16 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I did actually have you precisely in mind when I wrote that, yes.

I'll try to find and watch it, and damn my watch list is getting big. Well that's life I suppose. Better too have too many films to watch than too little.

By the way I've been meaning to tell you that after digesting it, Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes is a recommended from me. I'd also tentatively recommend Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, but by the title I'm sure you can guess some of what happens in the film and that most definitely isn't your jam. But it's a good film regardless, I think it's one of the few 2020s films that accurately captures the 2020's. Minus the rona, because (I think) it was shot before. It does address covid, somehow I got it confused with another movie.

Edited September 28, 20223 yr by KP From Another World

I have Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes bookmarked, but like you, my watchlist is...crushingly expansive. I will take, uh, the other one, under consideration...I read the premise, and it actually sounds more interesting than the title would suggest, so who knows.

8 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I have Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes bookmarked, but like you, my watchlist is...crushingly expansive. I will take, uh, the other one, under consideration...I read the premise, and it actually sounds more interesting than the title would suggest, so who knows.

There's a censored version that does it in an over the top way.

Persona (1966). A lot of the time, I pick out movies that that seem interesting to me that I don't actually try until months or years later, by which time I have no idea what originally made me interested in them or what their premise was, and I just start it blindly. This can be great because I don't have much of an idea of what to expect and therefore not much in the way of pre-conceived notions, which I think is often very valuable in movie-going experiences when you're not simply watching more of what you normally watch...other times, this is not so great because I don't have any context for what I'm seeing when it seems like having it would be very helpful. Within the first few minutes of this film starting, I saw at least a few different things that I can remember now that told me I was probably going to be in for a bad time:

1. A hand very graphically having a nail hammered through it.
2. A mutilated and decapitated lamb's head being drained of its blood.
3. What looked to be major organs being ripped out of some kind of creature.

Suffice to say, it was not the most comfortable first five minutes of a film that I've seen. I have not seen a picture directed by Ingmar Bergman before, but that's certainly a way to be introduced to a filmmaker. Anyways, the movie is about a young nurse who has been charged with caring for an actress who's been thrown into the loonie bin - on account of having suddenly lost it and gone full antipathy and mute. As for me...well, I don't do plays, and this largely feels like a play. The kind of play where everyone kind of sounds and acts like aliens from another planet in that sort of unnaturally stilted way. That said...it started taking a turn about halfway through that made it a little more interesting and engaging for me, so at least it had that; better to end on a (relative) high note and with something to think about. Still, not really my cup of tea.

(e): I see that the "themes and interpretations" section on Wikipedia is a bit of a hoot.

Edited October 2, 20223 yr by Bartimaeus

18 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I have not seen a picture directed by Ingmar Bergman before, but that's certainly a way to be introduced to a filmmaker.

My first was the 7th seal, which I enjoyed immensely. It was also quite the introduction, but I assume it was more pleasant of one for me than Persona was for you.

19 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

(e): I see that the "themes and interpretations" section on Wikipedia is a bit of a hoot.

It always is.

18 minutes ago, KP From Another World said:

My first was the 7th seal, which I enjoyed immensely. It was also quite the introduction, but I assume it was more pleasant of one for me than Persona was for you.

To be honest, within the first half of the film, I found the gore to be more interesting than anything else that happened. I was quite certain that I was going to despise the film overall by that point and was heavily debating just turning it off, and while I can't say that I'm glad that I persevered, doing so did at least improve my disposition towards the film.

The Seventh Seal very much looks and sounds like a film that I would hate on multiple levels...but then again, I very much enjoyed The Tragedy of Man (2011) and that doesn't sound very dissimilar in premise. But then again again, animation is a different medium that can play by very different rules at times...

18 minutes ago, KP From Another World said:

It always is.

I don't know, it has six different sub-sections and contains quotes from critics calling out other critics for their apparently terrible readings of the film, presumably with follow-ups by other critics doing the same to them. There doesn't seem to be any kind of consensus on what exactly the film was about or was trying to convey, just a whole bunch of different ideas that are possible or seemed like they were intended. There are suggestions that Persona is actually an "impressionist vampire film".

Which...I mean, I guess I can't disagree with because of how open-ended the film is, but that's certainly not where my lame brain was going with it. Meanwhile, the director says that while he had specific ideas in mind when he made it, he's not going to tell anybody what they were and instead welcomes any and all interpretations because that's more meaningful than him forcing any particular view. Which is probably the correct way to handle it, but still not the most helpful.

Edited October 2, 20223 yr by Bartimaeus

 

The Skin I Live In (2011). A sci-fi thriller starring Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya about...the listed premise doesn't really actually do the film's concept any justice, but at the same time, you can't actually say much about it without revealing too much.

Kind of had the full range of a movie-going experience for me: there were stretches of the film I really enjoyed, some stretches that I did not at all, felt creeped/grossed out at times, laughed because a few things didn't quite work for me like they should've...and even got a little emotional at the end because I really felt for a character. Weird experience being so all over the place.

Edited October 6, 20223 yr by Bartimaeus
cannae spell

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

The Skin I Live In (2011).

That is a movie alright... I caught it on tv a long while ago, a part of it at least. Let's just say that I never had the urge to watch it again or in full. This and Irreversible hit the same notes for me.

