The Spiritualized Film Club

All of the above.

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redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

'Airplane!'

A local indie cinema house was showing this last night so we took the kids to see it on the big screen. I was about my son's age when I first saw this movie. It still never gets old. Totally random and completely bonkers. Must have been an absolute blast filming it.
Hedspace
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

Stuart X.Hunter wrote:

I Saw The Devil
[/quote]
thoroughly enjoyable film and well played by Choi Min-sik. A character so well played its well worthy of the serial killer hall of fame.

On this weeks list >
The Hunt
with the excellent Mads Mikkelsen of Valhalla Rising
http://youtu.be/YsYn6L5fF9Q
Laz69
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Laz69 »

Just watched what i thought was simply a throwaway action movie when i started to hear familiar sounds. I then waited patiently through the credits to confirm what i thought... Spindrift's music was the bulk of the soundtrack! Really rather impressed with that. The movie, El Gringo, was a bit of a homage to Robert Rodriguez i think, but there was plenty of action and some great, if a little OTT shootouts between the good guy and the bad guys. No thinking required or too much of a plot to worry about; just some fun action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaXkI1t5JWI
redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

'42'

There are a lot of details in this bio pic that I am sure the writers had to leave out to keep this film at 2+ hours. In doing so they only concentrated on Robinson's 1946-1947 seasons when Branch Rickie took the chance and signed the first black baseball player to the Montreal Royals & eventually the Brooklyn Dodgers. It's a decent film and good for kids who don't know the story or the significant importance of Jackie Robinson.

For those outside of America....I don't know how this film will translate in other countries. Yes, it is about a baseball player but the story is much bigger than baseball. Before 1946/7, major league baseball was an all-white league. Black baseball players had to play in their own league and to a certain extent even white and black fans rarely crossed paths. Robinson being the first black man to play major league baseball endured a lot of racism and resistance during his career but he helped break the color barrier. After his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers the doors that were once closed to black athletes opened and professional baseball was officially desegregated. Although the film doesn't do so specifically, the parallels made with Obama's Presidency are very obvious.

My son and I enjoyed it.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by jack white »

redcloud wrote:'Silver Linings Playbook'.

Good film...nice story and DeNiro was excellent. Not convinced it is worthy of being showered with multiple awards but, it was a decent movie.

bit late to the party on this one. watched it last week.

am still undecided on it. part of me thinks it was really shamelessly cynical & manipulative, dressing a box-ticking by-the-numbers-romcom mutton dressed as a mental-illness affected lamb. it just did not sit right, it seemed so... pre-meditated(?) or contrived, or maybe even immoral.
it's attempts at subtlety seemed both a blessing a curse: in reinforcing the underlying cynicism of it's use of mental illness as a cheap plot device, but in the script there were actual moments of what seemed genuine honesty & endeavour (the scene where they're in the diner).

i'm still unconvinced of the true merits & intentions of the film & filmmakers.
it is a damn sight better than your typical romcom so maybe that's enough..
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robotoilet
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by robotoilet »

I see a lot of "movies" for work. But during the holidays take this opportunity to see my kind of "films".

At theatre
The Hunt
The Angel's Share
Next up is Holy Motors

At home
Le Gamin Au Vélo / The Kid With A Bike
Blue Valentine
Hofstadter
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hofstadter »

robotoilet wrote:Holy Motors
This was probably my favorite film of last year. Just sit back and enjoy it...

On the same note:

'Upstream Color' Already seen it twice, will most likely see it a third time. I will not even try to explain it in terms of narrative (a large point of it is being non-narrative or at least fairly anti-confluential), I guess I will just say that if you do see it, don't get trapped in thinking it is asking a lot of you, instead just try to consciously NOT look for explanations, forget about cause-and-effect, etc. Just let it wash over ya. Really beautiful, I thought, especially this one amazing look at field recorded, pitch shifted, warping sonic spaces, the line between dancer and dance being blurred (or in this case real sounds, recorded sounds, the overall piece, the recording device, and the recording person). This is not a movie to be understood but a movie to be felt.

If you saw Primer - which you should if you haven't (please just trust me on this) - you should see this. They are pretty opposite though in terms of "speed" if that makes any sense.





