What Movies Are You Watching Lately

[slack tide]

Has anyone watched the new horror film, 'Undocumented', that is now available On-Demand and on iTunes? Having trouble finding a trustworthy opinion.

 

[Sancho Panzo Christ]

i'm beginning to think that australian film might be as underrated as australia as a country (i've never actually been there, though). been watchign some spectacular films in recent weeks that were produced there. some really original ideas.

one in particular that i'll mention is "wake in fright", aka "outback" (1971). the film could probably best be summarized as kafka's "the castle" set in the australian outback + alcoholism, but there's an eery quality to it that makes it even weirder than that sounds.

anyone seen it? any other interesting australian films people like?

 

[Harold falcon]



i'm beginning to think that australian film might be as underrated as australia as a country (i've never actually been there, though). been watchign some spectacular films in recent weeks that were produced there. some really original ideas.

one in particular that i'll mention is "wake in fright", aka "outback" (1971). the film could probably best be summarized as kafka's "the castle" set in the australian outback + alcoholism, but there's an eery quality to it that makes it even weirder than that sounds.

anyone seen it? any other interesting australian films people like?

Holy nostalgia, I saw a bad VHS dub of that like fifteen years ago. Great movie, it was during my Donald Pleasence obsession. The "real life" kangaroo killing was a high point.

 

[dwyhajlo]



i'm beginning to think that australian film might be as underrated as australia as a country (i've never actually been there, though). been watchign some spectacular films in recent weeks that were produced there. some really original ideas.

one in particular that i'll mention is "wake in fright", aka "outback" (1971). the film could probably best be summarized as kafka's "the castle" set in the australian outback + alcoholism, but there's an eery quality to it that makes it even weirder than that sounds.

anyone seen it? any other interesting australian films people like?

I haven't seen that one that you mentioned, but it's on the the list now.

After the first part (the actual picnic, etc.) I wasn't crazy about Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock, but I know that that's one that a lot of people really like, so YMMV.
However, I heartily recommend Weir's The Last Wave. It's really quite great, and expands on some of the ideas from Hanging Rock in an interesting way. They make good companion pieces to watch back-to-back.

Does Roeg's Walkabout count, even though he's a Brit?

EDIT: What about Strictly Ballroom? I remember seeing that a bunch of times when I was younger, haha.

 

[imatlas]

The weirdest Aussie film I've seen is Peter Weir's "The Cars that Ate Paris". It's on the border of being unwatchably weird, if you know what I mean.

I'm a huge fan of the movie "Bliss", starring Barry Otto (who is also in Strictly Ballroom), and based on the Peter Carey book of the same name. Carey's earliest books were a type of Australian magic realism, much of which comes through in the film, and the movie does a remarkable job of trimming the story down while remaining engaging. I've probably read the book close to half a dozen times, and watched the film perhaps twice that many times. It is an example of that rarest of birds - an effective film version of a brilliant novel.

 

[Sancho Panzo Christ]



Holy nostalgia, I saw a bad VHS dub of that like fifteen years ago. Great movie, it was during my Donald Pleasence obsession. The "real life" kangaroo killing was a high point.

funny that you mention the bad quality of the copy you saw years ago. it appears that the negative print of the movie had disappeared for decades, and was discovered in pittsburgh of all places about 5 years ago. i believe they have since restored it for a dvd.

teh copy i saw had a disclaimer at the end regarding the " 'roo hunting scene". it said that the footage for that part was taken by actual "'roo hunters" killing actual 'roo's. so, there were no animals killed expressly for the film.

I haven't seen that one that you mentioned, but it's on the the list now.

After the first part (the actual picnic, etc.) I wasn't crazy about Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock, but I know that that's one that a lot of people really like, so YMMV.
However, I heartily recommend Weir's The Last Wave. It's really quite great, and expands on some of the ideas from Hanging Rock in an interesting way. They make good companion pieces to watch back-to-back.

Does Roeg's Walkabout count, even though he's a Brit?

EDIT: What about Strictly Ballroom? I remember seeing that a bunch of times when I was younger, haha.

definitely check out "outback" if you like roeg's and weir's stuff. I was a big fan of "hanging rock" some years ago. i saw "last wave" a few years back as well, but don't remember it too well. ditto for "walkabout".

i haven't seen "striclty ballroom", as i don't really have much time for dancing movies. am i wrong to be writing it off?