47 minutes ago, Sarex said:

That is a movie alright... I caught it on tv a long while ago, a part of it at least. Let's just say that I never had the urge to watch it again or in full. This and Irreversible hit the same notes for me.

The closest comparison I have is Martyrs (2008), which is...there's literally nothing to feel good about with that film: The Skin I Live In was rainbows and lollipops in comparison, so I was happy it didn't go quite that dark.

Spoiler

I mean, this one at least had a semi-feel good ending: the main character shoots the baddies and is reunited with their mom! Yay! Um...I guess it's not quite that simple, huh? Well regardless, it's better than what the main characters go through and end with in Martyrs, that's for sure.

I probably wouldn't want to watch it again either, but I guess my overall impression is...positive.

Edited October 6, 20223 yr by Bartimaeus

4 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Martyrs

Is the ending worse then in The Counselor?

4 hours ago, Sarex said:

Is the ending worse then in The Counselor?

I remember watching that movie and being confused, but after it set for a while I appreciate it. I think it's a slept on and underrated gem, along with The Paperboy (2012).

10 minutes ago, KP From Another World said:

I remember watching that movie and being confused, but after it set for a while I appreciate it. I think it's a slept on and underrated gem, along with The Paperboy (2012).

It's a one and done movie for me. I appreciate what it does and shows, as opposed to most movie that romanticize the subject, but I don't have the the will to watch it again.

31 minutes ago, Sarex said:

It's a one and done movie for me. I appreciate what it does and shows, as opposed to most movie that romanticize the subject, but I don't have the the will to watch it again.

I've only seen it once myself, but it's been a long time so I'll probably give it another watch soon whenever I make my way through the watch list.

12 hours ago, Sarex said:

Is the ending worse then in The Counselor?

Haven't seen The Counselor, but from what I read, probably? Bigly spoilers about Martyrs:

Spoiler

Two foster girls who are now young adults: one of them is horrifically mentally ill from traumatic memories of being tortured as a young child and mercilessly butchers a family that she thinks were maybe involved (though it's unknown to the audience whether they actually were) and it ends with her slitting her own throat after finishing the job; the other girl investigates further and is then actually captured by the organization that tortured her friend. She's imprisoned, beaten, and completely broken, and the film culminates with her being graphically flayed alive. They're running a kind of program to push people as close to the brink of death as possible in order to try to better understand it. It is a 100% feel bad kind of movie with literally not a single speck of humor or joy in it.

Edited October 6, 20223 yr by Bartimaeus

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Haven't seen The Counselor, but from what I read, probably? Bigly spoilers about Martyrs:

  Reveal hidden contents

Two foster girls who are now young adults: one of them is horrifically mentally ill from traumatic memories of being tortured as a young child and mercilessly butchers a family that she thinks were maybe involved (though it's unknown to the audience whether they actually were) and it ends with her slitting her own throat after finishing the job; the other girl investigates further and is then actually captured by the organization that tortured her friend. She's imprisoned, beaten, and completely broken, and the film culminates with her being graphically flayed alive. They're running a kind of program to push people as close to the brink of death as possible in order to try to better understand it. It is a 100% feel bad kind of movie with literally not a single speck of humor or joy in it.

Yeah... No interest in that kind of affair.

Watcher (2022). Mike of RLM loved this one a couple of months ago and it sounded like it was up my alley, so I waited until I forgot what it was about before I watched it. It's a really simple and straightforward kind of film that is pretty much exactly what it presents itself as, which is our main character moving to a different country (Romania) where she doesn't know the language or anybody besides her husband, and she feels as though she is being persistently watched by someone most any time of day and wherever she goes. Even though it's a fairly simple concept, it's a very tense and pretty film that makes good use of its foreign location to help isolate the main character, and I really rather enjoyed it. Other reviews mention it being too slow and not crazy enough, but that was O.K. with me: if you do "forced into being uncomfortable and vulnerable" well enough, I think you have a good film for this concept.

Edited October 7, 20223 yr by Bartimaeus

Hellraiser (2022).

I enjoyed it, and I was particularly impressed by the costume designs for the cenobites. I'd reccomend it to fans of horror generally.

Daniel Radcliffe And Evan Rachel Wood Are Campaigning To Get 'Weird Al' Yankovic An Oscar (uproxx.com)

The Impossible Kid (1982) - Agent 00 is back and this time he's out to stop a crime syndicate kidnapping wealthy industrialists for ransom. While not as great as For Y'ur Height Only, this movie was still thoroughly entertaining. The fight scene in the dojo was particularly good. You've not lived until you've seen Weng Weng do kung fu.

I also found out that the 2 movies I've seen are actually parts 2 and 3 of a trilogy. Sadly, part 1, simply entitled Agent 00, is lost. I hope some day a copy turns up somewhere. Luckily, Weng Weng did star in other movies, so I have that to look forward to.

11 hours ago, Raithe said:

Daniel Radcliffe And Evan Rachel Wood Are Campaigning To Get 'Weird Al' Yankovic An Oscar (uproxx.com)

Would like to see this movie, but what the hell is Roku?

Hollywood Reporter - Hayden Christensen returning to Star Wars with Ahsoka show

 

I should re-watch Coraline sometime. It seems like something I should enjoy, but it did not click for me at all when I did watch it a few years ago.

Edited October 10, 20223 yr by Bartimaeus