorschach Test and a deliberately crafted enigma, a challenge to the senses, surreal and mystifying.

Earth vs the Flying Saucers. Notable for the gear the aliens wore which, a scientist reported, was made of solidified electricity.

#84 Loved that film since childhood. Ray Harryhausen, once again.

"Mysteries of Lisbon" tonight, a 4 1/2 hour soap opera/historical drama that Sherron and I quite enjoyed. From director Raul Ruiz, sadly his last film.

Didn't quite finish with the power and finality we'd hoped but artful and engrossing nonetheless.

>85 CliffBurns: I can't believe someone else has even heard of it. I'm curious: did it frighten you as a child? I'm pretty sure I would have been quite frightened by the aliens' gear but then I was frightened by an old movie about giant ants as a child and anyway not everyone is made uneasy by solidified electricty.

(I'm justifying this next because it is in a sense film: Have you seen the video of bagpipes + bhangra in the Yukon? Oh, Canada.)

I loved Mysteries of Lisbon. I don't recall the plot at all, just the mood. The feeling that the delicate surface was going to be punctured at any time by a burst of weirdness, of ferocity.

#87--Old science fiction geeks never forget a movie. And Harryhausen is a hero of mine. I think I've seen all his films. I don't recall it frightening me nearly as much as "It! The Terror From Beyond Space". Now there's an obscure one for you, although it was (reportedly) an influence for "Alien".

#88--"Mysteries", with all its characters and stories within stories, was a refreshing break after the weird Euro cinema we've been watching (surreal, plotless). Hard to keep track of the various characters at times but a greatly enjoyable cinematic experience.

I think it might be Michael Haneke's "Piano Teacher" tonight (and God help us)...

"Piano Teacher" was too heavy for Sherron, so we switched to Peter Strickland's "Duke of Burgundy".

Tale of two women in an intense, sado-masoochistic relationship. Some good psychological insights and first-rate acting.

An original and smart film.

Recommended.

Watched Sasha Baron Cohen in "The Dictator" tonight.

Cohen never relents, I'll give him that. Humor that makes you gasp...and then whistle in admiration.

The movie isn't perfect but it's just about as funny as "Team America" and roughly as politically correct.

If that's what you're looking for, this flick can make you forget about COVID-19 for roughly ninety minutes.

Truffaut's "Soft Skin" tonight.

Prefer this director to Godard, who's always left me cold.

"Soft Skin" is about a middle aged man experiencing the 7-year itch. Yearning for a younger woman and sabotaging his marriage of 15 years.

Loved the ending.

Fans of the French New Wave shouldn't pass up the chance to see this one.

>92 CliffBurns: I love some of Truffaut's films, but I think Godard has a better oeuvre overall and made much more interesting films.

With Godard, there's always a sense that he not so secretly despises his audience. That was never more apparent than in "Film Socialism", which is truly dreadful AND contemptuous of non-French speaking viewers.

Euro Film Fest in the Burns living room continued tonight.

Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Gertrud".

I've loved everything I've seen by Dreyer...until now.

"Gertrud" is so ponderous it was like it was filmed in slow motion; so contrived it resembled a really drawn-out spoof of Bergman by the SCTV comedy troupe (I'm definitely dating myself with that reference).

If you're looking for a sure fire cure for insomnia, this is the movie for you.

Ha, that's one of my favourite films.

Oh, God, Ian, sorry.

It started with the characters never looking at each other, just staring into the middle distance, speaking their lines to some assistant cameraman offscreen.

After about ten or fifteen minutes, it began to provoke sniggers and then additional dialogue from my wife and I.

And as I've indicated, I've loved every Dreyer film I've seen.

Ah, well, different strokes...

Peter Strickland's "In Fabric" tonight.

Like all of Strickland's films, it exists in a world unto itself A cursed or haunted dress takes on a life of its own, tormenting and bedeviling whoever purchases or wears it.

Not an original idea but originally executed.

Very good psychological thriller.

Watched Steven Soderbergh's "The Laundromat" last night.

Well-acted but what I must liked most about it was how the film explained tax havens and off-shore accounts so that even lunkheads like me can understand them.

Highly recommended.

"Color Out of Space", an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story.

I'm not a fan of Nicholas Cage but, on the other hand, the director was Richard Stanley (remember "Hardware", great little SF/horror film).

This one was utterly unbelievable, the script was pretty bad in places and the end result was unsatisfying.

Very disappointing.

"Framed", a delightful and macabre short film employing clay animation:

https://vimeo.com/410459328

The last Blockbuster outlet:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7wwnq/the-worlds-last-blockbuster-remains-op...

"Horse Thief" by Tian Zhuangzhuang, about a man struggling to support his family a remote area of Tibet. The plot is distilled to its essentials and there is hardly any dialogue. Very sparse, like the landscape. Martin Scorsese thought it was the best film of the 1990's, even though it was made in 1986. That is a bit too much but it was a good movie. The scenery was gorgeous. It must have been amazing to see this on the big screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZSjjOQUtHY

"The Wolf House" tonight, streamed off Vimeo for a few bucks.

