Kristian Kristiansen Posted November 2, 2022 Posted November 2, 2022 32 minutes ago, westendboy47 said: Disney+’s Andor I was going to give this a wide berth after being so profoundly disappointed with Book of Boba and Kenobi... but when I saw Tony Gilroy was behind it, I swiftly changed my tune. He wrote the single best screenplay I've ever read. Michael Clayton. It's a masterclass in perfect writing.
westendboy47 Posted November 2, 2022 Posted November 2, 2022 I love Michael Clayton. One of those movies I can watch every few years and still enjoy it like it’s the first time and I always find something new I didn’t notice. 1
Kristian Kristiansen Posted November 2, 2022 Posted November 2, 2022 21 minutes ago, westendboy47 said: I love Michael Clayton. One of those movies I can watch every few years and still enjoy it like it’s the first time and I always find something new I didn’t notice. the script is sharper than diamond - the film is great, but with that script it should have taken every major award going - great that Tilda got recognised though
westendboy47 Posted November 15, 2022 Posted November 15, 2022 Time for another six. I will start with the best ones and end with my least favourite. Incantation (2022) was a recommendation by a friend and he seldom gets things wrong. This is a Taiwanese found footage horror movie and it is the highest grossing Taiwanese horror movie to date. The plot concerns Ruo-nan who, together with her documentary-making mates, broke a taboo six years ago. Because of that a curse descended on her for the ages. Six years later, she realises the curse has propagated to her daughter and she needs to hatch a plan to con the devil and save her daughter. The story sounds crazy and crazier stuff have happened. The movie is actually inspired by an actual mass hysteria case in 2005 where a Taiwanese family thought they are all possessed and used all sorts of ways to exorcise the devil, including throwing excrement and urine at each other. Eventually, a girl died. This movie taps into that vibe of mass hysteria with potency. It also does one clever thing – it makes the audience complicit. Just like Ringu (1998), it cleverly ties the audience to the plot till the point you are all in subconsciously. It literally breaks the fourth wall – allow me to give you a warning: I know it’s only a movie but I don’t fool around when it comes to Mr S.A. Tan, so when the protagonist looks at you pleadingly and asks you to chant some words, don’t do it. Flitting effortlessly between the past and the present, there are some good scares but for me its strongest asset is that it doesn’t spell every blank for you. My mind was constantly being engaged in the what, how and why. Find this on Netflix. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) is the latest remake of the 1930 soul-shattering German classic. I have also seen the Hollywood 1979 TV movie which remains faithful to the original. Unlike its predecessor, this latest one is deathly bleak from start to the devastating end. There is one sweet scene in the middle act where the soldiers are shooting the wind and having fun, but if you know your war movies it is the calm before the storm. Technically, this one is flawless. The battle and carnage scenes are superbly shot. The message hits you hard in that war is so stupid, more so with regards to trench warfare during WWI. This is the war as seen from the perspective of the loser. In the end the young men lost not only their lives but their innocence and all for nothing but to satisfy the wimps of politicians and generals at the top who never had to suffer except for their loss of pride. This is the ultimate anti-war film and you will not be able to munch on popcorn while watching this. See this on Netflix. The Good Nurse (2022) is a 2022 American drama film starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne and features the serial killer Charles Cullen and the fellow nurse who suspects him. This is one engaging and absorbing watch. It’s impossible to turn your eyes away from Chastain and Redmayne’s stellar performances, but I feel what ultimately made the movie hover above similar medical-thriller movies is the characters’ level of compassion for each other. It made me believe that sometimes there is a fine sliver of goodness in human beings, even in serial killers. So the ending is especially effective and poignant. What doesn’t come up particularly strong in its portrayal is the hospitals’ guilt in letting the serial killer perpetrate his crimes from one hospital to the next all because the hospitals wanted to protect themselves. That said, this is still a very satisfying movie. See this on Netflix. Enola Holmes 2 (2022) is a serviceable sequel. It’s another mystery and a romp through Old England, but I seriously couldn’t remember much the moment the movie ended. I just knew it was fun while it lasted and it was also a fun immersion into Sherlock’s oeuvre, but it is just not memorable at all. You can see I can’t remember much by the number of words I devoted to this Netflix output. Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 (2022) is an epic blockbuster and it’s a recommendation by a friend. He sold this to me by saying it is another Baahubali but all through its punishing runtime of 2h 47min I see none of the inventiveness of Baahubali. To me, it feels more like a Hindi version of Game of Thrones without dragons but with lots of nefarious characters vying for the throne. The plot: Vandiyathevan sets out to cross the Chola land to deliver a message from the Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan. Kundavai attempts to establish political peace as vassals and petty chieftains plot against the throne. Unrest grips the land as a long-tailed comet arrives, signalling a time of turmoil. I get the big picture but I had trouble holding the characters’ names and motivations in my puny brain and after a while I just got lost. It isn’t difficult to see that every party wants the throne and it’s practically House of the Dragon all over again but the intricacies of the plot was totally lost on me. I did get a hoot watching Vandiyathevan who is a lovable rascal sort with the uncanny ability to weave in and out of trouble leaving a trail of confusion in his wake. See this on Prime. Don’t Worry Darling (2022) is a psychological thriller about a 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community who begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets. Prior to watching this, my social media feed was already bombarded with many negative news of the film’s reportedly troubled production being the subject of media attention and controversy, including conflicting reports regarding the circumstances of Shia LaBeouf’s departure and alleged conflicts between Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh. I kept all the bad press at bay and let the movie speak for itself but it turned out to be a beautiful mess. It feels like an extended Twilight Zone episode with little payoff. It’s the type of movie that Jordan Peele makes very well because he always manages to bring a freshness to it, but not here. The plot only simmers when it should be reaching a slow boil. When it eventually reaches the final scene it felt like a tight slap across my face with no reveal or satisfying explanation. If the movie remains watchable it is because of Florence Pugh’s marvellous performance. See this on HBO but you have been warned.
