The 'Recently Watched Films' Thread

[Liam]

Watcher (2022):

American/Romanian co-production. I don't want to overrate this film because the plot, such as it is, is paper-thin, but it has some unforgettable atmosphere!

In a nutshell: a depressed young American woman moves to Bucharest with her Romanian husband, and begins to suspect that one of her neighbors is stalking her.

I loved how, in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the #BelieveAllWomen slogan, the narrative swings like a pendulum between the protagonist's point of view and the rest of the world's: now you believe her, now you don't, now you believe her again (because she's got some evidence), now you don't (because the man she suspected of stalking her explains himself to her and seems quite nice and harmless); the story keeps fucking with the audience, replicating exactly what the main character is going through.

The ending (the very last scene) is a little muddled, I would have made it longer, but I loved how it ended with her gaze, with her just looking at the camera, confronting both the world (inside the film) and us, the audience.

In a way, this film is truly terrifying: like I said, I loved the dark and hopeless atmosphere; and I think the narrative asks important questions about the nature of obsession, fear, trust, society's reluctance to believe a woman's story ("oh, she's just being hysterical!"), a stranger's predicament in a strange land where you don't understand the language, etc.

I think this film deserves to be seen more than once, it is definitely more nuanced than the average edge-of-your-seat thriller.

 

[hayden]

Has anyone else been watching The White Lotus?

Really happy for Jennifer Coolidge who deservedly got her Emmy, ?

I love her "core of the onion speech," ?

I wasn't super into season 1 (it was still quite good, even though it had an awkward landing), but season 2 is phenomenal so far. Brilliant bit of spiderwebbing. One of my favourite seasons of TV this year. Looking forward to the final episodes. Hilarious, cringeworthy, painful, beautiful — it's it.

 

[Ben Jackson]

I wasn't super into season 1 (it was still quite good, even though it had an awkward landing), but season 2 is phenomenal so far. Brilliant bit of spiderwebbing. One of my favourite seasons of TV this year. Looking forward to the final episodes. Hilarious, cringeworthy, painful, beautiful — it's it.

I'm also watching White Lotus. Am in Season 2 Episode 4, loving it thus far as well especially F. Murray Abraham's character. Just like you said, it's phenomenal.

 

[tiganeasca]

Since there is so much interest in film here, I thought we should all be aware that the venerable Sight & Sound has just released its once-a-decade list of the greatest movies of all times. For those who follow it, this year's list represents a massive shift from the past. (Be warned: the list is presented in a somewhat confusing manner from the "bottom" of the top 100 down to #1 (at the bottom of the page).

But for those who are too lazy to follow the link.

1. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
2. Vertigo
3. Citizen Kane
4. Tokyo Story
5. In the Mood for Love
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey
7. Beau travail
8. Mulholland Dr.
9. Man With A Movie Camera
10. Singin' in the Rain
11. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
12. The Godfather
13. Cleo from 5 to 7
14. La règle du jeu
15. The Searchers

 

[tiganeasca]

My previous post listed the critics' poll. This is the directors' poll.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Citizen Kane
3. The Godfather
4. Tokyo Story
4. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
6. Vertigo
6. 8½
8. Mirror
9. Persona
9. In the Mood for Love
9. Close-up
12. Taxi Driver
12. Barry Lyndon
14. Beau travail
14. Seven Samurai
14. A bout de souffle
14. Stalker

 

[Ben Jackson]

From both lists I have watched:

The Godfather
Citizen Kane
Taxi-Driver
8 and Half
Vertigo
Persona
Mullholland Drive

I'll try and look for the rest later on. Among the movies I listed, the movie I'm least impressed with is Citizen Kane. What I appreciated in the movie is the narrative structure the plot not that rich.

 

[Leemo]

I find it strange how similar the critics poll and the directors poll are.

 

[tiganeasca]

I find it strange how similar the critics poll and the directors poll are.

That's funny...I was thinking about how different they are in many ways.

 

[Bartleby]

The Year the Sight & Sound Poll Died — World of Reel

Honestly speaking, I expected this. Today’s S&S/BFI poll results make sense. We knew that this list would be so much less well versed in film history given the abhorrent freefall of English film criticism over the last decade.

www.worldofreel.com

yes, yes, yes, and very much yes!

 

[childeroland]

Eh. Some of the new entries are absurd -- Get Out, really? -- and the Ackerman wouldn't be my choice, great as it is, but it's not the worst.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Looking at the list of Greatest movies again, here are the movies I have watched, in addition to the ones I have earlier listed:

Blue Velvet (the scenes where bugs finds its path from the earth, highly symbolic imagery which foreshadows the events of the movie later on, and the emergence of the light dispelling the darkness, confirming the characters everlasting fulfilment for peace and happiness, remains unforgettable).