Stunning, original, enthralling movie, incorporating numerous animation techniques to tell the story of a young girl growing up in a colony of expatriate Germans in Chile.

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEc3R3Pn0FA

Highly recommended.

I'm halfway through Peter Brook's film version of Jean-Claude Carriere's Mahabharata. It's almost 5 1/2 hrs long but it has the pace of a recap from a previous episode. Even in this abridged version you can tell that the source book must be magnificent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhqkRGISQr8 https://www.librarything.com/topic/314955#

Tonight, "The Circle", based on a novel by Dave Eggers.

Young, ambitious woman gets lowly job at high tech company that's part Apple, part Facebook, begins to see the dangers of ubiquitous technology, the onset of a surveillance state.

Heavy-handed and contrived, and Emma Watson is pretty bad in the lead role.

Can't recommend this one, despite its timely theme.

Spirited Away by Miyazaki. I still think the plot is needlessly convoluted but the atmosphere is still as odd and intriguing as the first time I saw it.

The Miyazaki Festival continues at the Mejix household. Last night it was The Wind Rises (which in my mind I keep referring to as The Wind Also Rises). The Wind Rises is "a fictionalised biopic of Jiro Horikoshi (1903–1982), designer of the Mitsubishi A5M fighter aircraft and its successor, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, used by the Empire of Japan during World War II." As far as I know this is the only Miyazaki film based on a true story. It feels a bit pedestrian compared to other films, very plodding. Like he has to dutifully cover particular incidents and does not really build a dramatic momentum. Miyazaki is at his best when he creates a poetic atmosphere. He has some dream sequences here but they are not as powerful and evocative as other films. The animation by Studio Ghibli though is as gorgeous as always so the movie remains a visual pleasure.

I think I first saw The Conformist by Bertolucci as part of film course in college, and I remember liking it. Saw again last night and was mostly underwhelmed. Very heavy handed and the relations are just not credible. The ending is very moving though. I had completely forgotten about it.

"El Topo", re-examined:

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200723-el-topo-the-weirdest-western-ever-m...

"The Silence of Others" a 2018 documentary directed by Robert Bahar and Almudena Carracedo about the efforts to get justice for the victims of Franco's dictatorship in Spain. The approach is very emotional, very moving. The minute I finished I started having questions about the documentary and whether it had been up to the task. Worth seeing though. Very relevant to the discussions about historical memory these days.

Amarcord by Fellini. Hadn't seen this one in decades I think. I kept thinking that Fellini had been out-Fellinied many times over since this came out. Not sure how his treatment of women would play well these days but I thought was a very sweet movie overall.

Huan Vu's "The Color Out of Space" last night". German-Danish co-production.

Another take on the Lovecraft chestnut--some interesting scenes but amateurishly acted and the sound recording left something to be desired.

Still, a better film than the more recent adaptation by Richard Stanley, starring Nicholas Cage.

Give this one 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

Robert Eggers' "The Lighthouse" last night.

Hmmmm...

Loved the atmosphere, especially the minimalistic soundtrack and sound design. Eggers had previously directed "The Witch" so I knew he'd have a grasp on the macabre.

Oddball performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson (not exactly two of my favorites) and eye-catching cinematography but...the movie felt contrived and consciously "artsy", which gave it a pretentious mien that I couldn't shake. It's like Eggers was trying to make a Bergman-esque horror film. And there wasn't much in terms of incident, no real plot to speak of.

Interesting...but not arresting or entirely convincing.

>113 CliffBurns: I watched the entire movie and by the end it was fingernails scratching on a blackboard for me. As you say interesting however but I was unable to tell if a dream sequence or surreal portrayal of reality for parts of it.

There was an annoying quality to it, wasn't there?

The sense that it was just an exercise in style.

The White Balloon by Jafar Panahi. A film about the travails of a little girl that wants a goldfish for the Iranian New Year. Very simple story very well told. The action takes place within a couple of blocks but you get to see a rich sampling of Iranian society. I do have to say it is one of those films were the anguish and exasperation you feel is evidence that it is well directed. I was just annoyed with the little girl and her parents. I hope she got a good spanking. But yeah, great film. Love Panahi.

Bong Joon-Ho's "The Host" last night.

A creature feature and date night all in one.

Fun, but the premise/origin of the creature was unbelievable and the movie, despite some clever characterizations, never really transcended its genre.

Three stars out of 5.

Stephen Frears' "My Beautiful Laundrette", made in 1984.

For a film more than 30 years old, it stood up well. Sherron and I hadn't seen it in decades and enjoyed reacquainting ourselves and getting an early look at Daniel Day-Lewis.

Gaspar Noe's "Climax".