Kristian Kristiansen Posted November 16, 2022 Posted November 16, 2022 1 hour ago, westendboy47 said: All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) is the latest remake of the 1930 soul-shattering German classic. I have also seen the Hollywood 1979 TV movie which remains faithful to the original. Unlike its predecessor, this latest one is deathly bleak from start to the devastating end. There is one sweet scene in the middle act where the soldiers are shooting the wind and having fun, but if you know your war movies it is the calm before the storm. Technically, this one is flawless. The battle and carnage scenes are superbly shot. The message hits you hard in that war is so stupid, more so with regards to trench warfare during WWI. This is the war as seen from the perspective of the loser. In the end the young men lost not only their lives but their innocence and all for nothing but to satisfy the wimps of politicians and generals at the top who never had to suffer except for their loss of pride. This is the ultimate anti-war film and you will not be able to munch on popcorn while watching this. See this on Netflix. I will be interested to see how the latest AQotWF compares to the Russian WW2 film Come and See, which is far and away the most disturbing war film i have seen - and i have seen loads. I also rate Stalingrad as an excellent anti war film. 1
westendboy47 Posted November 16, 2022 Posted November 16, 2022 14 hours ago, Kristian Kristiansen said: I will be interested to see how the latest AQotWF compares to the Russian WW2 film Come and See, which is far and away the most disturbing war film i have seen - and i have seen loads. I also rate Stalingrad as an excellent anti war film. I have see Come and See some time back. It is the yardstick of anti-war films. Some of the scenes have been seared into my mind. Even as I typed this I recalled the scene the boy went into a dilapidated cottage and out the back door with a pile of dead bodies. I have never see. Stalingrad. I will definitely keep a lookout for that.
Cloth Ears Posted November 18, 2022 Posted November 18, 2022 Been doing some repeat watches of movies after getting them on 4K (or Bluray if I haven't owned them since video days). Took a small holiday into samurai/martial arts by binging almost the entire Lone Wolf and Cub series (still to re-watch the last one - from memory it was not the best). The first 5 are a glorious bloodbath, as Itto and Daigoro take the Road to Hell. I'm sure I'll get to the last one some day soon. This reminded me of the Bruce Lee directed Way of the Dragon. Aside from it being one of Jackie Chan's first roles, there were a bunch of other things that were fairly unique about it. For example, his arrival at the airport shows the "fish out of water" concept better in a few minutes than Lost in Translation (which took over 100 minutes to do so). And the clash of cultures is shown gently and humorously (even if the acting isn't the best). And of course, Chuck Norris... And a slight step to the side, I managed to find a nice version of Tampopo - my favourite "ramen western". An absolute classic. And along the same sideways step, I had a look at my 4K version of Unforgiven...still trying to work out if I think this (or Once Upon a Time in the West) is the best western movie made.
Kristian Kristiansen Posted November 18, 2022 Posted November 18, 2022 1 hour ago, Cloth Ears said: , I had a look at my 4K version of Unforgiven...still trying to work out if I think this (or Once Upon a Time in the West) is the best western movie made. Def OUaTiTW for me - though Unforgiven is excellent - I'd also rate The Wild Bunch way up there might seem a bit tame these days, but it changed the way violence appears on screen... in the test screenings there were mass walkouts and people throwing up, demanding the film be destroyed etc...
Cloth Ears Posted November 18, 2022 Posted November 18, 2022 24 minutes ago, Kristian Kristiansen said: Def OUaTiTW for me - though Unforgiven is excellent - I'd also rate The Wild Bunch way up there might seem a bit tame these days, but it changed the way violence appears on screen... in the test screenings there were mass walkouts and people throwing up, demanding the film be destroyed etc... Sort of like Night of the Living Dead and A Clockwork Orange...and from around the same era.
cafe67 Posted November 21, 2022 Posted November 21, 2022 So many to choose from , but right now movies I’ve enjoyed and can watch over and over blade runner ( both) snow falling on cedars LA Confidential the Fall 1
westendboy47 Posted November 26, 2022 Posted November 26, 2022 (edited) The missus asked for something light yesterday and I scanned my shelf for something I have yet to see. Ricky Gervais’ Extras (2005 - 2007) beamed at me. We binged both seasons and the finale in one day and it has been a while we laughed so hard. Meet Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais), actor. He tells everyone he is one but doesn’t have a line of dialogue. Not content with being just a film extra, he longs to have a speaking part. His agent (Stephen Merchant) is useless and doesn’t help his cause. Andy’s only friend in the world is Maggie (Ashley Jenson), a fellow extra and a hopeless romantic. It’s just 6 half-hour episodes per season (that’s the reason we could binge through so easily) and every episode is cleverly structured with a guest star. Get ready to see mega stars like Ben Stiller, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Winslet, Patrick Stewart, Orlando Bloom, David Bowie, Ian McKellan, Daniel Radcliffe, Chris Martin, Robert De Niro and others making a fool of themselves. They are all your basic pathetic narcissist - Orlando Bloom thinks he is the world’s sexiest man and can’t understand why Maggie isn’t falling for him. Chris Martin’s aim is to plug his band’s latest album. Patrick Stewart is a bald dirty old man and wants to use his mind control superpower (he swears it’s not a copy from his X-men character) to make women tear off their clothes. All so hilarious and they are so game and sporting. The best one has to be Kate Winslet who espouses that if you want an Oscar you have to play a Holocaust victim or a handicapped person. She is quite right. All the guest stars are just icing on the cake. The main stars are the ones that bind the plot and shape it to become a clear-eyed commentary on how fame and fortune can change a person. Gervais is perfect in the role which is essentially a sad bastard role and I mean it affectionately. He is the loser but you will easily feel for him and be vested in his journey. In terms of humour, Extras doesn’t draw any line - toilet humour, racist jokes, jokes on the handicapped and gays, sexual innuendos, nothing is taboo. It was floundering a little in the beginning but mid-way through the first season it understands its purpose. The guest stars aren’t gimmicks anymore but become warning signs to Andy of the danger of fame. But such is the journey towards fame and glory that you think you will never succumb to the pitfalls. The plot gradually opens to a wider array of characters that includes Andy’s agent and his assistant Barry from Eastenders and he is indeed from Eastenders. There isn’t a need to fill in back stories but just allow situations to drive the humour and this it does marvellously well. Soon the guest stars aren’t just there as “guest of the week” but become integral to the plot. Watch out for a scene where David Bowie just tears into Andy while tinkling ivories and singing the most hurtful words in the most melodious voice. The best jokes should hurt and they hurt like hell here. Extras just proves that The Office is not a one-hot wonder. In fact, things got on so well I decided to also show Choo The Office (2001 - 2003) and we up to S2 and she is loving it. Edited November 26, 2022 by westendboy47 1 1