Goodfellas (a great gangster movie, one of De Niro and Scorsese's best)

Taxi-Driver (who can forget the monlogue "you talking to me, you talking to me")

Apocalypse Now (the absurdity of war with the atmosphere of Conrad)

Psycho (Hitchcock at his best)

Casablanca (one of all time finest love stories)

Moonlight (good movie but not great)

The Apartment (another beautiful romantic-comedy)

Get-Out (a great psychological horror movie, but was so surprised that it was listed, I don't think it deserved to).

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the rest of the other movies, especially the European movies. I hope to see some of them. The next movie I'll watch, toward the end of the year might be The Piano and Sunset Blvd.

 

[Uemarasan]

It’s a very conservative list. Great for people who are new to cinema, but otherwise doesn’t really offer anything for those who are deep into movies. Following discussions in cinephile circles, there wasn’t anything surprising about Jeanne Dielman topping the list, though it’s still amazing that an almost avant garde film made it all the way to number one. Personally, I was expecting Beau Travail, but Jeanne Dielman is pioneering in the same way that Citizen Kane and Vertigo are. I was rooting for Vertigo to retain its position.

I wouldn’t say there’s an explicitly political agenda in place. It’s mostly recency bias and critics and directors too lazy to seek out cinema beyond their Criterion collections and the universally acclaimed. With regard to canonical entries, I would have put Brokeback Mountain before Moonlight, which is just Happy Together but more accessible for Westerners. Carol, Safe, or Far from Heaven before Portrait of a Lady on Fire. A great number of essential sociopolitical horror - Cure, Audition, Possession, Trouble Every Day, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead - before Get Out. Memories of Murder, Secret Sunshine, Burning, The Housemaid, anything from Hong Sang Soo before Parasite.

It’s an exercise in middlebrow tastemaking, so I don’t get why people are so upset. It’s the equivalent of getting mad at your grandpa for playing his Vera Lynn records all day long. Cinema is much more interesting than the Sight and Sound list. From my end, I’m looking forward to the individual ballots. Those are where the more fascinating selections and perspectives can be found.

 

[Stevie B]

It’s a very conservative list. Great for people who are new to cinema, but otherwise doesn’t really offer anything for those who are deep into movies. Following discussions in cinephile circles, there wasn’t anything surprising about Jeanne Dielman topping the list, though it’s still amazing that an almost avant garde film made it all the way to number one. Personally, I was expecting Beau Travail, but Jeanne Dielman is pioneering in the same way that Citizen Kane and Vertigo are. I was rooting for Vertigo to retain its position.

I wouldn’t say there’s an explicitly political agenda in place. It’s mostly recency bias and critics and directors too lazy to seek out cinema beyond their Criterion collections and the universally acclaimed. With regard to canonical entries, I would have put Brokeback Mountain before Moonlight, which is just Happy Together but more accessible for Westerners. Carol, Safe, or Far from Heaven before Portrait of a Lady on Fire. A great number of essential sociopolitical horror - Cure, Audition, Possession, Trouble Every Day, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead - before Get Out. Memories of Murder, Secret Sunshine, Burning, The Housemaid, anything from Hong Sang Soo before Parasite.

It’s an exercise in middlebrow tastemaking, so I don’t get why people are so upset. It’s the equivalent of getting mad at your grandpa for playing his Vera Lynn records all day long. Cinema is much more interesting than the Sight and Sound list. From my end, I’m looking forward to the individual ballots. Those are where the more fascinating selections and perspectives can be found.

I'm a big fan of many of the films on your list, especially Memories of Murder. Burning is one I saw recently that benefited from a little extra time to ponder over. I also really liked Carol. A common thread of these three films is that they're all slow-going and are ones my friends will criticize me for recommending. Regarding movies on the earlier list, am I the only one who thinks Apocalypse Now is one of the most over-rated films of all time?

 

[Uemarasan]

I'm a big fan of many of the films on your list, especially Memories of Murder. Burning is one I saw recently that benefited from a little extra time to ponder over. I also really liked Carol. A common thread of these three films is that they're all slow-going and are ones my friends will criticize me for recommending. Regarding movies on the earlier list, am I the only one who thinks Apocalypse Now is one of the most over-rated films of all time?

Which cut have you seen, Stevie? I remember experiencing Redux as a kind of fever dream one afternoon, although I was quite young at the time. I might respond to the film quite differently today.

 

[Stevie B]

I saw it after it was first released - on VHS! Needless to say, that was a long time ago. I recall being frustrated by the many nighttime scenes where I had trouble making out what was happening on screen. Perhaps watching it on blu-ray would yield a different response, though my first viewing was such a negative one that it has always made me reluctant to give the film a second chance. I also watched a documentary on the making of Apocalypse Now where the filmmaking appeared both chaotic and haphazard. A frantic Coppola frequently appeared to be just making things up as he went, though, in fairness, he was dealing with a myriad of issues while shooting the film.

