Films you've seen lately

[DracoM]

'White Ribbon' / dir Michael Haneke.
Not a horror movie, but is it HORROR what....v.quiet family-based horror.
Haneke is one of the VERY great directors/

[jayne lee wilson]

"ANOTHER ROUND"......

Best thing I've seen since Promising Young Woman, four middle-aged highschool teachers, taken for granted, casually contempted or disregarded as boring by their students and families, decide to micro-dose on alcohol during the working day....

You can't take your eyes off Mads Mikkelsen - magnetic visual and vocal presence; the camera, as always, loves him.
Male friendship here in a very different light from the buddy movies. Music and dancing and guitars? We've been here before, never quite like this.

Like much great Art it seems to effortlessly embrace comedy and tragedy, depth and fun and song and dance, in its generous embrace. Like a novel on screen goes surprisingly deep in its remarkable last scenes.... but finally, uplifting. You'd never regret renting this one.

Review here.....

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/04/another-round-review-thomas-vinterberg-mads-mikkelsen-daytime-drinking

[jayne lee wilson]

"THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD"

Heartbreaking, ruthlessly truthful, the story of Björn Andrésen, teenage star of Visconti's Death in Venice.
Extraordinary footage from the disturbingly voyeuristic audition before Visconti himself as one of many boys who applied, through the shooting of the film in Venice itself, the ill-managed and destructive effects of his cinematic stardom (he was used with merciless, mercenary insensitivity to make money for others) to his present reduced circumstances. He had a very upsetting, broken family background, and was raised by a grandmother who seemed concerned only to bask in his reflected fame.
He looks much older than his mid-60s would suggest, like a weary Gandalf after too many struggles.

It will speak to anyone really, but perhaps most of all to those who have experienced solitude-within-the-crowd, rejection, no-one listening, that feeling of life just not making sense.

As this Review concludes, one hopes he can achieve some closure, at least a glimpse of some inner peace....

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/28/the-most-beautiful-boy-in-the-world-review-documentary-bjorn-andresen

[DracoM]

'Hidden' / dir Michel Haneke.

[Serial_Apologist]

"THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD"

Heartbreaking, ruthlessly truthful, the story of Björn Andrésen, teenage star of Visconti's Death in Venice.
Extraordinary footage from the disturbingly voyeuristic audition before Visconti himself as one of many boys who applied, through the shooting of the film in Venice itself, the ill-managed and destructive effects of his cinematic stardom (he was used with merciless, mercenary insensitivity to make money for others) to his present reduced circumstances. He had a very upsetting, broken family background, and was raised by a grandmother who seemed concerned only to bask in his reflected fame.
He looks much older than his mid-60s would suggest, like a weary Gandalf after too many struggles.

It will speak to anyone really, but perhaps most of all to those who have experienced solitude-within-the-crowd, rejection, no-one listening, that feeling of life just not making sense.

As this Review concludes, one hopes he can achieve some closure, at least a glimpse of some inner peace....
https://www.theguardian.com/film/202...bjorn-andresen

This was broadcast, and at the time I was really struck by Andresen's depth of insight into so many things, minded that it doesn't always help.

[richardfinegold]

Force Majuer, a 2014 Swedish Film. A somewhat modern updating of Lord Jim, or Ian Mckellum Atonement, where a split second decision made under stress comes to define the character of an individual and how they are perceived elsewhere. Billed as a comedy, it does have some drollery, and it is very serious

[johncorrigan]

Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 established Denis Villeneuve’s credentials for making science fiction films of intelligence with stunning visual impact. In bringing Dune to the screen he has tackled a most difficult and ambitious adaptation of a novel, and pulled it off spectacularly. Although set in the far future on a planet far far away, Dune is not so much a science fiction story as a mythic amalgam of Chivalric Romances, Shakespearean history plays, the geopolitics and economics of the 20th Century Middle East, and the consequences of environmental destruction through pillaging of resources. The narrative used in the book is cleverly shifted from the perspective of the ruling elite to that of the indigenous nomads whose world is ruthlessly exploited, and who will eventually revolt against their oppressors. It works as a rip-roaring adventure story played out against a political thriller in an advanced feudal society where religion has co-opted science to extend its influence.

The production values of the film are jaw dropping. The only film it can be compared with is Lawrence of Arabia for painting the screen with vast desert vistas of stunningly abstract beauty and sumptuously detailed interiors, gorgeously lit. The ubiquitous Hans Zimmer this time adds bagpipes to his orchestral palate (it’s actually rather good!) All the performances are spot on, and the screenplay is something of a miracle for streamlining and compressing the complex narrative, yet still making it intelligible and compelling. Blockbuster film making at its best.

I went yesterday with some mixed feelings, but armed with hope from your fine report on the film, Belgrove. I loved 'Arrival', but was very disappointed with the 'Bladerunner' re-boot. I loved that Villeneuve didn't hurry into the story but took good time to paint the characters. I can't add anything to what you said except that I wished I was watching it in Imax to really get the full effect of Zimmer's great score. Wonderful piece of film making. Can't wait for part two.

One to see in the cinema if you get the chance and feel up to going there.

[gurnemanz]

Franz,

We enjoyed Frantz from François Ozon. Atmospheric and unusual love story in which art, music and poetry play an important part. Still on iplayer.