Place Beyond the Pines
I enjoyed myself, but man I thought it was not a good movie.... In my opinion, Ryan Gosling doing this sort of thing is just fucking COOL regardless of the quality of the movie, so getting to watch him do Drive 2.0 was sorta fun - I think the reason he is so appealing, at least to a lot of sort of teenage/adolescent males - is that you get to project your own shit onto him because he is so reserved and blank, but in a good, cool, way that seems to hive a lot of "depth."

Anyways, I feel like I got to see 3 (not that good) movies for the price of one. I just started cracking up when it said "15 Years Later" - just felt very absurd. A movie has the right to tell whatever story it wants to, but still... I was really sad that Suicide and Bon Iver were placed in the same movie. I got pretty excited when Che came on (even though I knew it was coming because I sort of saw the movie based on that fact from one of your reviews), even though it was a few seconds (could have been a much longer cooler sequence with it) - the movie ending on Bon Iver was just lame. I thought him throwing up in the truck and also after he hits kofi (who I thought was pretty good) were maybe the "rawest" moments of the movie and I liked them.

The kid who played Jason was cool, I think also a type of character that always appeals to me a lot. But yeah could a movie be more fucking manipulative? I don't know, just thought the dialogue was pretty shit, it was shot sort of strangely (it jumped the line a few times, all these slightly strange close-ups), just bleh. Not very articulate right now but whatever. The opening sequence (which was essentially the opening sequence of Drive just in a slightly different context - following a wordless Gosling, mostly from behind) was cool, but then it just disappeared all of a sudden!

The ending felt pretty classic and the type of thing that I always like no matter what, but it still felt like a silly movie. Whatever, I enjoyed it.



Return of the Jedi
Goin' to see it at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood for May the 4th! Woohoo fun stuff.
runcible
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by runcible »

Room 237. Completely bonkers!
BVCP206
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by BVCP206 »

End Of Watch - 2 hours long seems like 10 minutes riveting stuff.
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Hedspace
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

Cease to Exist
Dennis Wilsons and Beach Boys relationship with Charles Manson and the possible music motive behind the murders
fascinating documentary.
you can dl or view the film from vimeo >
http://vimeo.com/43579171
redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

Pouring with rain here today so after doing some house jobs (hanging a new ceiling light fixture etc.), and thumbing through some records for an hour...we all went and saw -

The Great Gatsby
.

Not bad and even the kids enjoyed it. Basically a 2.5 hour love story done in the style of the old Hollywood dramas. A decent way to spend the day off/bank holiday. Cinema was packed too...not a spare seat in the house. One good thing about this movie is it is making kids want to read again (I have noticed Fitzgerald's book in the hands of many)!
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Laz69 »

7 Psychopaths

Hilarious from start to finish... fabulous!
The Dr
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by The Dr »

the jacques tati collection. french perfection. watch them all!
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
BVCP206
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by BVCP206 »

Laz69 wrote:7 Psychopaths

Hilarious from start to finish... fabulous!
Loved this too, Woody Harrelson was excellent :D
'Remember, change is not good'
beaker73
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by beaker73 »

Hedspace wrote:Cease to Exist
Dennis Wilsons and Beach Boys relationship with Charles Manson and the possible music motive behind the murders
fascinating documentary.
you can dl or view the film from vimeo >
http://vimeo.com/43579171
Watched this the other day and it's really interesting, enjoyed it a lot. Thnx for the tip, hedspace!
"I've been drinking all night long, but my hands are steady"
Hofstadter
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hofstadter »

'throne of blood'
'y tu mama tambien'

wow. just... wjoa, blown away by both of these. I saw throne of blood at my favorite revival theatre in la at around 11pm - the theatre was sparsely populated but the square block of black and white feudal japan illuminated it pretty well actually as the light played across people's faces, backlighting the back of everybody's heads in a really cool way that seemed unique to this screening for some reason. anyways, it's akira kurosawa's macbeth, and oh man is it cool. i don't think anything more needs to be said, that should be temptation enough to see it.