westendboy47 Posted November 29, 2022 Posted November 29, 2022 The Office is great comedy bar none. A trendsetter, a trail blazer and a barnstomper. So simple in concept but an absolute blast in execution. I have been wanting to show Choo this show for the longest time and I eased her in through the American version, but after the end of the first episode she said it wasn’t her thing and my heart sank to the pits. There is just no way she would endear towards the British version. This was years ago and as things would have it we were holed up at home and I decided to show her Gervais’ later work Extras and she really got into it. It’s time to try the The Office, the British original and this time she got in 100% behind it. The Office is a mockumentary about life in a mid-sized suboffice paper merchants in a bleak British industrial town, where manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais) thinks he's the coolest, funniest, and most popular boss ever. He isn't. That doesn't stop him from embarrassing himself in front of the cameras on a regular basis, whether from his political sermonizing, his stand-up 'comedy', or his incredibly unique dancing. Meanwhile, long-suffering Tim (Martin Freeman) longs after Dawn (Lucy Davis) the engaged receptionist and keeps himself sane by playing childish practical jokes on his insufferable, army-obsessed deskmate Gareth (Mackenzie Crook). Will the Slough office be closed? Will the BBC give David a game show? Will Tim and Dawn end up with each other? And more importantly, will Gareth realize what a hopeless prat he is? The mockumentary format is used in a refreshing way and by training its camera on the mundanity of an office it makes the most unlikeliest place in the modern world become the nexus of great comedy and aching hearts. To its credit, one of the things it does so well is that it presented people, with all their physical and character imperfections, like real people. Because not every successful sitcom has characters looking like the cast of Friends. The obtrusive camera is always all seeing and has the uncanny ability to be in the right situation every time capturing all the embarrassed and shocked emotions at every turn. In that sense, it is a rollercoaster ride and it makes the audience feel involved in that we think we manage to capture a secret emotion. Every episode has a simple narrative structure - it is basically comedic vignettes with a romantic subplot running alongside, but it is absorbing because if you had ever worked in an office the characters it will remind you of those times of varied emotions. The show doesn’t depend on whether you even like Gervais’ superb turn as a clueless boss, but your feelings over his David Brent character will see-saw between utterly obnoxious to absolutely pitiful. The dude is an accident waiting to happen but yet he is never a bad person. There are times I want him to fall so hard he will never stand up, but there are also times I want him to have his day in the sun. Damn chap is also a wordsmith… Excalibur by David Brent I froze your tears and made a dagger And stabbed it in my cock forever It stays there like Excalibur Are you my Arthur? Say you are Take this cool, dark, steel-ed blade Steal it Sheath it in your lake I’d drown with you to be together Must you breathe? Cos I need heaven If the whole show were just about Brent I am very sure it wouldn’t have worked. Gareth, the gullible, is always lovable and the romantic “will they, won’t they” tinglings between Tim and Dawn are the glue that made the show work. The sweetness and poignancy never feels adulterated like Hollywood. There is something so pure about it and when their lips finally meet in the Christmas episode it’s a moment cemented in heaven. The Office never overstays its welcome. 14 episodes over 2 seasons and 2 Christmas specials feel like the most complete story, but when it ended I still find myself wondering about the fates of all the principal characters - Will Gareth stop being a gullible prat? Will David finally see beyond himself and find true love? Will Tim and Dawn be happy for the rest of their lives? Well, I am pretty sure about the last point. The Office is original and painfully funny. It’s subversive and by never romantising the characters, it makes everything feel grounded. Now, I have to find the perfect time to try the American one with Choo. 1 1
Kristian Kristiansen Posted November 29, 2022 Posted November 29, 2022 7 minutes ago, westendboy47 said: The Office is great comedy bar none. A trendsetter, a trail blazer and a barnstomper. So simple in concept but an absolute blast in execution. I have been wanting to show Choo this show for the longest time and I eased her in through the American version, but after the end of the first episode she said it wasn’t her thing and my heart sank to the pits. There is just no way she would endear towards the British version. This was years ago and as things would have it we were holed up at home and I decided to show her Gervais’ later work Extras and she really got into it. It’s time to try the The Office, the British original and this time she got in 100% behind it. The Office is a mockumentary about life in a mid-sized suboffice paper merchants in a bleak British industrial town, where manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais) thinks he's the coolest, funniest, and most popular boss ever. He isn't. That doesn't stop him from embarrassing himself in front of the cameras on a regular basis, whether from his political sermonizing, his stand-up 'comedy', or his incredibly unique dancing. Meanwhile, long-suffering Tim (Martin Freeman) longs after Dawn (Lucy Davis) the engaged receptionist and keeps himself sane by playing childish practical jokes on his insufferable, army-obsessed deskmate Gareth (Mackenzie Crook). Will the Slough office be closed? Will the BBC give David a game show? Will Tim and Dawn end up with each other? And more importantly, will Gareth realize what a hopeless prat he is? The mockumentary format is used in a refreshing way and by training its camera on the mundanity of an office it makes the most unlikeliest place in the modern world become the nexus of great comedy and aching hearts. To its credit, one of the things it does so well is that it presented people, with all their physical and character imperfections, like real people. Because not every successful sitcom has characters looking like the cast of Friends. The obtrusive camera is always all seeing and has the uncanny ability to be in the right situation every time capturing all the embarrassed and shocked emotions at every turn. In that sense, it is a rollercoaster ride and it makes the audience feel involved in that we think we manage to capture a secret emotion. Every episode has a simple narrative structure - it is basically comedic vignettes with a romantic subplot running alongside, but it is absorbing because if you had ever worked in an office the characters it will remind you of those times of varied emotions. The show doesn’t depend on whether you even like Gervais’ superb turn as a clueless boss, but your feelings over his David Brent character will see-saw between utterly obnoxious to absolutely pitiful. The dude is an accident waiting to happen but yet he is never a bad person. There are times I want him to fall so hard he will never stand up, but there are also times I want him to have his day in the sun. Damn chap is also a wordsmith… Excalibur by David Brent I froze your tears and made a dagger And stabbed it in my cock forever It stays there like Excalibur Are you my Arthur? Say you are Take this cool, dark, steel-ed blade Steal it Sheath it in your lake I’d drown with you to be together Must you breathe? Cos I need heaven If the whole show were just about Brent I am very sure it wouldn’t have worked. Gareth, the gullible, is always lovable and the romantic “will they, won’t they” tinglings between Tim and Dawn are the glue that made the show work. The sweetness and poignancy never feels adulterated like Hollywood. There is something so pure about it and when their lips finally meet in the Christmas episode it’s a moment cemented in heaven. The Office never overstays its welcome. 14 episodes over 2 seasons and 2 Christmas specials feel like the most complete story, but when it ended I still find myself wondering about the fates of all the principal characters - Will Gareth stop being a gullible prat? Will David finally see beyond himself and find true love? Will Tim and Dawn be happy for the rest of their lives? Well, I am pretty sure about the last point. The Office is original and painfully funny. It’s subversive and by never romantising the characters, it makes everything feel grounded. Now, I have to find the perfect time to try the American one with Choo. I was conflicted by the movie - David Brent: Life on the Road. I think the tone was wrong and it actually went too far into making him look like an idiot to the point where you feel genuinely sorry for him... and that negated some of the humour I do love all the episodes and specials... it eclipses the american one - which while still entertaining - lacks any real pathos by rendering every cast member as their own caricature / meme
