The 'Recently Watched Films' Thread

[Verkhovensky]

Zone of Interest !

It's brilliant.

It's a proof that you can tell a story that has been told dozens of times already and still be original and do something new and fresh.

Edit: It seems that it is just very loosely based on Martin Amis novel. According to all descriptions of that novel, almost nothing of it happens in the movie.

 

[Bartleby]

Zone of Interest !

It's brilliant.

It's a proof that you can tell a story that has been told dozens of times already and still be original and do something new and fresh.

Edit: It seems that it is just very loosely based on Martin Amis novel. According to all descriptions of that novel, almost nothing of it happens in the movie.

I've just come out of the theatre, second viewing, now with my partner. Just brilliant. So many details, and despite it being thin on plot, virtually every shot and sounds carry deep meaning. We had such great discussions about the film afterwards. It's unnerving, to say the least, but worth it.

 

[Ленин]

Poor Things (2023)

- A film that presents us with several ideas but barely scratches the surface of them. The visual is nice, the way the world is shown to us as if we were inside Bella's head is nice, but that's it. It's just nice. I feel like I was suppose to be swimming in an ocean but I was just dipping my toes on a child's plastic pool. Emma Stone's fabulous perfomance was the ONLY thing that kept me from abandoning the film midways.

 

[The Common Reader]

Poor Things (2023)

- A film that presents us with several ideas but barely scratches the surface of them. The visual is nice, the way the world is shown to us as if we were inside Bella's head is nice, but that's it. It's just nice. I feel like I was suppose to be swimming in an ocean but I was just dipping my toes on a child's plastic pool. Emma Stone's fabulous perfomance was the ONLY thing that kept me from abandoning the film midways.

I was bowled over by everything about this film: I saw it at the end of last year, and I walked out of the movie theater half dazed. The score is haunting, and weird steampunk/art nouveau set design is like a movie of its own. In fact, I have never enjoyed watching the credits at the end so much, as I did here, and it dawned on me that the film had been shot in Budapest, and that that made perfect sense, since that city has such an extreme and perversely extravagant variation of art nouveau: architecture that writhes. I do so hope that Emma Stone wins the Oscar, but there were a number of other great performances surrounding her. Anyway I hope everyone sees the this.

 

[Bartleby]

I first saw Poor Things back in September, I think, during the Rio Film Festival, and back then I was impressed by everything technical, including the performances, but it was simply too repetitive for me, the jokes and points that they were making were the same in slightly different variations, up till the triumphant ending (or so the film thought, for, again, it was just a continuation of what had been stated before), so I was conflicted, not only because my senses had been in awe, but also because even by that time everyone had hyped this film to death...

...and then I rewatched it yesterday at home at it got worse... I think seeing it with an audience, for one, really helped the jokes land, and everything else fell even flatter now, duller. I could, as well, only keep watching it for Emma Stone, the acting over all, and the whole production design, the cinematography, and the score. It was, though, kind of a slog, a beautiful one at that... I just wish I loved it as much as mostly everyone else, especially since the director is one of my favourite ones working today...

 

[The Common Reader]

I first saw Poor Things back in September, I think, during the Rio Film Festival, and back then I was impressed by everything technical, including the performances, but it was simply too repetitive for me, the jokes and points that they were making were the same in slightly different variations, up till the triumphant ending (or so the film thought, for, again, it was just a continuation of what had been stated before), so I was conflicted, not only because my senses had been in awe, but also because even by that time everyone had hyped this film to death...

...and then I rewatched it yesterday at home at it got worse... I think seeing it with an audience, for one, really helped the jokes land, and everything else fell even flatter now, duller. I could, as well, only keep watching it for Emma Stone, the acting over all, and the whole production design, the cinematography, and the score. It was, though, kind of a slog, a beautiful one at that... I just wish I loved it as much as mostly everyone else, especially since the director is one of my favourite ones working today...