y tu mama... saw it on friday as my cinema studies teacher, this incredibly charimatic, former coke addict, kind, gentle old man, screened it as an optional thing for seniors only, a sort of graduation send off, shove, kick, whatever into the non-high school world.... not sure i could put it into words right now so i won't really try to hard, i'm just going to say it felt extremely resonant. beautiful movie, something very french about its pacing (probably the way the audio cuts out and the narrator comes in - now that i describe that, i think that's exactly what godard does sometimes). i guess ultimately, the thing that punches me so hard in the gut about it is something that i feel a lot and try to shut away... just that, and this is stealing a line from woolf's Mrs. Dalloway - Rapture Fades (always). Every happiness (in the movie) is always tinged with some sorrow. There's this melancholia that runs through everything that in the end is sort of inescapable. for those who don't know, it's a movie about two 17 year old best friends from very different social backgrounds in mexico who, after summer boredom sets in once their girlfriends have already left the country, convince a (deeply nuanced) woman in her late twenties to go on a road trip with them to a made-up-on-the-spot-by-the-boys shangri-la ish beach. there's definitely some subtle political commentary thrown in (made in 2001, set in 1999 right before the end of the 71 year majority party rule), but really mainly as a reminder of that seed of sorrow that permeates everything... you'll see what i mean if you see it. which you should. beautiful.
Aquarian-Time
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Aquarian-Time »

y tu mama tambien is en route via amazon based upon that fine review
robotoilet
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by robotoilet »

At work
Behind the Candelabra
At theatre
The Place Beyond the Pines
Laurence Anyways

I really loved each of them. They are my favorites of 2013 so far.

And yesterday I heard a bit of I Didn't Mean To Hurt You on The Grandmaster US trailer. :)
http://youtu.be/7RMvX6D8jPk
Hofstadter
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hofstadter »

Aquarian-Time wrote:y tu mama tambien is en route via amazon based upon that fine review
Did you get to watch it? What did you think?
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Laz69 »

Award for most shockingly poor yet strangely enchanting movie of the year so far - Sharknado!

Another Sci-Fi channel "classic".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsqFR5bh6Q
BVCP206
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by BVCP206 »

Maniac remake - a tough watch but superbly filmed. Elijah Wood is excellent, plays the tortured killer brilliantly considering he is hardly on screen as filmed mostly from his view.

All the Hammer re-releases on Blu Ray just love these films from being a kid (that's a while ago!) pure escapism :D
'Remember, change is not good'
Aquarian-Time
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Aquarian-Time »

Yeah I got it, sorry for the delay in my reply. It was a lovely film, warm and beautifully shot, great dialogue between the 3 of them and a sad but almost expected ending. Great recommendation. keep em coming young man
Laz69
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Laz69 »

BVCP206 wrote:Maniac remake - a tough watch but superbly filmed. Elijah Wood is excellent, plays the tortured killer brilliantly considering he is hardly on screen as filmed mostly from his view.
I think Elijah plays a really good psycho! He was great in the original Sin City too. This was a tough watch... particularly gruesome too which doesn't usually bother me, but again really GOOD horror movie instead of all the usual rubbish.
redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

Laz69 wrote:Award for most shockingly poor yet strangely enchanting movie of the year so far - Sharknado!

Another Sci-Fi channel "classic".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsqFR5bh6Q
When we were in LA a couple weeks ago this film was all the rage on their local news media and has since been highlighted on National entertainment news media. Through word of mouth and social media alone it has become a "cult classic". Apparently the director has just signed on to film a sequel too.

What a completely ridiculous plot that seems somewhat like an "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" for a new generation.
Laz69
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Laz69 »

The Sci-Fi channel is legendary for showing movies like this over here... i've lost count of the complete nonsense i've sat thru, but have felt mildly amused by the films.
redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

My daughter is at a horse stable helping with and riding the horses. Essentially, she is in bliss! :D

So, my son and I went and saw...

"Elysium"

It was ok. But, I felt as if it was a collage of several other films that I have seen before so nothing overly original nor worth thinking about once the film ends. Jodi Foster, who I usually have great respect for, gives a very wooden performance and channels some atrocious and forced accent that is very odd to witness. She was very disappointing and completely unbelievable. As with Johnny Depp these days (eg. The Lone Ranger), I guess she did it for the pay check. Lame.
niamhm
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by niamhm »

The Raid - All thrills and no frills action movie ,contains frequent strong bloody violence and gore, and then some, Indonesian martial arts movie , may not be everyone`s cup a tea, but I enjoyed this, some of the choreography in the fight scenes is particularly jaw dropping , weirdly directed by Welshmen Gareth Evans, :shock:
Hofstadter
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hofstadter »

redcloud wrote:My daughter is at a horse stable helping with and riding the horses. Essentially, she is in bliss! :D

So, my son and I went and saw...

