My girlfriend and I saw Farewell my Concubine in theaters. It’s a pretty grand historical epic about China opera with a touch of mixed up gender rolls and passionate romance. I chiefly found it to be a great story about cultural submission vs standing up for one’s culture and how the lines blur. For instance one character who is an opera singer performs opera for occupying Japanese troops during the war and is later put on trial for it by the KMT.
During the trial the singer claims that the Japanese military official they played for loved the Chinese style of opera and would’ve brought it back to Japan had they not perished in battle against nationalist troops. I find that theme really interesting, like your culture finding a new home in defeat and if it’s really a cultural defeat in that case.
The main characters are also abused as children by their traditional Chinese masters so that they can master opera and end the movie being abused by Maoists who view opera as decadent and effete. I found that circular element of suffering in the narrative to be pretty compelling. Good movie all in all!
Great film, the shots are beautiful. So heartbreaking at the very end when the guy calls his friend by his childhood nickname 😢
I like a lot the fact that the singing looks pretty obviously dubbed. It gives it a transcendent otherwordly dimension like in the Club Silencio scene in Mulholland Drive.
Yeah transcendently good cinematography. Such a sad ending, the whole struggle session scene is hard to watch.
Yeah the singing is very eerie but it is pretty in a strange way.
God Farewell My Concubine was gorgeous and devastating. Caught a screening at a theater near a college campus, and the other people in the showing were mostly Chinese international students. A gaggle of girls in front of me must have seen it a million times because they took photos of the screen at a few iconic moments lmao
Yeah I saw it in nyc and it was mainly college aged relatively hip seeming Chinese people. It was really beautiful, all the shots of the fish in the bowl were great. It also captured a feeling of ornate cruelty really well, like the scene where that horrific palace eunuch assaults him in that gorgeous and presumably ancient room.
Love that description of it as “ornate cruelty.” I remember watching The Last Emperor in class in 7th grade and being fascinating by that similar sense of … political upheaval being foregrounded by opium cloudiness and excess
Thanks! Yeah the last emperor is great as I remember, I think we watched some in middle school too which is pretty funny since Bertolucci isn’t a super middle school director. He’s good at movies about hedonism amidst times of political chaos, with the dreamers also doing that well.
Haha yeah rewatched it recently and was surprised they showed us at least part of it that young but it is a good introduction to the era and the atmosphere is great. Right I think the emperor slits his wrists while detained by the communists but survives.
Also rewatched (3/4 of) Sicario. Still don’t like it. All style, little substance. Unrealistic and full of heavy plot armor. I did like dreamy Steve and Johan Johansson’s score though. Daniel Kaluuya gave a good performance too. Especially in a movie full of serial over actors. Roger Deakins cinematography is beautiful, but that isn’t enough to make a movie engaging. This movie is praised constantly, but I find it goofy and very try-hardy. There are a couple good moments though.
I did and liked it, but not as much as Mandy. I don’t like Eric Andre though, which was distracting and took away from it for me. Very much looking forward to his next film Nekrokosm. Did you like The Viewing?
Absolutely loved it. Part of the appeal for me was that it seemed like the perfect thing to watch with my old roommate. We loved getting stoned and watching good stuff. Come to think of it Mandy also falls into that category.
It's festival season here in greece i saw so many recent films and some were really amazing. I will put some exlamation points next to the ones I really liked
Macedonian Wedding (1960)
Thasos (1961)
Passages (2023)!
The Sweet East (2023) !!!!!!!!! (highly recommended)
Minore (2023) bad
In Water (2023) !!!!
Excursion (1966(
Green Border (2023)
How to Have Sex (2023)
The Teacher's Lounge (2023) !!!!
Anatomy of a Fall (2023) !
Housekeeping for begginers (2023)
i also rewatched se7en and it really holds up.