I rarely re-watch movies shortly after seeing them for the first time, but as it happens I very much want to see this again soon, and if I do, it will be interesting to see how it holds up. Certainly there are a lot of weird surprises in seeing the movie for the first time that won't have the same effect.

 

[Leseratte]

You all made me very curious about the movie.

 

[Bartleby]

Saw Dune Part Two on IMAX.

There's not much to say without entering into spoiler territory aside from the obvious: don't miss it if you've liked the first part; and if you didn't, maybe this more action-packed instalment will make an impression on you. Either way, see it on the biggest screen with the best audio possible!

also got this nice-looking card from the cinema I went to that I'll use as a bookmark ?

 

[Stevie B]

Made a point to see Zone of Interest this week since it received such glowing reviews on the Forum. I was really transfixed by the film. Even though the much of the movie is shot in the Commandant's home just outside of Auschwitz, it's clear the family compound is no protective bubble. Auschwitz is omnipresent whether it's views of barracks' rooftops, guards in watchtowers, ashes in the river, or smoke stacks that never stop filling the sky. There is also an unending series of eerie sounds that suggest something horrible is always taking place on the other side of the wall. Zone of Interest is the best kind of film, one that demands immediate discussion after viewing. The sad thing is my wife and I were literally the only two in the theater, something that doesn't speak well for the college town where we live.

 

[Ленин]

君たちはどう生きるか (How do you live?) aka "The Boy and the Heron" (2023) {minor spoilers}

- First I'd like to say that I vehemently dislike the western choice of title (in Korea, for instance, is How do you live? too) BUT I undestand why Ghibli approved such a title. Not only because it appeals more to the masses (and after all it is treated as "kids movie") but also this film is quite autobiographical and Suzuki-san said that the Heron is him which makes the western title a bit poetic too.
Fecemi la divina potestate. The world whitin our world with millions of other worlds is a grieving world. Our little Dante/Mahito/Miyazaki-san goes to the underworld to find your mothers and himself. He finds much more. An eternal sorrow there where death and live coexist mirroring the fleeting yet eternal sorrow of our world, our ordinary world of fools and pools of blood. Still it's better than a world of illusions, I guess. "Can you see those boats? They're mere illusions..." Through that world is the way among the lost people. Lost souls, death and alive. Lost timelines, past mostly but future too. But in that world created by his granduncle he could do better, he could make it good again but Mahito/Miyazaki chose us, not them. The fools of a foolish world. Why is that, Miyazaki-san? Why destroy your creation, why let it go? Miyazaki is a stubborn old man who believes in beauty and above all in peace among us fellow human beings alongside with nature and the other creatures of our absolutely fantastic world. A pacifist and humanistic man. He still believes in us. It's not the end, not yet. The usual 120 minutes or so and happy endings of Miyazaki's films, but... this time the ending is not simply "happy" it is... bittersweet... his beautiful world is in peril of disappearing when he and Suzuki-san leave this ephemeral life. Mirroring the last act of the film, alas... But for us who brought some tokens from that world(s), an amulet or a simple random stone, It will live forever. Alive and Pulsating. Oh what a treasure they gave us!

 

[The Common Reader]

The new Wim Wenders film Perfect Days has very little dialogue and almost no plot, but it is held together by the extraordinary acting of Koji Yakusho in the main role of a janitor and cinematography that makes the Shibuya neighborhood of Tokyo where it was shot a character in its own right. I saw it yesterday and am still processing it, but wanted to mention as it is the kind of movie that should be seen in a movie theater.

 

[Stevie B]

Watched "The Quiet Girl" last night, a film based on the novella Foster by Claire Keegan. So so good! The movie is slight on plot and heavy on character development. It tells the story of a nine-year-old girl growing up in a dysfunctional family in the 1980s in rural Ireland. She is shipped off for the summer to relatives she doesn't even know so her parents will have one less mouth to feed. I don't want to spoil the film, but I've never seen a movie with a more emotional climax. I also liked how the film featured dialogue in both Irish and English.