Crazy, acid-fueled, incoherent.

Let's throw a dance party and spike the punch with LSD.

More likable than "Enter the Void" (no great feat), but still a bizarre and enigmatic offering from a very "out there" director.

Gotta admire his chutzpah--again, what was the pitch for this one? How did he secure financing?

Highly recommend Armando Iannucci's "The Personal History of David Copperfield".

The film manages to be funny, moving, gripping--Iannucci takes a rather stolid melodrama and turns it on its head.

This one will definitely make my year end "Best of..." list.

"The Beach Bum", directed by Harmony Korine.

A celebration of a consummate narcissist. Mathew McConnaughey lets it all hang out but the movie is hit and miss.

Sherron hated it but I admired certain elements--not recommended, but very curious and unique.

Watched the Netflix documentary “Challenger The Final Flight” about the tragedy of the space shuttle blowing up. I liked it a lot and they interviewed many people, even those saddled with the blame for the explosion. Helps you understand the machinations that go into large scale projects . There were people from the solid fuel booster rocket sub contractor who were saying it is going to blow up all along.

A lot of details put together that were impossible to comprehend from news releases at the time.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12930534/

Two movies:

"David Attenborough: A Life On This Planet"
""Hidden Agenda", directed by Ken Loach.

The former is dire but cautiously hopeful, the latter had some powerful moments but too talky to be truly effective.

>123 CliffBurns: A real heads up on the environment by Attenborough. All the historical film clips make you want to see more of each. Must be the PT Barnum effect - “leave them wanting more”.

We're both nature nuts so tonight Sherron and I watched "The Octopus Teacher".

The film score was maudlin and there was a lot of anthropomorphizing throughout, but a sweet and well-intentioned endeavor.

"The Long Day Closes", written and directed by Terence Davies.

Personal, intimate account of Davies' experiences growing up in 1950s Liverpool.

Slow-moving, not quite ponderous. Some beautiful "in camera" shots employing lighting and ingenuity.

Recommended, but only for fans who don't mind films moving at Tarkovsky-like pace.

>125 CliffBurns:,

I stopped eating Octopus's many years ago after I realized how intelligent they were!

Guido.

PS. I also don't eat Chimpanzee and Gorillas... and...koalas... and I wish I was a Vegetarian...But.... I'm NOT strong enough.

"The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling".

Intimate, honest portrait of troubled comic genius.

HIGHLY recommended.

"The In-Laws" last night, directed by Arthur Hiller.

Hadn't seen it in awhile and impressed by the chemistry between Peter Falk and Alan Arkin.

The film itself is merely okay, with a few deft comic moments.

"North Dallas Forty", starring Nick Nolte and Mac Davis.

Perhaps the greatest sports-related movie ever made. Absolutely brutal look at the dark side of American professional football, the toll it takes on players, the cruelty and inhumanity of coaches and staff.

Not to be missed.

"The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming", directed by Norman Jewison.

Dated satire, but featuring some great performances by Alan Arkin (his first feature film) and Brian Keith.

>131 CliffBurns: My husband's favourite film. I am a great admirer of Alan Arkin but his films do not turn up that often on TV. I seem to recall a great adaptation of Carson McCuller's 'The heart is a lonely hunter,' in which Arkin mostly had to react to other actors and did so eloquently.

To me, Arkin's best role was Yossarian in "Catch 22".

He was stunning in that one but, really, he always adds something to every film or TV show ("The Kominsky Method") he's ever done.

"Motherless Brooklyn" tonight, adapted from Jonathan Lethem's novel.

Very good, but too smart and complex for most cinema-goers these days, folks who like their braindead superhero flicks and idiot franchise films.

Edward Norton did a stellar job (acting, directing, writing and co-producing) and other than hammy acting from Alec Baldwin (as a thinly disguised Robert Moses), the movie fucking ROCKED.

Saw some great movies this month, including:

"Sorry We Missed You" (Dir. Ken Loach) (One of the year's best)
"Nomad" (Dir. by Werner Herzog) (Documentary on the life and writing of Bruce Chatwin)
"Mr. Hulot's Holiday" (Dir. by Jacques Tati) (Seen it a dozen times, still makes me howl)

My film of the month was Death of Stalin I do not know how Iannucci managed to convey such horror through comedy without falling into the trap where viewers are alienated, but somehow it works. Simon Russell Beale was suberb as Beria.

Have you heard Beale as George Smiley in BBC Radio's Le Carre adaptations?

He's amazing. Whatta voice.

>137 CliffBurns: Indded I have and I must admit that my loyalty to the Alec Guinness interpretation wavered somewhat here as Beale was so persuasive in the part.
I also like Gary Oldman's Smiley but thought the film struggled a bit to fit the plot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy into two hours of screen time.

Red Istanbul on Netflix is atmospherically enticing. Very much a film for people who like books about writers and the writing process.