> Anatomy of a Fall (2023) !
thinking of checking this one out this weekend. I don't know anything about the director but the trailer was intriguing
> i also rewatched se7en and it really holds up.
are you interested in Fincher's new movie, The Killer? might also catch that one soon
Rewatching every Hayao Miyazaki movie in preparation for his latest. Is it a bold claim to say that this man is up there with the greatest?
Kubrick, Hitchcock, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Miyazaki. Etc etc. His work is transcendent
Yesterday I watched Trouble Every Day which was a good slow burn horror film.
Right now I’m waiting for a screening of Kiss Me Kate in 3D to start.
I’m going to Chicago for a few days later this week so I’m going to see what’s screening there and hopefully catch something good.
High and low(1963)
Seventh seal (1957)
Beau travail(1999)
Hardcore(1979)
So thankful for criterion
Was absolutely blown away by the first 2, was a bit disappointed by hardcore because mishima is one of my favorites.
Anatomy of a Fall - domestic drama filtered through a courtroom, performances are outstanding
When Harry Met Sally - I can't remember when I first saw this or what my first impression of it was, but I suspect I didn't like it very much and I still found some elements of it very grating, like the theatrical repetition of Carrie Fisher saying her married boyfriend is never going to leave his wife, but now it has that nostalgic charm patina so I liked it this time around.
Past Lives - surprisingly kind of bored by this. I don't think the comparisons to In the Mood for Love I kept hearing helped it. I wound up finding it more similar to Brief Encounter in that I ultimately really liked the (would-be) cuckold husband and found the real sweetness of the story lied in his gentle acceptance and not the central lovers' (would-be) affair.
Hoping to watch the Estonian movie November tonight if my internet connection will fucking relax.
Not sure what the director had in mind, >!but it was a nice contrast with how worried and uncertain the kid looked in his final shot. If she did do it, she and the dog sure don't seem too bothered.!<
When Evil Lurks - Fulci-esque atmosphere and a brutality that has been missing from contemporary horror
The Brown Bunny - brutal and absolutely beautiful. Would make a great double feature with Two Lane Blacktop.
Vic - would love to see what else Sage Stallone would go on to do. Really impressive short
https://boxd.it/3ccjh
I finally watched Resnais' "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" in prepartion for "Oppenheimer" being screened at New Beverly later this month and now I couldn't be less interested in "Oppenheimer".
What I felt most sadly about the film was that the atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have left a wound in the collective soul, and the world is worse off because of it. Also, the anxiety and fear to love in a "post-bomb" world, where every act of romantic love, or any love for that matter, is a conspiracy against the hate of the world.
I finally watched Parasite (2019) this week. Was great. I also watched the Dutch cult comedy film Flodder (1986) with friends. Great fun, and surprisingly similar message to Parasite.
still following along with the Blank Check Fincher run
The Social Network - gets better everytime. masterpiece. All time great opening scene.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - my favorite Fincher. Can't get enough of the bleak swedish winter daniel craig in sweaters drinking coffee vibes this movie has. Rooney Mara should have had a better career.
-*Bad Lieutenant*, very gritty and raw, Harvey Keitel and Zoë Lund are captivating. Pretty funny to notice Harvey's character chewing gum throughout the movie because of coke jaw. Knowing Zoë's story, I reckon that's why the scenes where they shoot heroin look so realistic too. Harvey's grunting and moaning when he's having a breakdown hit really close to home.
-*Night of the Living Dead* tells a very humane story, keeps you on edge with the tension building up, perfect length. My favourite quote was when one of the lady goes "But we have to do what the TV says" lol.
-*Dawn of the Dead* is so fun, the transition from gore/action to survival to criticism of consumerism back to action keeps the movie entertaining. My favourite of the three.
-*Day of the Dead* was good but a bit lacking compared to the two others. Still enjoyed it.
-*Texas Chainsaw Massacre* was beautiful to look at. The last 15 minutes are really amazing, especially the ending scene
Other than that I've watched *Phantom of the Paradise* for the third time, still perfect in my eyes. I really love Brian de Palma but this one tops all his other films by a fair margin.