"Elysium"

It was ok. But, I felt as if it was a collage of several other films that I have seen before so nothing overly original nor worth thinking about once the film ends. Jodi Foster, who I usually have great respect for, gives a very wooden performance and channels some atrocious and forced accent that is very odd to witness. She was very disappointing and completely unbelievable. As with Johnny Depp these days (eg. The Lone Ranger), I guess she did it for the pay check. Lame.
I was pretty excited for it as I loved District 9, but ultimately, yeah, just okay. In many ways, it had the same problem as D9, only amplified - turning into just explosions with zero real characters after a promising first half. Regardless, I enjoyed sitting there watching it as the particular futuristic aesthetic (extremely similar to the Mass Effect video game series, which is fantastic by the way, especially the space torus habitat, the transport vehicles, the mechs, etc) is something I love. It really did look beautiful, crisp, clear, not CGI-ish at all. Also, blomkamp's dilapidated earth was great.

Foster's accent was totally ridiculous.


This summer's most powerful/influential films for me (and also YTMT, but I already wrote that up):
My Dinner With Andre - dir. Louis Malle 1981
The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes - dir. Stan Brakhage 1971
Time, Indefinite - dir. Ross McElwee 1993
Computer Chess - dir. Andrew Bujalski 2013

Really really recommend all of these, except for maybe the Brakhage film, which is essentially just silent, intense, extremely graphic, real autopsy footage from one day in Pittsburgh in 1971... not for the faint of heart and will probably trigger some deep depression associated w/ yr own mortality, but hey...

If any of them pique anyone's interest, I will be happy to do a more thorough write up.
BVCP206
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by BVCP206 »

Going to see Jurassic Park in 3D on Sunday with my little brother at our local IMAX so looking forward to this should lend itself well to the 3D treatment. :D
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redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

We went to see the latest in the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost trilogy, "World's End" last night. It was very, very funny.

For what it is worth, over here (at least in Portland), the local press have given it a glowing review, it is showing in the major/mainsteam cinema complex and the theatre was full house with everyone in fits of laughter. Who said Americans don't get British humor?
redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

'Side Effects' -

I remember it had good reviews last year when in the theatre but it was just ok. Nothing brilliant nor one to rave about and go out of your way to see. Also, Jude Law is totally wooden and miscast (as is Catherine Zeta-Jones). Strange criticism as this is a Steven Soderbergh film and his movies are usually pretty engaging.
redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

The Dallas Buyers Club

What an excellent performance by Matthew McConaughey! He may well win the Oscar and probably should do. I can't think of a better acting performance I have seen this year. Very impressive.
Hedspace
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

Prisoners

a very decent hollywood flick.
heavy weighty nail biting stuff and every scene brilliantly shot by Roger Deakins. This will stay with you for days after.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by jack white »

I found Prisoners a bit too long & a bit too shouty.. & I mean no-one even [SPOILER] so it's like I spent 3 hours on that?! Defo NOT worth it imo


Wolf of Wall St

a must-see. Indulgent comedy caper masterpiece from Scorsese. Very much in keeping w/his finest work: making fun of stupid people doing crazy stuff, or crazy people doing stupid stuff.
It's Leo's finest hour. Worth going for his performance alone. Two scenes in particular stood out - a 5min speech he gives & another which I won't ruin by mentioning but anyone who has seen the film will know what I mean.
It's packed w/jokes, dumb jokes & it is long w/a few long scenes (tho none really overstay their welcome). In fact it'd have been nice to have had time to spend on a few more characters - mcconaghey & the first wife both get too little screen time.

Like I said you'll need to see this film for di caprio alone but it's worth it for other reasons. I enjoyed it immensely laughed so hard it hurt. Of course there's more to it than the humour but that's definitely it's strongest suit, as is typical of Scorsese of course. His films have always been hilarious, pitch this somewhere between after hours & raging bull.
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sunray
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by sunray »

Only now have I got to see Drive. Not all that special really is it? I enjoyed the first 5-10 minutes, they were pretty tense but after that...not much to get worked up about. Even the one car chase was straightforward and unspectacular.

For me it was an ok film that took itself far too seriously. It also loses points for the 80s nonsense with the music and credits. Maybe it was some homage that I'm not smart enough to get but to me that smacked of hipster bullshit.