westendboy47 Posted November 29, 2022 Posted November 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Kristian Kristiansen said: I was conflicted by the movie - David Brent: Life on the Road. I think the tone was wrong and it actually went too far into making him look like an idiot to the point where you feel genuinely sorry for him... and that negated some of the humour I do love all the episodes and specials... it eclipses the american one - which while still entertaining - lacks any real pathos by rendering every cast member as their own caricature / meme I agree with your observations. Though awesome in its own ways, the American one wouldn’t have happened if not for the original. Last night I showed my wife the first episode and she said it’s a go. We will alternate between this and Pose on Disney+. OMG… it’s already hard being a LGBT person, I didn’t know within that community is a cutthroat world. Quite an eye-opener
mrbuzzardstubble Posted November 30, 2022 Posted November 30, 2022 On 29/11/2022 at 10:24 AM, westendboy47 said: The Office is great comedy bar none. A trendsetter, a trail blazer and a barnstomper. So simple in concept but an absolute blast in execution. I have been wanting to show Choo this show for the longest time and I eased her in through the American version, but after the end of the first episode she said it wasn’t her thing and my heart sank to the pits. There is just no way she would endear towards the British version. This was years ago and as things would have it we were holed up at home and I decided to show her Gervais’ later work Extras and she really got into it. It’s time to try the The Office, the British original and this time she got in 100% behind it. The Office is a mockumentary about life in a mid-sized suboffice paper merchants in a bleak British industrial town, where manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais) thinks he's the coolest, funniest, and most popular boss ever. He isn't. That doesn't stop him from embarrassing himself in front of the cameras on a regular basis, whether from his political sermonizing, his stand-up 'comedy', or his incredibly unique dancing. Meanwhile, long-suffering Tim (Martin Freeman) longs after Dawn (Lucy Davis) the engaged receptionist and keeps himself sane by playing childish practical jokes on his insufferable, army-obsessed deskmate Gareth (Mackenzie Crook). Will the Slough office be closed? Will the BBC give David a game show? Will Tim and Dawn end up with each other? And more importantly, will Gareth realize what a hopeless prat he is? The mockumentary format is used in a refreshing way and by training its camera on the mundanity of an office it makes the most unlikeliest place in the modern world become the nexus of great comedy and aching hearts. To its credit, one of the things it does so well is that it presented people, with all their physical and character imperfections, like real people. Because not every successful sitcom has characters looking like the cast of Friends. The obtrusive camera is always all seeing and has the uncanny ability to be in the right situation every time capturing all the embarrassed and shocked emotions at every turn. In that sense, it is a rollercoaster ride and it makes the audience feel involved in that we think we manage to capture a secret emotion. Every episode has a simple narrative structure - it is basically comedic vignettes with a romantic subplot running alongside, but it is absorbing because if you had ever worked in an office the characters it will remind you of those times of varied emotions. The show doesn’t depend on whether you even like Gervais’ superb turn as a clueless boss, but your feelings over his David Brent character will see-saw between utterly obnoxious to absolutely pitiful. The dude is an accident waiting to happen but yet he is never a bad person. There are times I want him to fall so hard he will never stand up, but there are also times I want him to have his day in the sun. Damn chap is also a wordsmith… Excalibur by David Brent I froze your tears and made a dagger And stabbed it in my cock forever It stays there like Excalibur Are you my Arthur? Say you are Take this cool, dark, steel-ed blade Steal it Sheath it in your lake I’d drown with you to be together Must you breathe? Cos I need heaven If the whole show were just about Brent I am very sure it wouldn’t have worked. Gareth, the gullible, is always lovable and the romantic “will they, won’t they” tinglings between Tim and Dawn are the glue that made the show work. The sweetness and poignancy never feels adulterated like Hollywood. There is something so pure about it and when their lips finally meet in the Christmas episode it’s a moment cemented in heaven. The Office never overstays its welcome. 14 episodes over 2 seasons and 2 Christmas specials feel like the most complete story, but when it ended I still find myself wondering about the fates of all the principal characters - Will Gareth stop being a gullible prat? Will David finally see beyond himself and find true love? Will Tim and Dawn be happy for the rest of their lives? Well, I am pretty sure about the last point. The Office is original and painfully funny. It’s subversive and by never romantising the characters, it makes everything feel grounded. Now, I have to find the perfect time to try the American one with Choo. The American one is not a patch on the British one. 1
westendboy47 Posted December 2, 2022 Posted December 2, 2022 School’s out. Time for movies and shows and I am watching faster than I can write about them… I have lost count over how many times I have seen the Infernal Affairs trilogy and when Criterion recently acquired the films for a makeover I had to get the boxset. The films have never looked and sounded this good till now. But I know when the 4K UHD gets an eventual release I would go nuts again. The films need no introduction. If you have never seen at least the first film (Martin Scorsese’s remake, The Departed, doesn’t count), you don’t know what you are missing . Released in 2002, Infernal Affairs (无间道) jolted the Hong Kong crime drama back to life with an audacious and bracing story of two opposing moles in the police force and the triad. The two moles are played by superstars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau Tak-wah. Navigating slippery slopes of moral quandaries, the gripping movies reflect the fractured state of the Hong Kong society. There are lots of scholarly discourse on the films and I am probably the last person you should seek to get your intellectual questions about the films answered. What I am utterly impressed about the trilogy is at which precise moment did the movies go from mere storytelling to grand mythology. Even the words 无间道 have entered the lexicon of the Hong Kong social fabric and the words can function as a noun, an adjective and even as a verb. Was it when it swept the Hong Kong Film Awards? Or when it became a commercial and critical hit? It’s hard to pinpoint the precise moment and I doubt the filmmakers set out to make a crime drama for the ages; they merely wanted to do