The weirdest Aussie film I've seen is Peter Weir's "The Cars that Ate Paris". It's on the border of being unwatchably weird, if you know what I mean.

I'm a huge fan of the movie "Bliss", starring Barry Otto (who is also in Strictly Ballroom), and based on the Peter Carey book of the same name. Carey's earliest books were a type of Australian magic realism, much of which comes through in the film, and the movie does a remarkable job of trimming the story down while remaining engaging. I've probably read the book close to half a dozen times, and watched the film perhaps twice that many times. It is an example of that rarest of birds - an effective film version of a brilliant novel.

i've actually been looking for "bliss", which i had read about on imdb. it sounds a lot like a movie i'd be interested in, so i'm definitley trying to find it. there's another cult film from australia called "bad boy bubby", 1993, directed by rolf de heer. i don't remember it well, but it's one of those with a dedicated following to it like "bliss". more recently, he made a disturbing domestic drama called "alexandra's project", about a wife getting revenge on her husband. i found it quite disturbing, but interesting.

 

[cyprusholidays]

The usual suspects...

 

[Harold falcon]



funny that you mention the bad quality of the copy you saw years ago. it appears that the negative print of the movie had disappeared for decades, and was discovered in pittsburgh of all places about 5 years ago. i believe they have since restored it for a dvd.

teh copy i saw had a disclaimer at the end regarding the " 'roo hunting scene". it said that the footage for that part was taken by actual "'roo hunters" killing actual 'roo's. so, there were no animals killed expressly for the film.

That's the story I had heard back then as well, it was a legal kangaroo hunt that was filmed documentary style and inserted into the movie. I just checked online and it appears there is a DVD version so I am ordering that now. Thanks.

 

[HORNS]

I saw Get Him to the Greek in a hotel room and found it very funny - I mean, it was perfectly silly for a long day of walking around.

 

[Biggskip]



I saw Get Him to the Greek in a hotel room and found it very funny - I mean, it was perfectly silly for a long day of walking around.

It has Its moments. Overall not bad, but a bit uneven.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The climax scene where Jonah Hill is freaking out after having smoked the Jeffery was really damn funny.

 

[AayaMaterial]

Just about to watch Legend of the Guardians

No hatin

 

[Sancho Panzo Christ]

i was watching "127 hours" last night, the film about the kid who had to cut off his arm because he got it stuck under a boulder while hiking. i had very low expectations for the film, but still ended up depressed by how stupid it was. which got me thinkign about good depressing films, so i thought i'd share with you some of my favorite depressing movies and invite your comments/suggestions.

1. "The Swimmer" (1968) -- a ridiculously in-shape-for-55 burt lancaster decides that, while he's walking home (from where?) he'll swim through all his neighbor's swimming pools along the way. as you begin watching this film, you 're expecting typical hollywood fluff, and about an hour into it, your expectations are not challenged. and then at about the halfway point the mood shifts dramatically, and the remainder of the film is some of the most metaphysically desperate narrative i've ever seen, culminating in a most horrifying image. the film is clearly an allegory, but an allegory for what? this is not only a great film for people who demand to be given a deal of autonomy while watchign a film, but for those who like to ponder the more negative aspects of living identified by the existentialist philosophers. i've never walked away from a film feeling more empty in my life, but in a way that is rewarding in the extreme. it's based on a story by john cheever.

2. "Christiane F." (1981) -- This makes "Requiem for a Dream" look like an episode of "loony tunes". the D.A.R.E. cliches that typify Aronovsky's ************* film are lacking here, as a young berlin girl gets hooked on smack and ends up living on the streets and whoring herself to support her habit. this is an intensely realistic film about drug addiction filmed amid the glorious backdrop of one of the world's loveliest cities, with david bowie himself performing in the film and lending his berlin-period songs to it as well.

3. Static (1985) -- this is one of those 80's films for which the word "quirky" was invented. a young man (played by keith gordon, who gave up acting to become a director--his "the chocolate war" is brilliant.) thinks he has invented a machine that allows him to photograph images of heaven. you find out that he's recently experienced the death of his parents, and that he misses them dearly. the ending is absurd, as is a lot of the film, but somehow i found it as a whole a great experience. this is a real cult film with a small but dedicated following.