Sightseers. The most enjoyable Ben Wheatley film that I've seen. Very British and darkly comic.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by pale blue eyes »

just watched "Beasts of the Southern Wild". After watching two amazing amateur performers it made me wonder why "professional" actors are even needed anymore, and why on earth they can command the money they do. simply ridiculous.
redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

pale blue eyes wrote:just watched "Beasts of the Southern Wild".
Beautiful movie!
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by davedecay »

sunray wrote:Sightseers. The most enjoyable Ben Wheatley film that I've seen. Very British and darkly comic.
agreed. wicked funny.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Laz69 »

Threads... a gritty northern drama from 1984 about Nuclear War and its after effects. Bloody great television viewing. Was shown on a Sunday night back in 1984 to an unsuspecting public who were so horrified that it was pulled and never shown again. Full thing is up on YouTube for those interested...

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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by jack white »

The Act of Killing

this film is extraordinary. extraordinary for many reasons. i don't think i've the words to communicate the scope & power of it. at turns it's an absolutely horrific account of human failings, but also a testament to the power of film & the quest for some kind of justice.

the basic premise for those who don't know is: the director has invited the remorseless killers of Indonesians purges of 1965-6 to re-enact some of their killings, except have them staged like scenes from films. they use different genres to frame each re-enactment e.g. a western or a musical.

the method serves a purpose that i don't think i've ever seen utilised in cinema before, or at least in not such a remarkable & unforgettable way. the director using his medium to shine a light on an atrocity with more success & intelligence than pretty much any documentary that's went before - it's not like tracking down these people or sitting down in a one-to-one interview with them. an absolutely brilliant achievement which clashes w/the brutality of it's subject.
but more than just the impact this approach has on the film there is more going on. on a basic level the film highlights a cesspool of rampant wrongness, being a provocative & sensational study into a societies mania & sickness.

it is a wonderful wonderful piece of work. it's one of the most amazing things i've ever seen.
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redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

jack white wrote:The Act of Killing
This film played Portland last year and has just returned for one week at a local art house cinema. A local movie critic wrote: "if you think of yourself as a worthwhile human being...you are obligated to see this film".
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

A Whores Glory

http://vimeo.com/28738387

How the filmmakers got this amount of access to the women and their clients is unbelievable. Set across three countries starting in thailand and getting darker as it goes on. Its a nonjudgmental look at their lives which I found tough to watch at times.
For me women as a species are all about giving, loving and intimacy so for me this shows how man has totally shat on everything a woman stands for in the world today. Call me misanthropic but theres a lot out there these days that makes it hard to think otherwise.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by BVCP206 »

Just watched Bullhead a film about cattle farming in Belgium, sounds terrible I know but a truly absorbing film and Matthias Schoenaerts in the lead is sensational.
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redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

We watched "Broken" last night. A very powerful, character study centered around a cul-de-sac in suburban London.

My wife and I really enjoyed it. She was weepy at the end so clearly the characters were developed well enough that one felt for them.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by sunray »

The Wolf Of Wall Street last night.

Very good, entertaining and well worth watching. Must say the three hours flew by. Very reminiscent of Goodfellas but with the violence replaced by sex. I kept hearing Ray Liotta/Henry Hill throughout.

Yer one from Neighbours also gave me plenty to think about :wink:
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Luminescence »

Hedspace wrote:Prisoners

a very decent hollywood flick.
heavy weighty nail biting stuff and every scene brilliantly shot by Roger Deakins. This will stay with you for days after.
I agree. An excellent film which genuinely shocked. Jake Gyllenhaal was brilliant as a cop and Jackman was frightening.

I've also just seen Captain Phillips and thoroughly enjoyed it. Superb acting from Tom Hanks and especially the lead Pirate. Suspense filled and an amazing true story to boot.
Hey Jayne
Stuart X.Hunter
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Stuart X.Hunter »

As a result of some recent night shift work;

Headhunters
The Hunt
Defiance
Assassin(s)
Lone Survivor

All watchable. Particularly enjoyed the two Scandinavians at the top of the list, thought Daniel Craig' performance in defiance good, the Kossowitz was small town tense and the yank affair at the end was at least real.
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Hedspace
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

Mystery Road.

