Return Of The Film Corner Thread

[BillF]

Grim, but well-made Polish movie. Good enough for me to order a copy of the director's Floating Skyscrapers.

Edited December 4, 2016 by BillF

[kinuta]

Umimachi No Diary / Our Little Sister - Hirokazu Kore'eda (2015)

The spirit of Ozu lives, even down to the Kamakura setting.

A real delight, I loved it. Goes on my ten best of the year list.

[BillF]

Dardenne brothers' latest and, unusually for them, something of a thriller. Bradsaw panned it, but I liked it - not an unusual situation!

[kinuta]

Embrace Of The Serpent - Ciro Guerra  (2015)

Shades of Fitzcarraldo and Apocalypse Now. Visually amazing odyssey in the upper Amazon.

I'll definitely rewatch this soon. An interesting choice to film this in b&w, when colour would have been the more obvious decision.

[kinuta]

L'Avenir : Things To Come - Mia Hansen-Love (2016)

 

I liked this one. A professor of philosophy's life falls apart.

Sounds grim but Isabelle Huppert's performance is so deft and just right that the film seems light and bouyant.

She's a great actress, check out her performance in Louder Than Bombs.

[BillF]

4 hours ago, kinuta said:

L'Avenir : Things To Come - Mia Hansen-Love (2016)

 

I liked this one. A professor of philosophy's life falls apart.

Sounds grim but Isabelle Huppert's performance is so deft and just right that the film seems light and bouyant.

 

Yes, saw it quite recently and liked it. 

[kinuta]

The Witch - Robert Eggers (2015)

A very strong directorial debut.

Extremely well made, the acting, photography and perfect soundtrack all combine to truly chilling effect.

A must see.

 

[kinuta]

Mustang - Deniz Gamze Erguven (2015)

One of those rare films where I felt like standing and applauding at the end.

I actually visited Trabzon in the early '70's.

Wonderful film.

[page]

Florence Foster Jenkins.
Another true story.
People laughed a lot in the cinema. I basically found it very sad and admired the hb who must have loved his wife very much to make that all happen. Great piano playing by Simon Helberg.

[johnblitweiler]

3 hours ago, page said:

Florence Foster Jenkins.
Another true story.
People laughed a lot in the cinema. I basically found it very sad and admired the hb who must have loved his wife very much to make that all happen. Great piano playing by Simon Helberg.

A friend conversed with a chap who said he was Florence Foster Jenkins' son. So it was a surprise to see in the movie that she and her husband didn't sleep together.  Son of that first husband who infected her, perhaps?  I agree with Page and much preferred this movie to that French film earlier in 2016 that was partly based on her story.  I used to own a 10" RCA LP of her singing, accompanied by Cosme McMoon.

[kinuta]

The Handmaiden - Park Chan Wook (2016)

I've read the book 'Fingersmith' and seen the BBC version a couple of times.

This is a very stylish, daring adaptation that changes the story in part.

I thought it was brilliant, sumptuous looking and with enough plot tweaks to the twists to keep me alert, even though I'm very familiar with the basic plot.

Some very hot scenes with the two women btw.

A great follow up to Stoker, which is also a must see.

Edited December 8, 2016 by kinuta

[duaneiac]

You know who was a really good actor?  Don Ameche, that's who.  He didn't really star in many films that could be called a "classic", but any time he was on screen, he exuded a real genuineness.  He's very good here in this 1939 film in which he plays Mike Connors, a low level studio worker in the early days of Hollywood.  He discovers an actress named Molly Adair (Ms. Faye, who is very good as well and does not even sing in this movie) and convinces the studio to let him direct her first picture.  They accidentally invent the pie fight and the rest, as they say, is malarkey -- er, history.  The story is bunk (kind of, but not really, based on Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand), but it was a good excuse for audiences of the day to see some of their old favorite silent movie stars in vivid Technicolor.  In addition to the featured Buster Keaton, there were also the Keystone Cops (who have their own chase scene in a movie within the movie), Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin and a cameo by Mr. Sennett himself.  Al Jolson even reprised one of his numbers from The Jazz Singer to show the impact of the transition from silents to talkies.

