Sep 17, 2015

need sum obscure film as like we don't see anything , obscure like that OK



Tyler J added Summer with Monika to their watchlist
Tyler J added The Silence to their watchlist
Tyler J added Winter Light to their watchlist etc etc

 

Sep 17, 2015

I don't know where I would be without you guys

 

Sep 17, 2015

Lol wut. Did you misread my post or is this a long con troll?

 

Sep 17, 2015

Can I be le cinephile plz

 

Sep 17, 2015

you should elaborate

what are movies like Spring Breakers and Birdman going to change?

 

Sep 17, 2015

They haven't changed anything as much as showing the potential for change. These are popular films that subvert the entire reason that they're popular. My step mom and step sister watched Spring Breakers because "that girl from High School Music" was in it. The same people who liked Forbidden Planet in 1957 watched 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and probably expected a similar experience. Movies can be popular as well as profound, I'm just asking when will these two qualities marry on as wide a scale as they did in the 70s. 50 years? 500 years? What stars have to align before that happens?

For all intents and purposes, 9/11 and the war on Iraq is my generation's Vietnam. Why is the resulting nihilism translating into mindless enjoyment rather than indictment of the government or dour introspection etc. New York gets destroyed in the Avengers, Metropolis gets destroyed in Man of Steel, etc. Why is the public's escapism so bland this time around? Couple that with the depression in '08, the NSA, Katrina, etc. US cinema feels so afraid to stew in these things on a large scale. When does Hollywood collapse and/or we see a new era of filmmakers who grew up this way change the landscape? Do we? Why? Why not?

I can't help but to read about the death throes of Classic Hollywood and not see parrallels. From the gimmicks (60fps, 3D, IMAX) to the harmless state of cinema (MPAA) to the epics (Avengers being a Ben Hur). Movies have been around for 100 years. I'm curious about its trajectory and there isn't much to go on.

 

Sep 17, 2015

Given how highly you regard Dorsky's work, I'm disappointed to say I probably won't be able to check them out. Most of the screenings are while I'm at work and I'm not sure I can make those that aren't. I'll try, but hopefully one day Criterion will release an anthology like they did for Brakhage.

 

Sep 18, 2015

The Brakhage joint is probably gonna be my next Criterion purchase.

 

Sep 18, 2015

lemme kiss tat d-ck real quick

 

Sep 18, 2015

October 8

 

Sep 18, 2015

FAM don't do me like this

 

Sep 18, 2015

Facetime in theater fam

Gonna try to catch up on sokurov before this!

 

Sep 18, 2015

can't wait to hear your thoughts on him

 

Sep 19, 2015

I saw Sicario last night, which I thought was pretty solid (sorry @Rowjay Stan) and might be my favorite Villeneuve film. While its moral ambiguity feels more like an affectation than a true thematic inquiry, what does resonate is the film's pervading sense of despair and futility. This is embodied by Emily Blunt's FBI agent who struggles in vain to maintain a semblance of law and order in her pursuits against a Mexican drug cartel, as she's unable to alter the situation she's thrown into and is simply rendered as a powerless observer. The American operatives in the film are shown to be remarkably efficient at accomplishing their mission objectives, but there's no sense in the end that their achievements will make any long-term difference, instead merely providing footnotes in an endless cycle of violence.

Taking place in a fictionalized scenario where the drug war has escalated significantly over the border into the US, Villeneuve's film may not have anything new to convey about the current conflict, but where its strengths lie are in Villeneuve's considerable formal ability and his impressive feel for genre rhythm and suspense. After an effectively jarring opening sequence, the film pulses with tension throughout, even in small moments like the pregnant pauses in the action or in aerial scene transitions (both Johann Johannsson's score and silence are used effectively here to convey the gradually increasing intensity). The highlight is an extended prisoner extraction sequence in Juarez , where the camera (Roger Deakins again in beast mode) is predominantly placed inside vehicles or on the tops of trucks, as the viewer is placed alongside the officers, scanning the environment for possible threats or danger.

I do have some lingering issues with the film (the protagonist's actions often strain credulity; a subplot involving a Mexican officer is sorely underdeveloped), but if the caliber of more mainstream thrillers was on this level, we'd all be a lot happier with Hollywood.

 

Sep 20, 2015

What happened to your list? I need guidance on navigating his filmography

 

Sep 20, 2015

its ON again bby.

 

Sep 20, 2015

I watched Elegy of a Voyage

A brilliant film. I'm floored. This is my kind of cinema. As with Russian Ark, Sokurov creates an all encompassing atmosphere through narration and open form montage, yielding a sense of presence throughout the film. Open montage, the use of nondescript (yet no less arresting nor beautiful), non representational images, which resonate both forwards and backwards throughout a film, like refrains in the use of a tonic/key note in music, leaves the film's sense of time unbroken. Even with cuts and scene changes, the film remains fixed, as if the entirety of the work encapsulates a single moment. Shots such as the swimming boy, the moon, and the soldier's face serve as the 'tonic', providing structure to an otherwise poetic form which resembles music more closely than any visual art, such as theater and painting. Films like The Tree of Life, Werckmeister Harmonies, Mirror, and Man With a Movie Camera are comparable in this regard, as are the films of Nathaniel Dorsky and Robert Bresson, to name a few.

Elegy of a Voyage is perfectly observational and contemplative. A narrator, presumably Sokurov himself, leads us through landscapes, a church, a coffee shop, and a gallery. He serves as a proxy for our own selves, as we travel with him on his voyage. Speaking in a contemplative tone, he observes his surroundings with acute awareness, noticing the shifting moon, sun, and clouds, an angry face, an innocent one, those who are kind, and those who scrutinize. Sokurov charms his films with a great deal of texture. The grainy snow, visible wind, and high contrast are all exceptionally affective. The use of such contrast, together with his DOPs ability to photograph the unimaginable, only deepens his ability to elicit feelings of scale and grandeur. One might be overwhelmed by Sokurov's distinct aesthetic, which carries a somewhat eerie waviness amidst the mise-en-scene, making objects appear almost life-like. There is a certain sense of urgency and even psychological or psycho-sexual emergency in the film's rhythm, bolstered ever more by a cathartic orchestral score and the use of ominous sound effect. Thoughtful philosophy, though rather incidental, provide direction and narrative backing to superb cinematography.

100/100

Not sure if I shoulda started with your favourite film. It might be mine as well, now. Note that my thoughts above are all based on having seen just this and Russian Ark, so maybe he has some other styles and it's just that those two films are spiritually connected (seems legit)

 

Sep 20, 2015

I love you kamran

 

Sep 20, 2015

saw BLACK MASS -- plodding, pointless film. rehash of better boston crime pictures

 

Sep 20, 2015

But Johnny Depp was great right?