Indigenous Australian cop discovers the body of girl in a small dusty outback town full of dark secrets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC0ULcsX8OE
niamhm
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by niamhm »

Saw Dallas Buyers Club earlier tonight, what a great movie, very vaguely based on a true story I`ve since found out , which has been causing some debate, I took it at face value and enjoyed the movie, but it was thought provoking, and Mathew McConaughey was superb, Oscar winning acting IMO, but who knows , a great movie anyway, recommended,
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by jack white »

Well mcc won the Oscar.. Leo was robbed!
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Hedspace
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

jack white wrote:Well mcc won the Oscar.. Leo was robbed!

Well deserved imo
dont you find when your watching de caprio play a character in a movie, its de caprio and not the character your watching…with mcc (his last few characters at least) it’s quite the opposite. even his 5 minutes in WOWS were outstanding.
Decaprios acting in WOWS, as entertaining as it was, didnt leave me thinking much about the character Jordan Belfort (I even had to look the name up as I couldnt remember it)

that said...Shutter Island is a favorite
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

Saw a couple films recently:

"Gloria" - my wife and I went to see this. A Chilean film about a divorced woman in her mid 50's who is trying to live a life of a 20 something. Going to bars and clubs, having lots of sex with the wrong people, waking up with heavy hangovers disheveled on a beach, smoking pot etc. Not much happens but, it is a great character study. Watching films like this makes me realize how Americans constantly need something to happen or a film that is fast paced. It's refreshing to see something slow yet, lingers for days afterwards.

"12 Years A Slave" - watched this with both our kids. They knew slaves were treated horribly but to see it on the screen was horrifying for them. All of us had tears in our eyes and the whip scene was truly difficult to watch. The sheer brutality and inhumane treatment inflicted on the slaves is sickening. As much as I loved "Dallas Buyers Club" I think this definitely deserved its Oscar.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

"Inside Llewyn Davis"

Firstly, I love the Coen brothers. They are definitely two of the best filmmakers in the US and have been for many years. That said, I enjoyed this film but when it finished I felt somewhat unfulfilled and incomplete. Not something I can say very often after watching a Coen bros. film. I liked the main character but did not truly believe in him as a folkie in Greenwich Village, 1961. What I did like though is everything I thought was going to happen...didn't. It was as if the Coen's knew what the audience were expecting or predicting to happen and purposely chose not to go there.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

"Draft Day"

I'm probably the only person in this forum that is interested in this film. Because of the subject matter I also can't imagine it being understood nor very popular outside of the US.
jack white
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by jack white »

redcloud wrote:"Inside Llewyn Davis"

Firstly, I love the Coen brothers. They are definitely two of the best filmmakers in the US and have been for many years. That said, I enjoyed this film but when it finished I felt somewhat unfulfilled and incomplete. Not something I can say very often after watching a Coen bros. film. I liked the main character but did not truly believe in him as a folkie in Greenwich Village, 1961. What I did like though is everything I thought was going to happen...didn't. It was as if the Coen's knew what the audience were expecting or predicting to happen and purposely chose not to go there.
how come re bold?
the film is loosely based on dave van ronk's book mayor of mcdougal street. i thought it was interesting esp that he didn't have his own compositions. i thought that was a good reflection of the folkies..

i saw the film a few months ago so my recollections a little hazy.
i had a mixed reaction to it. normally i adore the coens films (i can count the one's that didn't click w/me - hudsucker, o brother, burn after reading & ladykillers) but this one was just.. it just wasn't a home run.

i think they wrote an exceptional, wonderful character. like there were equal parts empathy & disdain for llewyn.
thru all his bad decisions & bad karma the only thing he manages to learn is to not let the cat out the 2nd time. yet he was so grounded in reality, he was accessible & relatable due to his cycle of, well, failure(s). he just couldn't get his shit together & it infected his being - & plagued by grief/history of his partner as well??

as a exploration of the folk scene pre-mainstream i thought it was interesting but really that can only go so far.
as an insight into an artistic temperament & struggle again it was interesting w/o being revelatory. but it all fed the somewhat mordant mood of the film p well, so there is that to it & the simple struggle of his day-to-day.

i enjoyed the relentless plight of a serious man a little more (that sounds odd but you know what i mean... maybe..)
llewyn seemed more accountable for his fate whereas ASM was more a reflection of the sheer absurdity of nature. where larry gopnik isn't really responsible for any of the terrible things that happen to him, it's more just the crushing indifference of the universe (except for the curse that was put on his family in the weird opening of that film?).