[kinuta]

The Childhood Of A Leader - Brady Corbet (2015)

A brooding mood piece that shows the domestic life of a boy growing up in a diplomatic household.

Shades of The Omen, maybe, more style than substance, perhaps, but certainly makes it's mark and is a powerful debut by the director.

Has a slashing, violent score composed by Scott Walker. I had to do a double take but it is the Scott Walker of Walker Brothers fame.

Life is strange.

[jlhoots]

Nocturnal Animals

[kinuta]

Julieta - Pedro Almodovar (2016)

I really liked this. It was a personally involving and very satisfying story, beautifully executed.

The easier to follow plotline was also a welcome change from some of his more complex narratives.

I'd rate this as one of the best of the year.

[A Lark Ascending]

On 12/9/2016 at 8:18 PM, kinuta said:

The Childhood Of A Leader - Brady Corbet (2015)

A brooding mood piece that shows the domestic life of a boy growing up in a diplomatic household.

Shades of The Omen, maybe, more style than substance, perhaps, but certainly makes it's mark and is a powerful debut by the director.

Has a slashing, violent score composed by Scott Walker. I had to do a double take but it is the Scott Walker of Walker Brothers fame.

Life is strange.

I saw that a couple of month's back and had a similar response. I thought it unravelled a bit at the end when it went a bit cartoon dictator - but that might have been down to limited funds. Reminded me of the set of the version of Richard III from the 80s with a Mosleyite theme. 

Also did the double take on the score - thought it very effective. 

[jlhoots]

Manchester By The Sea

[BillF]

Another one by director Wasilewski - and good. Drama with gay theme.

 

[page]

Hell or High Water

Entertaining. Not the best "western" I ever saw, but nice. I lóved the music and I did notice Nick Cave's name there  to have an input.

[BillF]

2 hours ago, page said:

Hell or High Water

Entertaining. Not the best "western" I ever saw, but nice. I lóved the music and I did notice Nick Cave's name there  to have an input.

Yes, nice movie. 

[jlhoots]

On 12/8/2016 at 0:07 AM, kinuta said:

The Handmaiden - Park Chan Wook (2016)

I've read the book 'Fingersmith' and seen the BBC version a couple of times.

This is a very stylish, daring adaptation that changes the story in part.

I thought it was brilliant, sumptuous looking and with enough plot tweaks to the twists to keep me alert, even though I'm very familiar with the basic plot.

Some very hot scenes with the two women btw.

A great follow up to Stoker, which is also a must see.

jingle bells. See the film. 

[kinuta]

Omoide No Marnie / When Marnie Was There - Hiromasu Yonebayashi (2014)

 

A film I never quite got round to watching, always putting it off.

I thought it was quite wonderful.

Highly recommended. Watch the original subtitled Japanese, the English dub is well intentioned but changes the magic of the film.

 

[page]

On 6-12-2016 at 5:14 AM, kinuta said:

L'Avenir : Things To Come - Mia Hansen-Love (2016)

 

I liked this one. A professor of philosophy's life falls apart.

Sounds grim but Isabelle Huppert's performance is so deft and just right that the film seems light and bouyant.

She's a great actress, check out her performance in Louder Than Bombs.

Hi Kinuta, did you see her in "Elle"? She was fabulous there.
I've just discovered Paul Verhoeven is nominated for a Golden Globe with this movie. I think he deserves to win. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend you do. It is an awful story, but it was one of the best I've seen in years. Isabelle Huppert has a great deal to do with that. She's amazing!

Edited December 15, 2016 by page

[kinuta]

No, page. It looks like a film that I should have seen but for some reason it's slipped under my radar. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out .

I agree about the charms of Ms Huppert, she's the rare type of actor that is good in everything she appears in.

[duaneiac]

(Wow -- is that "Nicholas Ray" the same as the one who later directed Rebel Without A Cause and Johnny Guitar?  Did he start his career writing "Additional Dialogue" for the Three Stooges?)  I actually watched the version "riffed" by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys on this DVD

Of course the movie is not very good, that's the whole point of having the guys making fun of it.  However, it's not sufficiently horrible to bring out their funniest work.  The best part of the movie is this "shining" performance by Louis Jordan.  Where can you even go to buy a neon saxophone today?