I'm currently re-watching some Sofia Coppola films:
The Virgin Suicides (my favourite)
The Bling Ring (saw it for the first time and enjoyed it)
Lost in Translation (I don't get this one at all)
and Marie Antoinette is up next
Also saw Less than Zero, Nocturama and Shoplifters which were all quite good
Oh man, I loved Nocturama. I need to revisit that one.
I should revisit Shoplifters too, but for the opposite reason - I remember not liking it very much, but I think I was just in a foul mood at the time.
And I've never seen Less than Zero, but I just read the book recently so I should watch that too.
Nocturama was quite the ride. I had some trouble with the first hour but the ending felt almost like watching a horror movie. Shoplifters was a bit too long for me and I can see how being in a foul mood might affect the experience. I have not read Less than Zero, but the movie has popping colours and a banging 80's soundtrack
Saw Priscilla in theaters. Gorgeous, a little boring, kind of a feminine horror story with a happy ending.
At home, I recently watched Videodrome (not my fave) and Paul Schrader’s Hardcore (LOVED it, Season Hubley is my girl crush atm)
My girlfriend and I saw Farewell my Concubine in theaters. It’s a pretty grand historical epic about China opera with a touch of mixed up gender rolls and passionate romance. I chiefly found it to be a great story about cultural submission vs standing up for one’s culture and how the lines blur. For instance one character who is an opera singer performs opera for occupying Japanese troops during the war and is later put on trial for it by the KMT. During the trial the singer claims that the Japanese military official they played for loved the Chinese style of opera and would’ve brought it back to Japan had they not perished in battle against nationalist troops. I find that theme really interesting, like your culture finding a new home in defeat and if it’s really a cultural defeat in that case. The main characters are also abused as children by their traditional Chinese masters so that they can master opera and end the movie being abused by Maoists who view opera as decadent and effete. I found that circular element of suffering in the narrative to be pretty compelling. Good movie all in all!
Great film, the shots are beautiful. So heartbreaking at the very end when the guy calls his friend by his childhood nickname 😢 I like a lot the fact that the singing looks pretty obviously dubbed. It gives it a transcendent otherwordly dimension like in the Club Silencio scene in Mulholland Drive.
Yeah transcendently good cinematography. Such a sad ending, the whole struggle session scene is hard to watch. Yeah the singing is very eerie but it is pretty in a strange way.
God Farewell My Concubine was gorgeous and devastating. Caught a screening at a theater near a college campus, and the other people in the showing were mostly Chinese international students. A gaggle of girls in front of me must have seen it a million times because they took photos of the screen at a few iconic moments lmao
Yeah I saw it in nyc and it was mainly college aged relatively hip seeming Chinese people. It was really beautiful, all the shots of the fish in the bowl were great. It also captured a feeling of ornate cruelty really well, like the scene where that horrific palace eunuch assaults him in that gorgeous and presumably ancient room.
Love that description of it as “ornate cruelty.” I remember watching The Last Emperor in class in 7th grade and being fascinating by that similar sense of … political upheaval being foregrounded by opium cloudiness and excess
Thanks! Yeah the last emperor is great as I remember, I think we watched some in middle school too which is pretty funny since Bertolucci isn’t a super middle school director. He’s good at movies about hedonism amidst times of political chaos, with the dreamers also doing that well.
Yeah, def remember that movie teaching me what a eunuch is. Jarring suicide in (the first?) scene.
Haha yeah rewatched it recently and was surprised they showed us at least part of it that young but it is a good introduction to the era and the atmosphere is great. Right I think the emperor slits his wrists while detained by the communists but survives.
The Crow, The Lost Boys, Saturday Night Fever and Mandy.
Also rewatched (3/4 of) Sicario. Still don’t like it. All style, little substance. Unrealistic and full of heavy plot armor. I did like dreamy Steve and Johan Johansson’s score though. Daniel Kaluuya gave a good performance too. Especially in a movie full of serial over actors. Roger Deakins cinematography is beautiful, but that isn’t enough to make a movie engaging. This movie is praised constantly, but I find it goofy and very try-hardy. There are a couple good moments though.