something different from the glut of crime films overflowing the Hong Kong cinema. Y Tu Mamá También (2001), I have seen a number of times but I recently acquired the Criterion blu-ray and I can attest this is the most pleasing version I have seen. This is a road comedy by Alfonso Cuarón and the plot sounds like a sex comedy – a pair of horny Mexico City teenagers invites a gorgeous older Spanish woman to a road trip to a faraway beach that may or may not exist. The boys are just hoping they get into the pants of the woman and the beach isn’t important but for the woman the beach is a necessary destination. This is one of my favourite movies of all time. It’s funny in an authentic way and yet it has oodles of heart. It manages to ride that fine line between comedy and drama, with a coming-of-age spine that culminates with a scene that strips all three bare emotionally and physically. This is one of those rare movies I can watch again at different stages of my life and still see something new each time. This most recent watch I appreciate how Cuarón cleverly juxtaposes the antics and sexual tension in the car with the turmoil happening in the country outside their car, making you vested in the cloistered lives of the threesome. We followed that up with two last Jean-Pierre Melville movies in my possession… Le Doulos (1962) is about a burglar preparing for a big heist with a trusted friend that might be as untrustworthy as he. This film is in The Empire top 500 films of all time list and it has all the ingredients of film noir: seedy characters, double-crossing, cigarettes, hats, big cars, trench coats, guns, loot, cocktail bars, femme fatales, dead bodies, betrayal, all mixed up in a potent concoction in which loyalty and treachery rides a fine line. This is equal measure style and story, each feeding the other, reaching an ending that is a foregone conclusion but it doesn’t make it less effective and affective. Un Flic (1972) starts with a bank robbery in small town which ends with one of the robbers being wounded. The loot from the robbery is just an asset for the even more spectacular heist. Simon, gang leader and Paris night club owner, must also deal with police comissaire Edouard Colemane, who happens to be his good friend. Melville bowed out of the cinema with this film and in a sense it is a synthesis of themes he has always been interested in: codes of loyalty and honour. The two bookended heist sequences are remarkably shot and realised. The latter one even features a helicopter shot in real time, real heart parked in your mouth stuff. This is a fitting epitaph to one of the finest careers in contemporary cinema and it has been a privilege to see all his greatest films which include Le Cercle Rouge (1970), The Army of Shadows (1969), Le Samouraï (1967), Le Deuxième Souffle (1966) and Bob le Flambeur (1956). And hey… I just found out I am still in possession of one more, Léon Morin, Priest (1961) and I will line that up for a watch soon. Phenomena is a 1985 Italian supernatural horror giallo film directed by Dario Argento and starring a young Jennifer Connelly. The plot concerns an American girl at a remote Swiss boarding school who discovers she has psychic powers that allow her to communicate with insects, and uses them to pursue a serial killer who is butchering young women at and around the school. I think this is the final Argento I have yet to see and I have already devoured all his top tier stuff. I wouldn’t say this is top tier Argento but it comes real close. If the sum total doesn’t quite land, the parts all worked on their own. Some of the scenes are amazingly orchestrated like the one that has thousands of flies swarming at a window which really creeped me out. The movie is a lot of fun and that extended ending is awesome. I saw this on 4K uhd and the colours and details really popped. Eve’s Bayou (1997) begins with one of the best opening lines ever: “The summer I killed my father, I was ten years old…” Then it builds a world and a plethora of characters to a sublime conclusion that has pathos and catharsis. I have never heard of the movie and I picked up the Criterion blu-ray on a wimp. The storytelling is evocative and delves into 1960s Louisiana like it is a Shangri-La unseen by the world. It is also rooted in Creole history, folklore and mysticism, opening a door to a culture not privy by the contemporary world. There have been quite a few Black ensemble films but the difference here is that this is helmed by a female director, Kasi Lemmons in her fabulous debut. Two mesmerising hours whizzed by in this profound exploration into trauma, forgiveness and the elusive nature of memories.
emesbee Posted December 2, 2022 Posted December 2, 2022 On 30/11/2022 at 11:54 PM, mrbuzzardstubble said: The American one is not a patch on the British one. The British series was brilliant, but the American series just didn't work for me. Maybe that's because I can relate some of the British episodes to things that have happened in the office here, and also maybe because I'm not American (and you don't hear many American accents in Australian offices). 1
westendboy47 Posted December 14, 2022 Posted December 14, 2022 Since I am on a month long break, I took the chance to watch some critically acclaimed movies in my stash. I must say this is an Emperor’s New Clothes category and sometimes the movie can fly above my puny head. I will choose six that I have something to say… Last Year at Marienbad (1961) is directed by Alain Resnais. Set in a palace in a park that has been converted into a luxury hotel, it stars Delphine Seyrig and Giorgio Albertazzi as a woman (A) and a man (X) who may have met the year before and may have contemplated or started an affair, with Sacha Pitoëff as a second man (M) who may be the woman's husband. Yes, the characters are unnamed and are labelled with the letters A, X and M. No need to study the letters too much; they are not anagrams or hold any meaning. My wife Choo watched the screen totally lost in oblivion but I really enjoyed this. It’s a puzzling mystery, a fever dream and defiantly ambiguous. The cinematography is gorgeous as it weaves through the resplendent opulence of the hotel and gardens. The dialogue addresses the elusive ideas of memory. Forget about trying to find meaning in the plotless film but I do have my own idea what it’s about: X is a writer and he is crafting a story and as all writers do, he embeds himself in the role of the main character as he formulates his story. It can be a frustrating movie because we have been trained to look for story and plot in a movie, but I love the refreshing cinematic exercise in that Resnais plays with the language of cinema. Not many directors can do that without the exercise feeling pretentious and high-brow and I find this utterly immersive and unforgettable. The Leopard (1963) is a epic historical drama film directed by Luchino Visconti. Burt Lancaster stars as Don Fabrizio Corbera, an aging Sicilian nobleman caught up in the sociopolitical turmoil of the Risorgimento (Italian unification) during the mid-19th century, with Alain Delon as his opportunistic nephew Tancredi. The Leopard won the Palme d’Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. It was a critical and commercial success in Europe, but reception was more lukewarm in the United States, where a truncated, English-dubbed cut was released. Retrospective reviews, drawn from the film's longer original cut, have been more positive, and the film is now widely regarded as a classic and one of the greatest movies ever. I plugged that last bit from Wikipedia and I can see it’s a great movie but it isn’t something I can watch again. This is 3 hours of a aristocrat gradually understanding his social standing is waning to the point of oblivion. The sadness from the passing of an age and the sweep of nostalgia are hugely palpable. Burt Lancaster’s casting is an inspired choice and it will take a few minutes for you to forget he is an American playing an Italian. His character arc is brilliantly realised as is the historical aspect, but boy is this boring. Okay, you can kill me now. I don’t know my ****. Blame it on MTV and Michael Bay’s school of frenetic editing and 360-degree cinematography, but I got the main message and didn’t need a 3-hour lesson. I have a feeling if I had seen this way back in the 70s I would have appreciated it a lot more. This next part is a joke: at one point I was so bored I went to the toilet to wash my face. I came back a few minutes later and saw Choo crushing candies and I did my Oscar acting bit. I acted flustered and proceeded to ask her what I had missed like my life depended on it. She got my cue and said “nothing… absolutely nothing” and went back to crushing candies. That said, there are lots of beauty to be gleaned from this film: the battle scene is amazingly staged, the fashion, the set design and that final 45-minute climatic ballroom scene where the Prince finally understands his irrelevance n the huge scheme of things and when he walks away into the darkness the sadness really hit me. Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990) is a magical realist film of eight vignettes which address themes of childhood, spirituality, art, death, and mistakes and transgressions made by humans against nature. It is widely documented that the film is inspired by actual recurring dreams that Kurosawa said he had repeatedly. This may not be top tier Kurosawa but it might be his most personal film. I don’t know about others but when I closed my eyes and enter into the world of dreams I hardly think about the harm us human beings are doing to planet Earth; I think about the last spring roll that I should have shove into my mouth even though I couldn’t eat another bite. To know these are dreams that Kurosawa constantly dreamt of is a doorway to the heart of a wonderful human being. This being an anthology, the film can be a mixed bag but there are some spellbinding stuff like the first one that has a foxes’ wedding and a boy who sees what no human should see. I also like the one where a lone survivor has to tell all his dead comrades that they are dead and to leave this world with their head held high. This film requires a contemplative audience. However some have ideas that are not subtle and practically scream in my face. That said, it’s well worth a watch but only if you are in the right mood. Silent Running (1972) is an environmental-themed post-apocalyptic sci-fi. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull and stars Bruce Dern in the pivotal role. This is a variation on the last-man-on-earth idea except that the setting is on a spaceship. This one has some cool ideas and it is influential on a lot of sci-fi movies after it: In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's botany, kept in a greenhouse aboard a spacecraft. In comes a homicidal tree-hugger who won’t have it. Dern carries the movie and its lofty ideas to the finishing line with his trademark unhinged performance. I thought the bigger stars are the two drones who had human actors in them. The scenes of Dern teaching the drones how to play cards is especially palpable and when one of them “dies” it is especially devastating. This one also has strong and memorable visuals, but it runs out of ideas in the final act and I find the ending a little abrupt, not the empathetic ending that the story requires. I have a lot of love for Andrei Tarkovsky movies and have already seen Solaris (1972) and Stalker (1979). So I dug out the rest of my Tarkovsky stash and started on Andrei Rublev (1966) but dammit… 90 minutes in and the movie stopped. Turned out the disc has succumbed to disc rot. So it was onwards to two more… Mirror (1975) is loosely autobiographical, unconventionally structured, and incorporates poems composed and read by the director's father, Arseny Tarkovsky. Mirror is structured in the form of a nonlinear narrative unfolding around memories recalled by a dying poet of key moments in his life and in Soviet culture. The film combines contemporary scenes with childhood memories, dreams, and newsreel footage. Its cinematography slips between color, black-and-white, and sepia. The film's loose flow of oneiric images has been compared with modernist literature's stream of consciousness technique. It can easily become pretentious and dense, but I found this absorbing and spellbinding. Never once did I find this disjointed and I see it as a fever dream and at times a surreal nightmare as a man revisits his memories of events to seek restitution, understanding and forgiveness. Impeccably shot and the tone is haunting. There is a moment that I immediately knew Tarkovsky made a very personal film. The scene is one of a disembodied male voice talking to his beautiful wife that he wants to end the marriage and take the son away. The couple decides to let the son make the final decision. A quick research told me the scene did happen in Tarkovsky’s life but he was too young to understand it and this is a scene of what he would do in retrospection. The scene really hit me hard. I can’t say the movie is for everyone but I can tell you I am grateful to have seen a piece of brilliant cinema in its purest sense. Ivan’s Childhood (1962) tells the story of orphaned boy Ivan, whose parents were killed by the invading German forces, and his experiences during World War II. The movie looked at the human cost of war and did not glorify the war experience. In a 1962 interview, Tarkovsky stated that in making the film he wanted to "convey all [his] hatred of war", and that he chose childhood "because it is what contrasts most with war." This was Andrei Tarkovsky’s first film and I can see a lot of the stylistics and aesthetics he would employ in his subsequent films. An interesting tidbit I found out: the movie was already in the process of being shot and half the budget was already used, but the studios saw the unfinished film and knew it wasn’t going to work. So they hunted for another director. Tarkovsky had just graduated from Russian film school and was asked to direct. The man laid out a couple of conditions: he will not see the unfinished film, he will read the novel of which the film will be based on and he will make the film with no interference. He was told he has only half the budget and Tarkovsky said that was all he needed. This might be the most accessible Tarkovsky film but that said there are still scenes that can be confounding which adds to the story’s mystique. Filled with many memorable scenes and dreamy sequences that I will never forget, the main message is never diluted and using a boy’s POV to see the ravages of war is hard-hitting. Now I have to look for Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia (1983) and find another copy of Andrei Rublev to finish my journey into the stupendous movie world of Tarkovsky. 1
keyse1 Posted December 14, 2022 Posted December 14, 2022 Don’t agree on The Leopard I flew down to Sydney to see that once Great story beautifully filmed Like a lot or most films they need to be seen at the cinema That one definitely would not work on tv screen 1
westendboy47 Posted December 15, 2022 Posted December 15, 2022 On 14/12/2022 at 1:50 PM, keyse1 said: Don’t agree on The Leopard I flew down to Sydney to see that once Great story beautifully filmed Like a lot or most films they need to be seen at the cinema That one definitely would not work on tv screen You’re definitely right. But I did see this on my 110” screen but the thing about watching movies at home is that so many things are pulling at your mind 2
