Sep 23, 2015

 

Sep 24, 2015

VIFF begins today. I have 61 films scheduled for these 16 days, starting with the red carpet gala screening of Brooklyn tonight!

 

Sep 24, 2015

Will you be catching Louder Than Bombs?

 

Sep 24, 2015

Daaaamn, I fully expect thorough, detailed reviews of all 61...

In addition to the 4 movies I'm seeing at NYFF, I also bought a ticket to a preview screening of The Martian this weekend with a Q&A from Ridley Scott and the cast.

 

Sep 24, 2015

SOKuROVvVVv. are you planning to watch 'In the Shadows of Women'? I would highly suggest you to watch his films when you come back.

 

Sep 24, 2015

Garrel top 3 frenchie oat

 

Sep 25, 2015

Yes, Monday.

Hahah, I don't know about that.. I did a full length (1000 words approx) for Brooklyn which was my only film tonight, and the opening gala/red carpet, but I think virtually everything else will be 400 word ish capsule reviews. I may do full lengths for dope ish like The Assassin and Francofonia.

Yea, I'll be seeing that for sure, and Garrel has been on my radar for a while. Who are frenchie 1 and 2??? Bresson, Carax, Marker, Rohmer, Renoir, Ophuls, Tati, Godard, Malle, Melville, Cocteau, Audiard, Varda, Resnais, Vigo, Demy, others... and he's top 3?! s---..

 

Sep 25, 2015

yikes @ the new Bond theme

 

Sep 25, 2015

Chantal Akerman - from the east
JLG - goodbye to language
Rivette - out 1 / histoire de marie et julien
Garell - elle a passe tant de temps sous les sunlights
Eustache - la maman et la putain
Marker - sans soleil / level five
Carax - mauvais sang
Varda - les plages d'agnes
Duras - India song
Rohmer - le rayon vert

 

Sep 25, 2015

Also Jean-Marie Straub & Daniele Huillet

 

Sep 26, 2015

@Pinhead watches Spring Breakers once a week. I need to step my game up.

 

Sep 26, 2015

Had the pleasure of watching Let The Right One In for the first time. I've been piecing together my own thoughts as well as cannibalizing others, and I don't understand how anybody could interpret Oskar and Eli's relationship as nonromantic.

There's a full blown Some like It Hot moment where Oskar brushes the gender issue aside as a nonfactor. These are the formative years for sexual identity and to say the gender ambiguity adds a disturbing element kind of misses the point. The castration and its depiction are gratuitous, not the relationship.

I read a really well written review that said they weren't "in love" on the train but "in league" which makes no sense concerning Eli showing back up at the pool. A bond forged solely out of circumstance does not end with a kiss in Morse Code. This is a sweet moment. One that renders the ensuing tragedy or happily ever after irrelevant.

 

Sep 26, 2015

Didn't care for that one 3bh

 

Sep 26, 2015

Different strokes for different folks

 

Sep 27, 2015

First 3

• 
  45 Years 2015
  Watched 26 Sep, 2015
  
  Review published at Next Projection
  
  75/100
  
  …the film elicits genuine feelings of a long life together; moments of grief, regret, and resentment are presented alongside tenderness, compassion, and love.
  
  Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years is a taut, emotionally charged duel character study examining a husband and wife during the week leading to their 45th wedding anniversary.
  
  Read full review:
  nextprojection.com/2015/09/27/viff-45-years-taut-emotionally-charged/
  
  No likes
  
  
• 
  One Floor Below 2015
  ★★½ Watched 25 Sep, 2015
  
  Review published at Next Projection
  
  While the film may momentarily captivate or impress, it never truly feels complete.
  
  Read full review:
  nextprojection.com/2015/09/27/viff-one-floor-slow-burn-suspense/
  
  No likes
  
  
• 
  Brooklyn 2015
  ★★★½ Watched 24 Sep, 2015
  
  Review published at Next Projection.
  
  74/100 - Saoirse Ronan’s versatile, sensitive, and remarkably mature portrayal of Eilis Lacey provides the film with a great degree of personal depth and genuine expression.
  
  Read full review here:
  nextprojection.com/2015/09/26/viff-brooklyn-triumph/

In anticipation of my review being published, I will mention that Right Now, Wrong Then is my current favourite of the festival and of the year.