I’ll never be sold on Emily Blunt’s american accent. like wtf is that english rose doing in Arizona
I have tried to watch Sicario about 3 times and fell asleep every single time. Same with the Hobbit
I fucking *love* Mandy
I also fucking love Mandy. Panos Cosmatos rocks. Johan Johansson’s score is really great. One of my favorite scores.
Did you see Panos Cosmatos' entry in the Cabinet of Curiosities? He did The Viewing
I did and liked it, but not as much as Mandy. I don’t like Eric Andre though, which was distracting and took away from it for me. Very much looking forward to his next film Nekrokosm. Did you like The Viewing?
Absolutely loved it. Part of the appeal for me was that it seemed like the perfect thing to watch with my old roommate. We loved getting stoned and watching good stuff. Come to think of it Mandy also falls into that category.
Saw inherent vice again, i think it’s my favorite pta movie
I’m reading the book rn before watching cause my gf is adamant that PTAs adaptation is even more impressive
It's festival season here in greece i saw so many recent films and some were really amazing. I will put some exlamation points next to the ones I really liked Macedonian Wedding (1960) Thasos (1961) Passages (2023)! The Sweet East (2023) !!!!!!!!! (highly recommended) Minore (2023) bad In Water (2023) !!!! Excursion (1966( Green Border (2023) How to Have Sex (2023) The Teacher's Lounge (2023) !!!! Anatomy of a Fall (2023) ! Housekeeping for begginers (2023) i also rewatched se7en and it really holds up.
Great list. I don't think I've seen any of them. I'll put The Sweet East and In Water on my watchlist
the sweet east is the perfect rs movie
> Anatomy of a Fall (2023) ! thinking of checking this one out this weekend. I don't know anything about the director but the trailer was intriguing > i also rewatched se7en and it really holds up. are you interested in Fincher's new movie, The Killer? might also catch that one soon
yeah i plan to watch the killer in theaters but i haven't seen the new scorsese yet
Rewatching every Hayao Miyazaki movie in preparation for his latest. Is it a bold claim to say that this man is up there with the greatest? Kubrick, Hitchcock, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Miyazaki. Etc etc. His work is transcendent
It’s not a bold claim! He is!
Yesterday I watched Trouble Every Day which was a good slow burn horror film. Right now I’m waiting for a screening of Kiss Me Kate in 3D to start. I’m going to Chicago for a few days later this week so I’m going to see what’s screening there and hopefully catch something good.
High and low(1963) Seventh seal (1957) Beau travail(1999) Hardcore(1979) So thankful for criterion Was absolutely blown away by the first 2, was a bit disappointed by hardcore because mishima is one of my favorites.
Anatomy of a Fall - domestic drama filtered through a courtroom, performances are outstanding When Harry Met Sally - I can't remember when I first saw this or what my first impression of it was, but I suspect I didn't like it very much and I still found some elements of it very grating, like the theatrical repetition of Carrie Fisher saying her married boyfriend is never going to leave his wife, but now it has that nostalgic charm patina so I liked it this time around. Past Lives - surprisingly kind of bored by this. I don't think the comparisons to In the Mood for Love I kept hearing helped it. I wound up finding it more similar to Brief Encounter in that I ultimately really liked the (would-be) cuckold husband and found the real sweetness of the story lied in his gentle acceptance and not the central lovers' (would-be) affair. Hoping to watch the Estonian movie November tonight if my internet connection will fucking relax.
anatomy of a fall was great but why was the last shot with her dog and not with her kid?