it was a really good film & a truly great character that stuck with me.
but it overall it just doesn't measure up to the roundness & perfection of their other films. not that it isn't packed w/symbolism & imagery - quite the opposite it's almost too heavy-handed sometimes.
maybe it'll get better w/age & when i get to see it again. i do think it deserved more acclaim & attention than it got tho.


i saw Joe w/nic cage the other night
worth a watch.. cage is.. both good & bad in it. hard to describe w/o giving away spoilers. definitely watchable. quite gory in places as well.
& one actor who was actually a homeless man cast in a leading role was really brilliant. i didn't know he was a genuine homeless person til afterwards. he plays an abusive alcoholic & his performance was the highlight of the film. i kept thinking i wonder if i've seen him in anything before cause he's really brilliant but no the director seemingly has a thing for casting real life people in his films & truly lucked out w/this casting choice. unfortunately the guy actually died irl a few months ago.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by TheWarmth »

I actually thought A Serious Man was a little dull by Coen Bros. standards. It has its moments, but isn't a movie I'd go back to. I haven't seen Llewyn Davis yet. One Coen Bros. movie that no one ever talks about is The Man Who Wasn't There, which I think is spectacular. It's arguably not as good as their stone cold classics like Fargo and Lebowski, but it's still a joy to behold. I am curious, JW, what you think of The Man Who Wasn't There.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by jack white »

me? i don't like entertaining..

TMWWT is a stunning masterpiece. or another one. one of those films that's awe-inspiring, you're kinda taken aback by how great a storyteller(s) the thing is - like all my favourite films it's a mix of wow & a lot of fun.

ed crane is up there on some weird level just below the dude in terms of captivating heroes they've created. tho i think his influences are much more readily apparent than maybe the later day creations of llewyn davies/a serious man - namely the oft quoted jm cain meets camus' the stranger (there's maybe a fair whack of kurt vonnegut in there too, esp w/the odd alien references, tho billy pilgrim was maybe suffering PTSD whereas ed crane is more of a stranger..)
again he's more responsible for his actions where as others like a serious man are more simply victims of fate. it's not a big difference but if push came to show i like to be absolved of blame!

it terms of noir & despite being in b&w, there's a lot more light in it than say blood simple. when it's revealed at the end how crane is an unreliable narrator he even takes on the appearance of a cad & you're left to wonder just how much of his tale is BS - it's a funny film.

but yea it's just a masterpiece. they're strongest in the noir genre, twisting the tropes w/their own kind of interests/charms as is their won't. i said it's funny but at times it's painfully resigned too, they pull that feeling off better than most. great film. again unvervalued in their canon - tho saying that i would still prob rate it somewheres between barton fink/millers crossing & the big four for me - no country/fargo/blood simple/lebowski.


& i forgot to mention intolerable cruelty in the one's i don't enjoy. which says it all really about that film.
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redcloud
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

jack white wrote:
redcloud wrote:"Inside Llewyn Davis"

Firstly, I love the Coen brothers. They are definitely two of the best filmmakers in the US and have been for many years. That said, I enjoyed this film but when it finished I felt somewhat unfulfilled and incomplete. Not something I can say very often after watching a Coen bros. film. I liked the main character but did not truly believe in him as a folkie in Greenwich Village, 1961. What I did like though is everything I thought was going to happen...didn't. It was as if the Coen's knew what the audience were expecting or predicting to happen and purposely chose not to go there.
how come re bold?
Wow Jack...I didn't keep your entire reply here in quote but, you clearly got a lot more from it than me! In short, I didn't feel the character was developed enough for me to care about him.

You know, my wife and I just got back from the cinema having seen "Apocalypse Now" on the big screen....I've seen that film many, many times and it never gets old. The characters are so well written and fully developed that you very much sympathize and have feelings (good and bad) about them. It also makes you soul search within yourself while watching the character development within the story line. A lot of Coen Brothers films also have fully developed characters and this is their beauty. "Llewyn", however, just didn't work as well for me as many of their other films.
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson's latest. I loved the colors and some of the compositions/film angles but as with David Lynch who I often feel is being weird for weird sake, Anderson seems to be kooky for the sake of kookiness. It wasn't bad but not as good as I expected. It was, however, sold out on a Sunday evening, which is good news for indie cinemas.
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Re: The Book and Film of T.E. "Lawrence of Arabia"

Post by semisynthetic »

This could have very well gone in the Book Section, but for the purposes I had in mind, I thought it best to be placed here.