 

Sep 28, 2015

FORBIDDEN ROOM insta-classic. SLEEPING GIANT dope af.

 

Sep 28, 2015

As far as movies that deal with post-WW2 Japan go, I definitely prefer The Face of Another (1966) over Ikiru (1956).

Also, Spielberg and Stephen King are perfect cross-medium equivalents. They should have teamed up back in the day.

 

Sep 28, 2015

Out of the Past 1947
★★★½ Watched 27 Sep, 2015

While Out of the Past sets the stage for Hollywood's modern thriller, the first third of the film feels a little wordy and robotic in the way it saturates every exchange of dialogue with colorful quips lifted from the novel. Even in low stakes diner conversations, there is a competitive heft to the banter.

Once the film catches up to the present, the increasingly witty exchanges compliment the weight and intensity of the film much better. The pugilistic dialogue mirrors the way the characters are vying for the upper hand, taking two stairs at a time to keep ahead of the plot. Bailey confidently strolling up the back stairwell of the Sterling Club, knocking the phone away, knocking the manager out, grabbing the papers, and walking out is one of the most perfect scenes you will find and happens with very few words at all.

As far as noir goes, this is a classic detective picture, but I find myself much more interested the less iconic tangents of the genre from The Sweet Smell of Success to Ace in the Hole.



The Face of Another 1966
★★★★★ Watched 28 Sep, 2015

From kitsch propaganda to meditative fallout, it is unquestionable that wars shift the philosophic zeitgeists of the nations involved in them and underpin the art made in their wake.

Japan's reformation after World War II is no different, spawning films that tackle the nature of identity and cope with newfound existentialism in the afterglow of a global conflict. The Face of Another takes these issues into a Cronbergian realm, weaving them into two stories about facial disfigurement and social atrophy. We explore the superficial foundation of human interaction, the relationship between the tangible and abstract aspects of existence, as well as the fragile nature of identity. Science fiction and body horror elements punctuate a surreal post-war reality where society's thin veil of humanity is most transparent from its fringes.

While Kurosawa's Ikiru focuses on finding the right answers, Teshigahara's The Face of Another focuses on proposing the right questions, benefiting from a decade of meditation that distances it from kneejerk sentiment.

 

Sep 28, 2015

The Martian
A lightweight but mostly entertaining grand scale, sci-fi adventure. As a survival tale, the film never really registers a true sense of peril or danger despite the gravity (no pun intended) or desperation of the situation, as its tone is arguably too light-hearted and its arc too conventional. With that said, this isn't necessarily unwelcome, given how joyless some of Ridley Scott's recent efforts have been (Robin Hood, Exodus*) and how serious blockbusters have been in general. The humor is well placed and the storytelling is crisp, though somewhat schematic,and the film's overall tribute to problem-solving and science is easy to rally behind. Matt Damon gives a polished movie star performance and Scott's 3-D visualization of Mars' landscape is as striking as one would expect from the sci-fi veteran.

*I haven't actually seen Robin Hood or Exodus: Gods and Kings. Couldn't take more than 20 minutes of the former and the TV on my plane broke after 15 minutes of watching the latter.

The Lobster
This certainly won't win over those already cold to Yorgos Lanthimos' prior work and, from what I read, it's even disappointed fans of last films. However, this one resonated for me more or less just as strongly as the previous two. Like Dogtooth and Alps, Lanthimos once again rigidly constructs an oppressive fantasy world, one with harsh rules, brutal punishments and strict social norms. Here, with his dark, absurdist satire, he sets his aim on the nature of love and relationships, specifically the social pressures to find a match and the illusive nature of attraction and connection. Lanthimos follows his conceit through to its logical ends, leading to a number of expertly realized gags, often hilarious and poignant in equal measure. The cast from Farrell to Weicz is more than game to deliver his deadpan humor via sharp line readings and physical comedy.

I can certainly understand the criticisms of the film being excessively cruel or mean-spirited. It is without a doubt pitch black and twisted. However, I don't find Lanthimos' vision to be quite as cynical as others, as I think there's a certain emotional truth to his latest and, in his own f----- up way, even a little bit of romance.

 

Sep 29, 2015

whoa s---, two more insta-classics

LOUDER THAN BOMBS & ROOM. crazy impressive and didn't expect it.