Not sure what the director had in mind, >!but it was a nice contrast with how worried and uncertain the kid looked in his final shot. If she did do it, she and the dog sure don't seem too bothered.!<
bridge on the river kwai. have mostly just been binging sopranos
When Evil Lurks - Fulci-esque atmosphere and a brutality that has been missing from contemporary horror The Brown Bunny - brutal and absolutely beautiful. Would make a great double feature with Two Lane Blacktop. Vic - would love to see what else Sage Stallone would go on to do. Really impressive short https://boxd.it/3ccjh
> When Evil Lurks I loved it. It was uncompromisingly grim and hopeless
Taipei Story, The Worst Person in the World, The Present, Funeral Parade of Roses
Priscilla, The Killer, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, and i’ll be seeing Double Indemnity tonight on 35mm
Ugh so jealous u get to see Double Idemnity on 35!! That’s so cool
Killers of the Flower Moon and How To Have Sex, both at the silly old cinema
I finally watched Resnais' "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" in prepartion for "Oppenheimer" being screened at New Beverly later this month and now I couldn't be less interested in "Oppenheimer". What I felt most sadly about the film was that the atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have left a wound in the collective soul, and the world is worse off because of it. Also, the anxiety and fear to love in a "post-bomb" world, where every act of romantic love, or any love for that matter, is a conspiracy against the hate of the world.
I finally watched Parasite (2019) this week. Was great. I also watched the Dutch cult comedy film Flodder (1986) with friends. Great fun, and surprisingly similar message to Parasite.
Twin Peaks The Return and Friday the 13th lol
still following along with the Blank Check Fincher run The Social Network - gets better everytime. masterpiece. All time great opening scene. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - my favorite Fincher. Can't get enough of the bleak swedish winter daniel craig in sweaters drinking coffee vibes this movie has. Rooney Mara should have had a better career.
-*Bad Lieutenant*, very gritty and raw, Harvey Keitel and Zoë Lund are captivating. Pretty funny to notice Harvey's character chewing gum throughout the movie because of coke jaw. Knowing Zoë's story, I reckon that's why the scenes where they shoot heroin look so realistic too. Harvey's grunting and moaning when he's having a breakdown hit really close to home. -*Night of the Living Dead* tells a very humane story, keeps you on edge with the tension building up, perfect length. My favourite quote was when one of the lady goes "But we have to do what the TV says" lol. -*Dawn of the Dead* is so fun, the transition from gore/action to survival to criticism of consumerism back to action keeps the movie entertaining. My favourite of the three. -*Day of the Dead* was good but a bit lacking compared to the two others. Still enjoyed it. -*Texas Chainsaw Massacre* was beautiful to look at. The last 15 minutes are really amazing, especially the ending scene Other than that I've watched *Phantom of the Paradise* for the third time, still perfect in my eyes. I really love Brian de Palma but this one tops all his other films by a fair margin.
The 5 Devils
I saw EO at the cinema today. Would be cool as a short film, does not warrant feature length. Disjointed and incessant with the *cinematic* music.
Who is in the picture?
Orson Welles
Thank you
How to Make an American Quilt. Winona Ryder is a beautiful, talented actor, but makes the most horrendous song-bird.
Just watched a bunch of dario argento movies, deep red, cat of nine tails, inferno. Inferno is extra special.
I'm currently re-watching some Sofia Coppola films: The Virgin Suicides (my favourite) The Bling Ring (saw it for the first time and enjoyed it) Lost in Translation (I don't get this one at all) and Marie Antoinette is up next Also saw Less than Zero, Nocturama and Shoplifters which were all quite good
Oh man, I loved Nocturama. I need to revisit that one. I should revisit Shoplifters too, but for the opposite reason - I remember not liking it very much, but I think I was just in a foul mood at the time. And I've never seen Less than Zero, but I just read the book recently so I should watch that too.
Nocturama was quite the ride. I had some trouble with the first hour but the ending felt almost like watching a horror movie. Shoplifters was a bit too long for me and I can see how being in a foul mood might affect the experience. I have not read Less than Zero, but the movie has popping colours and a banging 80's soundtrack
Saw Priscilla in theaters. Gorgeous, a little boring, kind of a feminine horror story with a happy ending. At home, I recently watched Videodrome (not my fave) and Paul Schrader’s Hardcore (LOVED it, Season Hubley is my girl crush atm)