Comparing a film with a book or short story, (or Opus), as may sometimes be the case, is an interesting exercise, and sometimes, well, rather surprising.
Unfortunately, I have spent some time in Hospital lately; and I was very pleased with a number of "movie Channels" on the Television, no commercials on ANYTHING, apparently a Compilation "Network" made for Hospital use. Many of the films were Italian and French films made obviously not so long after WWII, judging from the destruction; there were several GREAT films, but sometimes, the film would simply begin, and "Fin appear" - all over!, no titles! I asked a nurse if she could [possibly tell me who to get in touch with for the programming, and she said she would mail it to me. (Soon maybe I can figure out what I enjoyed so much!)

While I was there, I reread T.E. Lawrence "Seven Pillars of Wisdom"; (I had ordered the book and had it delivered to me there). I was very pleased; (FIRSTLY because it was a First Ed. and I collect them), but the way the book was 'physically constructed", more like a book that one would find from 1735 than 1935; oversized and irregularly cut heavy quality paper, (no Doubt Lawrence' love of History shows here, as does a pleasantly refreshing modesty) it also shows in no "possiblity of pretentious gilding" of the end papers; it has many drawings, and one simple like drawing in particular makes it seem so obvious, in retrospect, why Peter O'Toole was such an excellent choice as Lawrence for the film "Lawrence of Arabia". It would take several more photos to point out the construction and artwork; but it is all Beautifully done.

The major point however, is how well the film DOES contain so many details from Lawrence' own writings, BUT THE ORDER IN WHICH WHAT APPEARS WHERE is quite a different story. I won't go into much detail here, if you have not read this book, I recommend it; this1st Ed was so reasonably priced I couldn't turn it down; I have a newer copy, but this was a treat to sit and read!

My main point here is the extremely well written book of the "adventures" in the desert and the film, which did an admirable job of depiction makes this an excellent example of "Book and Film" to compare and enjoy. The book alone makes for excellent reading of an interesting and intelligent, and very modest in his presentation of being in the 'eye of the storm" he saw fit to help along. Very well done indeed.
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niamhm
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by niamhm »

Captain Phillips - Tom Hanks, Somali pirate`s hijacking/ kidnapping true story, I really enjoyed this movie, though provoking stuff , Rec. Great performances from Hanks and newcomer Barkhad Abdi,
Hedspace
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

The Battery.

apparently this cost $6k to make. A road movie based around 2 baseball players surviving a zombie apocalypse. No guts n gore and very few zombies come to think of it, which you would expect going into this kind of film. Sounds kinda shite but thoroughly enjoyable. Heres the ad…try and see past “the best film in years” tripe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO3_WO2YfGo
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by BVCP206 »

davedecay wrote:
sunray wrote:Sightseers. The most enjoyable Ben Wheatley film that I've seen. Very British and darkly comic.
agreed. wicked funny.
A little behind the times but just watched this and thoroughly enjoyed it dark, funny and the ending was superb, helps when you know all the locations too :D
'Remember, change is not good'
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by sunray »

Restrepo. Documentary about American soldiers posted to the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. Excellent doc, well worth a watch.
Got a 'History Through Film' exam coming up on Friday and one of the questions will be on Restrepo, so thought it'd be a nice one to take on.

I am now refreshing my memory on Holocaust films, specifically Life Is Beautiful and Schindler's List. Both very good and effective in very different ways.
Nineteen...Nineteen...Six Five
Hedspace
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by Hedspace »

A Selfish Giant

gritty touching Ken Loach esque brilliance...loosely based on the Oscar Wilde story of the same name which I have never read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLxOKou7Nc
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Re: The Spiritualized Film Club

Post by redcloud »

BVCP206 wrote:
davedecay wrote:
sunray wrote:Sightseers. The most enjoyable Ben Wheatley film that I've seen. Very British and darkly comic.
agreed. wicked funny.
A little behind the times but just watched this and thoroughly enjoyed it dark, funny and the ending was superb, helps when you know all the locations too :D
My wife and I streamed this last night. We both really enjoyed it. Americans don't make films like this!
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