What film did you watch last night?

[gbb]

Kill Command.
Meh, ok, didn't really pull me in.
Ok, nowt spectacular.

 

[Dark46]

Wonder Woman. Nothing wrong with Gal Gadot

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Wonder Woman. Nothing wrong with Gal Gadot

We enjoyed it, & it was good to see the partial history of the Amazonians

 

[Blue Hills]

Teorema by Pasolini. A right load of old tosh. Amusing in the after film discussion listening to some folks' statements on it - shades of emperor's new clothes. Some folk describing it as "mystifying", "challenging", "intriguing" and the like. ie -" I haven't a ***ing clue what it was about/whether it was saying anything at all, but haven't got the guts to say so in case I look like an ignorant prole". One or two folk reduced to admiring the hair styles and furniture. Oh the wonders of middle class folks in nervous ponce mode. Interestingly - initially given a prize by a catholic film body until the Pope criticised it and then the award was I think withdrawn. Terence Stamp must have been paid a fortune per word spoken.

 

[Drago]

Die Hard.

I mean, what were Film 4 thinking? That's a Christmas movie. 2/10 for being unlawfully screened at Easter.

 

[AndyRM]

Teorema by Pasolini. A right load of old tosh. Amusing in the after film discussion listening to some folks' statements on it - shades of emperor's new clothes. Some folk describing it as "mystifying", "challenging", "intriguing" and the like. ie -" I haven't a clue what it was about/whether it was saying anything at all, but haven't got the guts to say so in case I look like an ignorant prole". One or two folk reduced to admiring the hair styles and furniture. Oh the wonders of middle class folks in nervous ponce mode. Interestingly - initially given a prize by a catholic film body until the Pope criticised it and then the award was I think withdrawn. Terence Stamp must have been paid a fortune per word spoken.

It is all those things though, like most art house cinema it doesn't really have to be "about" anything, the themes and philosophy are what's important. Some films have different levels, like a coherent plot which can be "got" without going deeper. Others, like Teorema don't, but that doesn't make them bad, IMO at least.

That said, there is some stuff I've seen which really stretches my patience. Hard to be a God is basically 3 hours of spitting, misery and debauchery. Apparently a deep understanding Russian history helps with that one, which I disagree with because I read the book and it made sense, but that's the levels thing again.

 

[Blue Hills]

if...... Strange, funny, great.

trust you didn't get sucked into the debate on the black and white bits.

Wouldn't mind seeing it again.

 

[Blue Hills]

It is all those things though, like most art house cinema it doesn't really have to be "about" anything, the themes and philosophy are what's important. Some films have different levels, like a coherent plot which can be "got" without going deeper. Others, like Teorema don't, but that doesn't make them bad, IMO at least.

That said, there is some stuff I've seen which really stretches my patience. Hard to be a God is basically 3 hours of spitting, misery and debauchery. Apparently a deep understanding Russian history helps with that one, which I disagree with because I read the book and it made sense, but that's the levels thing again.

@sorry, you have confirmed my worst suspicions of most folks who talk about their enthusiasm for "philosophy" - oh the tales I could tell.

@ So they don't have to be about anything? But the "philosophy" and "themes" are what's important?

@So what are the "themes" and "philosophy" about??

Got to repeat - in my view the nervousness/ponciness of some folk in front of what they have been told is "art". Maybe trickster Pasolini would then claim that this was the "theme".

What I got from it, which wasn't worth the running time:

# Pasolini had a thing about Stamp's crotch.

# Inclined to believe some things I have read that Pasolini's politics were essentially fraudulent/self-focussed. Oh the tales I could tell about that.

# The Catholic church's confused reaction to it (see above) was perhaps the most interesting thing about it - and enlightening - for although 1: there was a lot of sex (of a sort) [caution - no one should rush off to see it for a thrill - all you will get is a brief flash of tit and Stamp's arse and it is entirely unerotic] 2: The "sex" was entirely devoid of the slightest whiff of pleasure. I suspect it got the initial catholic award for 2 and the Pope then condemned it for 1.

and all of those are essentially external to the film.

note - I'm not against films with "no plot" and Teorema did have one of sorts.

oh- the other interesting bit - how did they do the levitation scene in an age before CGI?

 

[AndyRM]

sorry, you have confirmed my worst suspicions of most folks who talk about their enthusiasm for "philosophy" - oh the tales I could tell. So they don't have to be about anything? But the "philosophy" and "themes" are what's important? So what are the "themes" and "philosophy" about?

Got to repeat - in my view the nervousness/ponciness of some folk in front of what they have been told is "art". Maybe trickster Pasolini would then claim that this was the "theme".