westendboy47 Posted December 30, 2022 Posted December 30, 2022 I am going to squeeze in one last “6 movies we saw” post before the year is done. The Hurricane (1999) tells the story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, an African-American man who rose above his troubled youth to become a top contender for the middle-weight boxing title. However, his dreams are shattered when he is accused of a triple murder, and is convicted to three natural-life terms. Despite becoming a cause celebre and his dogged efforts to prove his innocence through his autobiography, the years of fruitless efforts have left him discouraged. This changes when an African-American boy and his Canadian mentors read his book and are convinced of his innocence enough to work for his exoneration. However, what Hurricane and his friends learn is that this fight puts them against a racist establishment that profited from this travesty and have no intention of seeing it reversed. This blu-ray was gathering dust on my shelf and the reason I took it down for a watch was because the missus and I were cooped up at home for you-know-why. The movie was so engaging and the performances so arresting that my fever disappeared. I have seen many of these type of narratives where an African American is wrongfully convicted and incarcerated to Kingdom Come that you can map out all the emotional beats, but there is something very different about this story and how it is told, and we are talking about Denzel Washington here who can garner sympathy in a snap. For me, what made the whole story so fated and incredible is because a book in a bargain bin was picked up by a teenager. Think about how every star needed to align and we are talking about a teenager here and most teenagers probably won’t bother to lift a finger to help, but something propel him to pull out all the stops to help Rubin. The interaction between him and Carter is so compelling. Feng Shui (万箭穿心) (2012) was a recommendation by a friend and it is a great one. During the 90s in Wuhan, a family of three moved into a new apartment inside a building right where several busy roads intersect. Upon their relocation several bizarre incidents took place: Ma Xuewu, the father who worked as a manager in a publicly owned factory, mocked by the movers, demanded a divorce from her snappish wife, Li Baoli; Li, upon discovery of Ma’s affair with his coworker, reported it to the police, subsequently costing Ma not only his job but also his dignity. What happened next would shock her, and the entire family, for decades to come. I had no idea it is a devastating family drama. From the Chinese title which literally means ten thousand arrows pierced the heart, I thought I was getting ready for a mystery thriller. What transpired is a menagerie of bad choices leading to devastating conclusions for all the parties concerned. The direction is assured and never becomes manipulative. When it ended we were stunned in a profound way. Then it started… we discussed animatedly about where is the origin of these years of torment and whose fault was it? It was impossible to find the precise point of the origin and the whole movie is a wake up call that everything we say and do to our other half has consequences, sometimes dire. The point of origin of a series of earth-shattering events isn’t hard to pinpoint in The Dead End (烈日灼心) (2015), another awesome Chinese film. It is a story about the redemption of three man, a cab driver who never takes credit for helping others, an auxiliary policeman who never asks for promotion even when he risks his life to serve justice, and a fisherman who voluntarily takes care of an orphan girl. All of them lead a quiet and normal life, but never in a second are they at peace with their conscience. Seven years of running and yet the past still catches up with them. With the showing up of new detective Guchun Yi, the truth of the once sensational Water Chamber Murders begins to surface. The first two-thirds of the movie feel too manipulative with too many obvious plot movers and coincidences. Clues piled on for the detective too easily and it quickly resembles every other made in China crime thriller because the government decides that the message of crime doesn’t pay must hit the audience full in the face. But the last third totally redeems and lifts the movie to another level. The showhand in the last act is not only jaw-dropping but also devastating and poignant. It absolutely fits the mold of the Chinese government but it could also transcend to a different level. That is a feat as difficult as trying to squeeze water out of a stone. Sure, there are mistakes and bad choices in the storytelling, but this is one of those movies in which the brilliant ending justifies the whole movie and it will make you see the first two-thirds in a different light. I saved this next one for Christmas Eve. A Christmas Tale is a 2008 French comedy-drama film by Arnaud Desplechin, starring the incomparable Catherine Deneuve. It tells the story of a family with strained relationships which gathers at the parents’ home for Christmas, only to learn that their mother has leukemia. Desplechin is a master of the ensemble movie. This is inventive and unpredictable in the way dirty linens are aired and the back stories are told. In usual hands the movie will descend to the usual hue and cry stuff, but Desplechin knows how to toy with the audience’s expectations and subvert them using many cinematic techniques including breaking the fourth wall. My favourite story is the one about an unrequited childhood love and its culmination is not only poignant but surprising. A rewarding movie about a messy family, equal parts mirth and melancholy. Boiling Point is a 2021 British drama film directed by Philip Barantini and starring Stephen Graham in the main role. It is a one-shot film set in a restaurant kitchen. It was originally planned to record eight takes of the film, but it was only possible to film half of these before a COVID lockdown led to the end of the shoot. A happy accident there which adds to its alluring status. It is so successful that a sequel series for the BBC has been confirmed, with Graham and others reprising their roles. This movie appeared in many critics’ end of the year best lists but I wasn’t quite enamoured by it probably because I have just seen The Bear which also uses the same setting and even has a one-shot episode to tell a bigger story. The movie is buoyed by all round fantastic and naturalistic performances, and it is able to throw you into a pressure cooker situation that hits boiling point. For me, and this is a matter of personal taste, I thought the ending felt like a cop-out but I doubt there will be many who will share my sentiments. Still… compliments to the chef for one amazing dish of a movie. Lastly, we had a Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) movie party with friends a few nights ago. There is a funny anecdote and I will share that later. The plot concerns five long-time friends are invited to the Greek island home of billionaire Miles Bron. All five know Bron from way back and owe their current wealth, fame and careers to him. The main event is a murder weekend game with Bron to be the victim. In reality, they all have reasons to kill him. Also invited is Benoit Blanc, the world’s greatest detective. It’s a whodunnit but Rian Johnson employs a different structure to tell the story. We see an elaborate first act to lay out all the characters and their motives for wanting Miles dead and then we are taken back to the beginning with a new light to a character and we see everything again in a whole new light. It doesn’t take a lot of brain juice to figure out who the culprit is and to me it isn’t really a whodunnit when everything is lay out as a buffet spread at the end. That said, I enjoyed the movie tremendously and the fun the ensemble had emanated out to the audience. Now the funny bit… there was a family in my party who saw the movie three times in a space of two days. WTF right? When he received the invitation to watch the movie at my place he decided to watch part one first. Then he asked if his wife could come and of course I said yes. So that same evening he watched it again with his wife. The third time was at my place. All that time he didn’t realise he did not see the first movie. I am sure every time we meet I will hound him with his silly guffaw. Personally, unlike Knives Out, I wouldn’t feel the need to watch Glass Onion another time. That’s it for 2022. I am already looking forward to Squid Game, Severance, John Wick and Indiana Jones in 2023.