4. Kes (1969) -- conventional wisdom says that the commercial failure of this film in the usa was due to the incomprehensible accents of the northern english working class characters. i think this is wrong, as even with the sound off the plot is apparent. i think the real reason why americans didn't warm to it is due to the film's taking an unflinching look at the living conditions of the losers of history--the (english) working class. the young protagonist billy lives in cramped living conditions with his mother and his older brother who works "down in the pit". he eventually finds a baby kestrel (falcon) and trains it to fly with teh aid of a book he steals. it becomes clear that his time spent with the kestrel is the only experience of beauty he has in his bleak life. although the viewer knows that this is not going to turn out well, the end of the film is nevertheless extremely saddening, forcing the bourgeois viewer to confront how his/her society treats the working class. this was marketed as a "family film", but i don't think it should be watched by children.

5. River's Edge (1986) -- this film isn't depressing in the visceral way that "kes" is, but i think paints the most accurate picture of the destruction of the american family, which is a sad subject indeed. a high school student kills one of his female friends for no reason, and his other friends (led by crispin glover in all his glory) decide to help him cover it up for no reason. keanu reeves delivers the second best performance as one of the friends who still seems to have some humanity in him, and resists the glover character's drive to save the murderer. this is a profoundly intellectual film, which rewards multiple viewings, as there's a lot going on under the surface (could you say the same for "127 hours"?).

6. "In a year with 13 moons" (1978) -- this is directed by pretentious german filmmaker rainer werner fassbinder, and there's a lot in this film to hate (i'm thinking of the dumb homage to jerry lee lewis). in many ways this typifies the worst of the european art film, but i think it's worth checking out for the performance of volker spengler, who plays a man who has thoughtlessly undergone a sex-change operation to please a man who wants nothign to do with him. this is a film about loneliness and the human need to be loved, and in many ways deals with these themes in an interesting way. one scene in particular that sticks out to me is when he goes to these people's apartment through the invitation of a prostitute he has met to hang out for a while. one of the men tells about a dream he had where he's in a cemetery, but as he's looking at the tombstones he notices that the dates are all of low durations (e.g. 1955-1957). someone else in the cemetery tells him that these dates don't represent the dead person's life span, but the years in which they had a true friend. as this is being recited, new york punk rock band suicide's famous "frankie teardrop" is playing in the background, making the scene all the more dire and anxiety-provoking.

7. "withnail & i" (1987) -- combines the funny and the sad. just see it!

honorable mention for "ikiru" (1952).

a few i've got on the block to watch next are, "make way for tomorrow" "1937", and "wanda" (1970), but i just haven't been in the mood for this kind of stuff lately.

 

[MikeDT]



4. Kes (1969) -- conventional wisdom says that the commercial failure of this film in the usa was due to the incomprehensible accents of the northern english working class characters. i think this is wrong, as even with the sound off the plot is apparent. i think the real reason why americans didn't warm to it is due to the film's taking an unflinching look at the living conditions of the losers of history--the (english) working class. the young protagonist billy lives in cramped living conditions with his mother and his older brother who works "down in the pit". he eventually finds a baby kestrel (falcon) and trains it to fly with teh aid of a book he steals. it becomes clear that his time spent with the kestrel is the only experience of beauty he has in his bleak life. although the viewer knows that this is not going to turn out well, the end of the film is nevertheless extremely saddening, forcing the bourgeois viewer to confront how his/her society treats the working class. this was marketed as a "family film", but i don't think it should be watched by children.

I saw it when I was about 9. It's that sadistic Brian Glover football scene on the field and in the showers afterwards, it still sticks in my mind.

 

[stevent]



WHY HAVE YOU PEOPLE NOT SEEN OLDBOY YET?
Seriously, it was like seven years ago. You have no excuse.

Great movie. Hulu has the Man From Nowhere, great korean film from last year. Kinda like Leon a little.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/278635/the-man-from-nowhere

 

[Britalian]

Saw my first filum in the recent slew of vampire offerings.
This was probably an earlier one in the trend: Let The Right One In by Tomas Alfredson, Sweden, 2008. Excellent