What I got from it, which wasn't worth the running time:

Pasolini had a thing about Stamp's crotch.
Inclined to believe some things I have read that Pasolini's politics were essentially fraudulent/self-focussed.
The Catholic church's confused reaction to it (see above) was perhaps the most interesting thing about it - and enlightening - for although 1: there was a lot of sex (of a sort) [caution - no one should rush off to see it for a thrill - all you will get is a brief flash of tit and Stamp's arse and it is entirely unerotic] 2: it was entitrely devoid of the slightest whiff of pleasure. I suspect it got the initial catholic award for 2 and the Pope then condemned it for 1.

note - I'm not against films with "no plot" and Teorema did have one of sorts.

oh- the other interesting bit - how did they do the levitation scene in an age before CGI?

If I've confirmed yours, which is fair enough, then you have confirmed mine.

It's been a while since I watched it but would say themes include consumerism, sexual repression, class struggles and transformation/acceptance.

 

[Blue Hills]

Thanks for the polite reply Andy.

But no one could be as repressed as the bourgeois folk in the film surely? Even allowing for the film's highly mannered style.

The class struggle stuff seemed essentially to be the bit at the beginning about the give-away of the factory - which probably contained most of the film's dialogue.

Maybe my comments about Pasolini's politics were a tad unfair. Need to read more maybe.

Not sure what I have confirmed about your views.

My strong reservations about most folks inclined to talk philosophy remain.

Would still be interested in any info you might have about the levitation? A big outta sight crane and hidden/processed-out wires?

Should I see Salo?

PS - as I said to the nice guy who organised the screening, I recommend "Profondo Rosso". Way more accomplished/stylish. And quite probably has more meaning. One scene in particular, because of the landscape, actually made me think of/yearn for that masterpiece.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGuip1VMnh0


Fascism, family, Italy's problematical relationship with the hidden histories of both, hair-dos, scared-shitless, effective but somewhat ripped off music, childrens film foundation, hidden/denied history of places, white telephones, 60/70s Italian terrorism, edward hopper, furniture, blood, puppets, mirrors, perils of consumerism/sparkly jewellry. Probably not much philosophy.

 

[swee'pea99]

A Late Quartet - angsty New York-set film about a longstanding string quartet suddenly thrown into discord by illness and extra-marital shenanigans. Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman both excellent - indeed all the acting is top notch - and the whole thing is very well done, with a tight script and direction.

 

[Profpointy]

Valkyrie.

WWII drama telling the truish story about a Nazzy colonel who's arm fell off, so he and his chums tried to assassinate Hitler. Tom Cruise gives it his all as the heronof the piece, and the production, costumes etc are lavish. Not A1, but still decent.

7/10.

*****

Iron Sky.

Visually spectacular and very funny black comedy/drama/historical/war/political flick, based around the premise that at the end of the war the surviving Nazzies fled to the moon, and have now decided to come back and invade Earth.

At times dramatic, at others funny, but a strangely enjoyable cocktail of genres. Well worth a loomk and I'm surprised it stayed below the radar as it has.

8/10.

*****

Grand Prix.

Sexy sixties period piece following a fictitious season in F1. Sex, violence, gore, and some stunning visual shots. This film pioneered the idea of point of view cameras in vehicles, and the F3000 cars dressed up as F1 motors look and sound authentic.

An understated performance from James Garner, who also did his own driving - word was that he was a natural, and was well able to physically manhandle the very demanding cars of the time and was good enough to have been a pro had he so chosen, but beyond doing it to make the filming look authentic it never interested Garner. Contrast this with McQueen who loved his cars, but was actually nothing special behind the wheel.

It does drag on though, and the protracted romantic and domestic scenes serve to show the off track stresses, but do go on a bit.

Nevertheless, a classic, and a must if you're a true afficionado of cinema.

8/10.

Thanks for the Iron Sky recomendation - tremendous film: looked superb, much much cleverer than I'd expected and very darkly satirical. President Sarah Palin (albeit not named) and of course the Hitler's Bunker parody. Highly recommended - genuinely clever and entertaining.

 

[Drago]

The Wock.

Nicholas Cage and his various stuntwigs are joined by Sean Connery and his veteran stuntwigs in a film so full of wigs they form a major distraction to the plot. Ed Harris' intense performance is somewhat at odds with the hilarious wig count, but some of the stunts and chases are good.

5/10.

 

[Sandra6]

Spiderman homecoming.
I wasn't convinced I wanted to watch this, there have been way too many remakes of spiderman that are the same story with a different actor -but it was actually quite good.

 

[Profpointy]

Watched the Tom Cruise version of War of the Worlds. Given it's a hollywood film based on a classic story, and it's about space aliens invading the US of A, and has Mr Cruise in it I'd naturally assumed it would be shyte, but in fact it was first class. To be fair to Tom Cruise he's actually quite a good actor when he wants to be, but usually just plays a certain semi-obnoxious type of character in predictably poor films. Film looked brilliant, a great sense of overwhelming peril, the "saving his family" theme was well done rather than mawkishly done, and the little girl was excellent and allowed another set of eyes for telling the story. No gung-ho macho stuff either. Pretty true to the book as well. Recommended !