Ian McP Posted January 4, 2023 Posted January 4, 2023 Park Chan Wook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chan-wook here's five of his films I've seen, all highly recommended! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Security_Area_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy_(2003_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowpiercer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handmaiden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_to_Leave regards Ian
Ian McP Posted January 4, 2023 Posted January 4, 2023 On 02/12/2022 at 2:50 PM, westendboy47 said: School’s out. Time for movies and shows and I am watching faster than I can write about them… I have lost count over how many times I have seen the Infernal Affairs trilogy and when Criterion recently acquired the films for a makeover I had to get the boxset. The films have never looked and sounded this good till now. But I know when the 4K UHD gets an eventual release I would go nuts again. The films need no introduction. If you have never seen at least the first film (Martin Scorsese’s remake, The Departed, doesn’t count), you don’t know what you are missing . Released in 2002, Infernal Affairs (无间道) jolted the Hong Kong crime drama back to life with an audacious and bracing story of two opposing moles in the police force and the triad. The two moles are played by superstars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau Tak-wah. Navigating slippery slopes of moral quandaries, the gripping movies reflect the fractured state of the Hong Kong society. There are lots of scholarly discourse on the films and I am probably the last person you should seek to get your intellectual questions about the films answered. What I am utterly impressed about the trilogy is at which precise moment did the movies go from mere storytelling to grand mythology. Even the words 无间道 have entered the lexicon of the Hong Kong social fabric and the words can function as a noun, an adjective and even as a verb. Was it when it swept the Hong Kong Film Awards? Or when it became a commercial and critical hit? It’s hard to pinpoint the precise moment and I doubt the filmmakers set out to make a crime drama for the ages; they merely wanted to do something different from the glut of crime films overflowing the Hong Kong cinema. Y Tu Mamá También (2001), I have seen a number of times but I recently acquired the Criterion blu-ray and I can attest this is the most pleasing version I have seen. This is a road comedy by Alfonso Cuarón and the plot sounds like a sex comedy – a pair of horny Mexico City teenagers invites a gorgeous older Spanish woman to a road trip to a faraway beach that may or may not exist. The boys are just hoping they get into the pants of the woman and the beach isn’t important but for the woman the beach is a necessary destination. This is one of my favourite movies of all time. It’s funny in an authentic way and yet it has oodles of heart. It manages to ride that fine line between comedy and drama, with a coming-of-age spine that culminates with a scene that strips all three bare emotionally and physically. This is one of those rare movies I can watch again at different stages of my life and still see something new each time. This most recent watch I appreciate how Cuarón cleverly juxtaposes the antics and sexual tension in the car with the turmoil happening in the country outside their car, making you vested in the cloistered lives of the threesome. We followed that up with two last Jean-Pierre Melville movies in my possession… Le Doulos (1962) is about a burglar preparing for a big heist with a trusted friend that might be as untrustworthy as he. This film is in The Empire top 500 films of all time list and it has all the ingredients of film noir: seedy characters, double-crossing, cigarettes, hats, big cars, trench coats, guns, loot, cocktail bars, femme fatales, dead bodies, betrayal, all mixed up in a potent concoction in which loyalty and treachery rides a fine line. This is equal measure style and story, each feeding the other, reaching an ending that is a foregone conclusion but it doesn’t make it less effective and affective. Un Flic (1972) starts with a bank robbery in small town which ends with one of the robbers being wounded. The loot from the robbery is just an asset for the even more spectacular heist. Simon, gang leader and Paris night club owner, must also deal with police comissaire Edouard Colemane, who happens to be his good friend. Melville bowed out of the cinema with this film and in a sense it is a synthesis of themes he has always been interested in: codes of loyalty and honour. The two bookended heist sequences are remarkably shot and realised. The latter one even features a helicopter shot in real time, real heart parked in your mouth stuff. This is a fitting epitaph to one of the finest careers in contemporary cinema and it has been a privilege to see all his greatest films which include Le Cercle Rouge (1970), The Army of Shadows (1969), Le Samouraï (1967), Le Deuxième Souffle (1966) and Bob le Flambeur (1956). And hey… I just found out I am still in possession of one more, Léon Morin, Priest (1961) and I will line that up for a watch soon. Phenomena is a 1985 Italian supernatural horror giallo film directed by Dario Argento and starring a young Jennifer Connelly. The plot concerns an American girl at a remote Swiss boarding school who discovers she has psychic powers that allow her to communicate with insects, and uses them to pursue a serial killer who is butchering young women at and around the school. I think this is the final Argento I have yet to see and I have already devoured all his top tier stuff. I wouldn’t say this is top tier Argento but it comes real close. If the sum total doesn’t quite land, the parts all worked on their own. Some of the scenes are amazingly orchestrated like the one that has thousands of flies swarming at a window which really creeped me out. The movie is a lot of fun and that extended ending is awesome. I saw this on 4K uhd and the colours and details really popped. Eve’s Bayou (1997) begins with one of the best opening lines ever: “The summer I killed my father, I was ten years old…” Then it builds a world and a plethora of characters to a sublime conclusion that has pathos and catharsis. I have never heard of the movie and I picked up the Criterion blu-ray on a wimp. The storytelling is evocative and delves into 1960s Louisiana like it is a Shangri-La unseen by the world. It is also rooted in Creole history, folklore and mysticism, opening a door to a culture not privy by the contemporary world. There have been quite a few Black ensemble films but the difference here is that this is helmed by a female director, Kasi Lemmons in her fabulous debut. Two mesmerising hours whizzed by in this profound exploration into trauma, forgiveness and the elusive nature of memories. Infernal Affairs 2002, great film! Love this scene!
westendboy47 Posted January 4, 2023 Posted January 4, 2023 4 hours ago, Ian McP said: Infernal Affairs 2002, great film! Love this scene! Yes, it is a great scene. Both of them doesn’t recognise each other from their police academy days and a common interest of hi-fi connects them. The scene doesn’t work as a foreshadow and seems to exist outside the space and time of the movie. It seems to comment that if the roll of the dice was different, they could have been good friends. 1
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