Conversely, I've always admired the Coen brothers approach to filmmaking. Stemming from their early days when they had tight shooting schedules and very limited budgets, the brothers would painstakingly work everything out from the beginning, and they'd stick to their very detailed story boards as they filmed. Even now, when their financial situation has changed drastically, they adhere to that same process. Most actors they've worked with praise their preparedness and for knowing exactly what they want. A few, like notorious over actor Nicholas Cage, have found their approach limiting.

Getting back to Apocalypse Now, is there a specific cut you'd recommend if I were to watch the film again?

 

[nagisa]

I honestly loved the Daniel's Everything Everywhere All at Once. I wonder if anyone's seen it and what they thought.

It's hard to describe, and harder without spoiling. Dixit wikipedia, it's an "absurdist comedy-drama" whose "plot centers on a Chinese-American immigrant (played by Michelle Yeoh) who, while being audited by the IRS, discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse," which neatly encapsulates the premise, but doesn't express how poignant and universal it turns out. It's an immigrant & parenthood drama blown up to hilariously cosmic proportions, with a quietly aching heart underneath. Michelle Yeoh (the mother) is of course fantastic, Ke Huy Quan (the father) is great to see back on the screen (he was Short Round in Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom and Data in the Goonies, but sadly left acting because of "lack of opportunities" in the 90s...), and Stephanie Hsu (the daughter) was great discovery for me.

 

[Leemo]

I honestly loved the Daniel's Everything Everywhere All at Once. I wonder if anyone's seen it and what they thought.

It's hard to describe, and harder without spoiling. Dixit wikipedia, it's an "absurdist comedy-drama" whose "plot centers on a Chinese-American immigrant (played by Michelle Yeoh) who, while being audited by the IRS, discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse," which neatly encapsulates the premise, but doesn't express how poignant and universal it turns out. It's an immigrant & parenthood drama blown up to hilariously cosmic proportions, with a quietly aching heart underneath. Michelle Yeoh (the mother) is of course fantastic, Ke Huy Quan (the father) is great to see back on the screen (he was Short Round in Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom and Data in the Goonies, but sadly left acting because of "lack of opportunities" in the 90s...), and Stephanie Hsu (the daughter) was great discovery for me.

I loved it as well. That movie, along with the polar opposite in style but equally compelling in execution Aftersun are my two favourite films of the year so far.

 

[alik-vit]

TV series "Why didn't they ask Evans? (2022)". Thanks for the info, @Papageno ! It's not masterpiece, but not catastrophe too. Not long, with great main music theme and nice cast. Not highly, but recommended for fans of Agatha Christie.

 

[TrixRabbi]

I really don't mind the recent entries on the S&S list that much only because I don't think it's fair to delegitimize the authentic reactions people had to those movies, and I'm willing to bet it's from an influx of younger voters in this year's poll who made not have as deep a well of knowledge as older voters or for whom those movies were more formative. If you're a 22 year-old rising critic now you were 17 when Get Out was released and it may have been much more impactful than those of us who were already familiar with horror's strong streak for bringing uncomfortable political conversations to the mainstream.

That said, I doubt I'll live to see the day Night of the Living Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre truly get their dues for how radically significant they were to the development of cinema as an artform -- not just horror. I may have already said this but it's worth repeating: NotLD is just as important as Citizen Kane and Breathless, films that from the moment they were released completely altered the idea of what a movie could be and how one could be made. It shouldn't just be on the list, it should be in the Top 10 easily.

 

[Ben Jackson]

This year, I watched nearly 80 movies, though most of them aren't necessarily new movies. Here are my faves:

On the Waterfront (1954)--- one of Marlon Brando's finest performances about conscience and mob corruption. Impressed too with Even Marie Saint. Great movie.

The Last Emperor (1987)--- won Best Picture Oscar, the movie about the China's last emperor.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)--- Peter O'Toole finest performance, traces the life of T.E Lawrence, an English Soldier that fought against the Turks in World War 1.

8 and Half (1963)--- An Italian masterpiece, a movie about a director who has entered creative crisis.

Schnidler's List (1993)--- I found out that Imre Kertesz, Nobel Laureate and author of Fateless, wasn't pleased with the movie. I was and finds it a masterpiece. A benevolent industrialist who decides to help the Jews.

Man of God (2021)--- Nigerian movie about an individual torn between following God/religion and worldly life.

Discreet Charm of Bourgeoisie (1977)--- Spanish movie by Luis Bunuel. I discovered it's one of the Director's last masterpiece, but it's very beautiful movie.

The Handmaiden (2016)--- At the heart of this Korean movie is a love story, but it's success for me is somewhat polyphonic technique that's applied to the narrative.

City of God (2005)--- I don't know what to say but this Brazillian movie deserves it's acclaim.

Annie Hall (1977)-- IMHO the finest romantic comedy movie about a neurotic comedian and a Ditzy singer. Diane Keaton, the ditzy singer and Woody Allen, the psychotic comedian, both won Best Actress and Best Director Oscars in 1978.