Frantz: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000f3f6

[jayne lee wilson]

Still waiting for the new Dune to become available on a streamer somewhere... (yes, I know they say it needs the big screen but I can't get to them). I actually liked the Lynch 1980s version (whether I understood it or not...), very atmospheric, marvellously inventive visually and stunning to look at, which I feel was unfairly slated. MacLachlan and Sting were great in that, it was very well cast. Remember The Navigator in that amazing, liquid-filled glass transporter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR8tbNKxBhE

But please, someone, somewhere here, please watch Another Round...

A rich, deep life-enhancing movie, and Mads Mikkelson's best role to date.... see above...#1112...
As I said, my equal No.1 for 2021 with Promising Young Woman....like novels on screen...

[Belgrove]

At the heart of The Power of the Dog lies a powerful and unsettling performance by Benedict Cumberbatch as a laconic and ultra-macho cowboy Phil, who jointly owns a ranch with his urbane brother George, set in 1920’s Montana. George marries the local widow Rose, who then becomes the object of Phil’s jealousy and bullying hostility, along with her sensitive son Peter. The film’s pace is glacial but a sense of accumulating threat and doom is prepared. The reason for Phil’s hard carapace is carefully revealed as Rose disintegrates under Phil’s micro- aggression towards her and, to her increasing concern, Peter. How the catastrophe eventually manifests comes as a surprise, and alludes, in part and enigmatically, to the film’s title. It’s directed by Jane Campion (who directed The Piano) with a cool dispassion despite the kettled roiling emotions, and is shot using the gorgeous wide-screen vistas of New Zealand’s South Island that doubles for Montana. Jonny Greenwood’s spare discordant score effectively generates tension - the Radetzky March warped into a gaslighting motif. All the actors are good, but Cumberbatch’s performance is quite extraordinary and is frighteningly intense. Since Daniel Day-Lewis has hung up his movie acting boots, Cumberbatch can make a legitimate claim to be the actor to fill them. The film streams on Netflix from December, but deserves to be seen on a wide screen.

[jayne lee wilson]

Will seek out Power of the Dog, thanks....

Meanwhile.....Sky Docs tonight 2100.....

https://www.sky.com/watch/title/programme/041378a6-68e9-43c2-8174-6a442438bde4

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/nov/19/michele-moutons-trailblazing-rallying-career-shocked-male-dominated-sport

[johncorrigan]

Eventually managed to persuade Mrs C that we should go see 'The French Dispatch' in Perth before it disappeared out of the cinema; and we were both so delighted that we went. I laughed a lot throughout the film, based in the French town of Ennui. I should say that I have, generally, loved Wes Anderson's films. They always look great and they have terrific soundtracks and they attract top line actors - here we had Anderson regulars such as Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody joined by Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Benicio Del Toro - magnificent performances throughout, especially Del Toro and Léa Seydoux as Moses and Simone - and once again it looked just great. Of course there is also animation, Tintin in style, with a terrific car chase. I enjoyed this film so much, as did Mrs C...it may even have overtaken 'Moonrise Kingdom' as my favourite Anderson film.

[RichardB]

Eventually managed to persuade Mrs C that we should go see 'The French Dispatch' in Perth before it disappeared out of the cinema; and we were both so delighted that we went. I laughed a lot throughout the film, based in the French town of Ennui. I should say that I have, generally, loved Wes Anderson's films. They always look great and they have terrific soundtracks and they attract top line actors - here we had Anderson regulars such as Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody joined by Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Benicio Del Toro - magnificent performances throughout, especially Del Toro and Léa Seydoux as Moses and Simone - and once again it looked just great. Of course there is also animation, Tintin in style, with a terrific car chase. I enjoyed this film so much, as did Mrs C...it may even have overtaken 'Moonrise Kingdom' as my favourite Anderson film.

I suppose I am going to have to see that sooner or later. My OH is a big fan of Wes Anderson but I find his films twee and all that self-satisfied symmetry really annoying. Dune also, although a shared love of the work of David Lynch is one of the things that brought us together, SO WHAT if his Dune movie isn't a faithful adaptation of the novel - the novel is not so great that it needs to be treated with such respect any more than Stephen King's The Shining was - so I don't have particularly high hopes for it. And as for Hans Zimmer, don't get me started.

I think it's time for my sedative now, good night everyone

[jayne lee wilson]

I suppose I am going to have to see that sooner or later. My OH is a big fan of Wes Anderson but I find his films twee and all that self-satisfied symmetry really annoying. Dune also, although a shared love of the work of David Lynch is one of the things that brought us together, SO WHAT if his Dune movie isn't a faithful adaptation of the novel - the novel is not so great that it needs to be treated with such respect any more than Stephen King's The Shining was - so I don't have particularly high hopes for it. And as for Hans Zimmer, don't get me started.

I think it's time for my sedative now, good night everyone

Have Another Round instead.... someone...anyone....? One of the Films of the Year, by many Danish Country Miles...
See #1112....

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jul/04/another-round-review-thomas-vinterberg-mads-mikkelsen-daytime-drinking

[RichardB]

Have Another Round instead.... someone...anyone....?

Yes I've seen that, it was excellent. Moving, original, no pretention or bombast.