Films you've seen lately

[kernelbogey]

Saw Tár, the new Todd Field film with Cate Blanchett as the title character, Lydia Tár, the extremely fictional superstar conductor of a not-quite-exactly named (IMHO, AFAICT) orchestra in Berlin....

For those interested in serious discussion of this fillm the interview with Cate Blanchett in today's Observer may be of interest.
[Edit] I mean 'serious' in the sense that she talks about the creation of the film, and her creation of the central character, rather than the political and social aspects on which many critics (and members here) have focused on.

[Serial_Apologist]

I watched the 1948 film of Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" on Saturday night on Talking Pictures TV, remembering the teacher who put us onto the book telling us, "This was how people were treated in America during the Great Depression - it would never happen today".

[teamsaint]

Watched Blue Jean last night.
Those interested in Section 28, and maybe those not interested, should enjoy this multi award winning drama, which has a superb wind - up of tension and an ever increasing claustrophobia.
Superb performance from the Rosie McEwen , and indeed from others.

[JasonPalmer]

Found the tony palmer channel on youtube and seems a few films about composers, started watching the one about purcell now i have finished the one about wagner.

[Tevot]

Haven't yet seen The Quiet Girl although I have it downloaded. I'd heartily recommend The Banshees...which imho I would consider a comedy of the darkest kind (perhaps the spectre of Beckett rather than Father Ted is haunting Inisherin) and plaudits obviously to Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson portraying the main conflict. What struck me most however were the performances of Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan - both Bafta winning - and for me at least the core of the story - one scene featuring both, exquisitely acted I feel, is heartbreaking and perhaps the pivotal moment of the film. I've seen it twice - the second time focusing on the mechanics of the film, very well made, shot and lit. Well worth a punt / euro ;-)

The Wonder lives up to its name imho. I am a big fan of Florence Pugh (The Falling, Lady MacBeth, Little Women etc) and again I sense phantoms - the legacy and trauma of misrule, disregard and Famine. Another beautifully made film with a small but telling role for Niamh Algar (another fine actress I believe) as a chorus linking the not so distant past with the present. Praise also to Kila Lord Cassidy who plays Anna - a young girl at the centre of the story. I was gripped and moved by this film - and its message - redemption perhaps?

[smittims]

I enjoyed seeing 'Cast Away' again, and though I still think the pre-crash scenes take up too much of the film, I think the return scenes are just right, unlike some critics who felt the film sags once he is rescued.

[pastoralguy]

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

Difficult to know what to say about this movie as it turns the beloved children’s characters into violent and sadistic serial killers.

[jayne lee wilson]

I can't recommend Living too highly. It is - sad and beautiful, funny and oblique, a quietly joyful elegy to a quiet, often diffident life, with Bill Nighy being as perfectly and completely Bill Nighy as Bill Nighy has ever been. Unusual structure too, as it seems to arrive too soon at where it had to go - but then doubles back and elaborates the storyline you thought you might have dozed off and missed. And a truly lovely ending.

Excellent support, both comic and moving, from Aimee Lou Wood, Tom Burke and Alex Sharp, all their characters focussing the themes of before and after, expectation and disappointment, youth and age and middle age, and simply... making the best of it; muddling through.

There's a softly pervasive yet haunting atmosphere written though the whole piece, almost as if the assumed essential Englishness were being filtered or moderated by the Japanese source. More original than it may initially seem.

****
Do try to see All That Breathes, about a Bird Rescue Station in Delhi, which tries to help the Black Kites that are often poisoned by the very air around them....another quietly devastating yet hopeful work that will stay with you.....with a tenderness perfectly encapsulated in this photo...

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/11/all-that-breathes-review-delhis-birdmen-on-a-mission-to-save-the-black-kite

I think there is almost nothing we can do now, that is more important than offering succour and support to Birds, Animals and The Planet Earth itself.

[smittims]

I enjoyed seeing Bill Nighy in 'Ther Lawless Heart' a contemporary bitter-sweet comedy set in Suffolk (Woodbridge possibly); it might have been written for him, it suited him so well.

[Belgrove]

… with Bill Nighy being as perfectly and completely Bill Nighy as Bill Nighy has ever been.

Oh dear, I fear that is enough of a recommendation for me to avoid it then - I cannot abide his acting style or the characters he plays, all too frequently. A shame, for I appreciate Ishiguro’s books and the films that have been made of them.

Everything Everywhere… is probably the worst film I’ve seen this century. I simply couldn’t have cared less about any of the characters, nor was I entertained or could be bothered to engage with the frenetic and tediously repetitive ‘plot’. Best avoid - being bored stiff is preferable.

[smittims]

From what I see here, I think many would be interested in 'So Long, My Son' which is available for two months on BBC4 iPlayer. It's a long film (174 mins) and it has its dull moments, but if you stay with it it has a cumulative rewarding quality. It's a rare glimpse into ordinary family life in post-Mao China. I found it fascinating. English subtitles.

[Bryn]

From what I see here, I think many would be interested in 'So Long, My Son' which is available for two months on BBC4 iPlayer. It's a long film (174 mins) and it has its dull moments, but if you stay with it it has a cumulative rewarding quality. It's a rare glimpse into ordinary family life in post-Mao China. I found it fascinating. English subtitles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001kr83/so-long-my-son

[Tevot]

From what I see here, I think many would be interested in 'So Long, My Son' which is available for two months on BBC4 iPlayer. It's a long film (174 mins) and it has its dull moments, but if you stay with it it has a cumulative rewarding quality. It's a rare glimpse into ordinary family life in post-Mao China. I found it fascinating. English subtitles.

Thanks very much for the heads up here smittims. I'll have to try and check this out.

[RichardB]

Recently: Aftersun (lost interest, didn't last until the end), The Whale (very hard to watch sometimes, but both gripping and highly disturbing).

[richardfinegold]

We streamed Chinatown a few nights ago. I had last seen it probably 40 years ago. I had forgotten how much of the plot revolved around water usage in Los Angeles, and also forgotten just how good Jack Nicholson was in his early prime