Movies, Flicks, Films, Videos, cinematography

[gutterslob]

My 2016 in films: https://filmsinwords.wordpress.com/2016 ... -in-films/

Thanks for this, Gekkossimo.
Already a few I need to track down, Elle, White God and Shin Gojira being the first batch, I guess. Kinda ignored Kubo + 2 Strings thinking it was the usual "family-friendly" CG stuff, but now that you've recommended it, guess I need to give it a go. Was a bit disappointed by Ms Hokusai frankly, not because it was bad (probably my fave anime movie of last year, tbh), but because I was expecting another Millennium Actress. Can't expect too much, I guess.

[GekkoP]

^ Oh yes, but you how it goes: only one Kon Satoshi around, unfortunately. :(

[gutterslob]

Watched The Red Turtle yesterday. Great stuff.

[ivanovnegro]

Added to watch-list. Sounds interesting.

[GekkoP]

^ Check out Scorsese's SILENCE. I think you'll like it.

[ivanovnegro]

^ I know, I know. Actually we want to see it in the cinema. Thanks for reminding me.

[franksinistra]

Dvadtsat vosem panfilovtsev

Good low budget war movie.

[ivanovnegro]

Always open to some more Russian movies.

[GekkoP]

Some recent views:

The Fits (Anna Rose Holmer, 2016)
I enjoyed it, but maybe I was expecting a bit more.

Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2015)
I can't be fair when it comes to this Thai master. This could be one of his most political achievement, though.

Lone Survivor (Peter Berg, 2013)
The Kingdom (Peter Berg, 2007)
Battleship (Petet Berg, 2012)
Last one is pure crap, the other two are somewhat interesting but only because Berg built on these works to become the director he is today.

Mahjong (Edward Yang, 1996)
They don't do it like this anymore. Masterpiece.

Patriot’s Day (Peter Berg, 2016)
Thrilling, but not as good as Deepwater Horizon.

Silence (Martin Scorsese, 2016)
I could go as far as to say this is the best Scorsese I have seen since Goodfellas.

The Love Witch (Anna Biller, 2016)
Loved it, but unless you can take feminist jokes and 70s camp bonanza for breakfast I'm not sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

[ivanovnegro]

Looking forward to Silence.

Toni Erdmann. I recently watched that German movie and I loved it. It is a comedy but not the typical German style comedy. It is a strange piece and I laughed really hard in some scenes. I was quite surprised by that movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4048272/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[GekkoP]

^ A film with its set of rules. It doesn't happen that often these days.

[GekkoP]

La La Land (Damien Chazelle, 2016)
No, no, absolutely no. And fuck you for all that jazz talk full of clichés.

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016)
Interesting and well-done, but can't shake off the feeling that Wong Kar-wai did this (and much more) better.

A Monster Calls (J.A. Bayona, 2016)
Visually terrific, but it's not much more than that.

Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016)
I was expecting a lot from this, maybe too much, I don't know. It left me completely void of any opinion about it. After sleeping good over it I'd say this is a bit overrated.

[GekkoP]

Himenaole (Yoshida Keisuke, 2016)
Great, little film. One of the best I've seen this year.

I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016)
Interesting, but as it often happens with Loach I liked it more as critic than as a regular viewer.

The Assignment (Walter Hill, 2016)
What happened, dear Walter!? What the fuck just happened? A complete mess.

Paperhouse (Bernard Rose, 1988)
Not as good as they told me.

Frankenstein (Bernard Rose, 2015)
Way worse than they told me.

Fresa y Chocolate (Alea, Tabío, 1994)
A gem.

Boyka: Undisputed (Todor Chapkanov, 2016)
Third chapter remains the best, but watching Boyka becoming a true hero is interesting enough to make it good.


I am working on my very own Barbet Schroeder retrospective. So far:

La Virgen De Los Sicarios (Barbet Schroeder, 2000)
Masterpiece. By far, my favourite of his works. Actually, I already knew this one, rewatching it prompted the idea to start a retrospective.

Kiss of Death (Barbet Schroeder, 1995)
Weird, but a decent crime.

Desperate Measures (Barbet Schroeder, 1998)
One of the best thrillers of the 90s, I am confident about that.

Murder By Numbers (Barbet Schroeder, 2002)
One of the worst thrillers of the 00s, I am confident about that.

Reversal of Fortune (Barbet Schroeder, 1990)
Jeremy Irons alone is worth the watch, but it's a very good one beside him.

[ivanovnegro]

The Snowden movie of Oliver Stone is really boring. Please watch the documentary.

[GekkoP]

^ So true.

[wuxmedia]

^ Are going to see the new ghost in the shell?
I thought it was pretty good

[gutterslob]

Silence (Martin Scorsese, 2016)
I could go as far as to say this is the best Scorsese I have seen since Goodfellas.

Watched this a couple of weeks ago. Dunno, I found it extremely fatiguing, to be honest. I know it's good, but I just wasn't willing to work hard enough to enjoy it.

^ Are going to see the new ghost in the shell?
I thought it was pretty good

As a big fan of the original anime movie and series, I'm taking the "if you have nothing nice to say, it's better to say nothing at all" route with this one.

[GekkoP]

^ Big fan of the original(s) too. Still haven't watched the new one, not sure I am really gonna to be honest.

[wuxmedia]

TBH it was such a long time since I watched it (on VHS no less) easily 20 years ago, it all seemed familiar but I had utterly forgotten the story, I can recall being amazed back in the late 90's.
After I looked at the trailer for the original, even from the trailer - it's a pretty much a shot for shot, effect for effect remake.
My stance on remixes and remakes is pretty dim, this one will at least encourage people who don't know to go watch the original and can then say 'the original is better' as it generally is.
Like a lot of people attempted reading LotR after watching the film.

^^ I seem to find Scorsese to be hard work, even 'wolf of wallstreet' which was pretty slick dragged on a bit. oh yeah and 'the departed' man the dragged for me like none of it was wrong or not needed in the cut.

[ivanovnegro]

Totally forgot about Silence. We watched it when it released in Germany. It is a master piece.