By the way, I just deleted the trailer I added earlier after realizing it included key plot spoilers. Best to watch "The Quiet Girl" knowing as little as possible about the storyline.

 

[Leseratte]

君たちはどう生きるか (How do you live?) aka "The Boy and the Heron" (2023) {minor spoilers}

- First I'd like to say that I vehemently dislike the western choice of title (in Korea, for instance, is How do you live? too) BUT I undestand why Ghibli approved such a title. Not only because it appeals more to the masses (and after all it is treated as "kids movie") but also this film is quite autobiographical and Suzuki-san said that the Heron is him which makes the western title a bit poetic too.
Fecemi la divina potestate. The world whitin our world with millions of other worlds is a grieving world. Our little Dante/Mahito/Miyazaki-san goes to the underworld to find your mothers and himself. He finds much more. An eternal sorrow there where death and live coexist mirroring the fleeting yet eternal sorrow of our world, our ordinary world of fools and pools of blood. Still it's better than a world of illusions, I guess. "Can you see those boats? They're mere illusions..." Through that world is the way among the lost people. Lost souls, death and alive. Lost timelines, past mostly but future too. But in that world created by his granduncle he could do better, he could make it good again but Mahito/Miyazaki chose us, not them. The fools of a foolish world. Why is that, Miyazaki-san? Why destroy your creation, why let it go? Miyazaki is a stubborn old man who believes in beauty and above all in peace among us fellow human beings alongside with nature and the other creatures of our absolutely fantastic world. A pacifist and humanistic man. He still believes in us. It's not the end, not yet. The usual 120 minutes or so and happy endings of Miyazaki's films, but... this time the ending is not simply "happy" it is... bittersweet... his beautiful world is in peril of disappearing when he and Suzuki-san leave this ephemeral life. Mirroring the last act of the film, alas... But for us who brought some tokens from that world(s), an amulet or a simple random stone, It will live forever. Alive and Pulsating. Oh what a treasure they gave us!

Not sure whether I want to see first this film or Poor Things.

 

[Ленин]

Not sure whether I want to see first this film or Poor Things.

I'd suggest "The boy and the Heron" (O menino e a garça por aqui) because it's a delight to watch it in a cinema, and apparently it will be a long time before its digital or dvd/bluray release whilst "Poor Things" is already available in digitally.

 

[Leseratte]

I'd suggest "The boy and the Heron" (O menino e a garça por aqui) because it's a delight to watch it in a cinema, and apparently it will be a long time before its digital or dvd/bluray release whilst "Poor Things" is already available in digitally.

Thanks for the nice suggestion, @ Lenin!

 

[Phil D]

Saw Cidade de Deus (City of God) at the cinema last night. Extraordinary movie, though tough to watch with all the violence.

Has anyone read the book it's based on by Paulo Lins? Much to be gained from it?

 

[Leseratte]

Saw Cidade de Deus (City of God) at the cinema last night. Extraordinary movie, though tough to watch with all the violence.

Has anyone read the book it's based on by Paulo Lins? Much to be gained from it?

I tried to. The book is very well written if one can stomach all the ever increasing violence it portrays.

 

[Phil D]

I tried to. The book is very well written if one can stomach all the ever increasing violence it portrays.

I have to say, I find the film impressive and compelling, but it's so violent that I would find it difficult to ever actually recommend to anyone. It's more of a "watch at your own risk" movie for me.

 

[Leseratte]

I have to say, I find the film impressive and compelling, but it's so violent that I would find it difficult to ever actually recommend to anyone. It's more of a "watch at your own risk" movie for me.

Sadly, the real violence has much increased since this book was written and that in several Brazilian states. Book and film were premonitory. They are important because of their accuracy.

 

[Liam]

Haven't watched it yet, but wasn't sure where else to post it--