Lyndon in 2021

Lord_Lyndon
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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114. Sullivan's Travels (1941; Preston Sturges)
Hollywood director John L Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie. I think this is a very intellectual film, and a lot of its ideas went over my head unfortunately. Never mind.
I really loved this movie. I remember Jimbo and I contrasted it with Godard's films at one point.
That makes sense. First things that come to mind when mentioning Godard are intellectual filmmaking and cinematic self-reflexivity.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Yeah. It makes me wonder why Godard thinks about Sturges these days. Like I'm sure during like his 70's Maoist period he didn't think so much of a film like Sullivan's Travels, but I'd be surprised if he wasn't more sympathetic now.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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131. Slumdog Millionaire (2008; Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan)
A Mumbai teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". This is a successful blend of Bollywood fantasy and harsh realities of poor people living in slums of Mumbai. Loved this one.

132. Wreck-It Ralph (2012; Rich Moore)
A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives. I saw this film because Derived Absurdity said it was fantastic. And I can certainly agree with that. Loved this one too.

133. Cry Macho (2021; Clint Eastwood)
A one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder takes a job to bring a man's young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. This was very good. It managed to be both amusing and poignant.

134. Reminiscence (2021; Lisa Joy)
Rax didn't like this one. I thought this was very good. I liked the film visually, I liked the noir plot and I liked Hugh Jackman. I'm aware I'm in the minority, though.

135. No Sudden Move (2021; Steven Soderbergh)
A group of criminals are brought together under mysterious circumstances and have to work together to uncover what's really going on when their simple job goes completely sideways. Loved this one. I loved the plot with all the twists and turns. I'm a big fan of Don Cheadle.

136. The Green Knight (2021; David Lowery)
Loved this visually stunning film. One question for Rax: Do you agree with one person from imdb who said that this film is a subversion of the 'brave and noble knight' myth?

137. Dune (2021; Denis Villeneuve)
As expected, this was very, very good. All those desert shots were visually stunning. Looking forward to part two.

138. A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016; Naoko Yamada)
A young man is ostracized by his classmates after he bullies a deaf girl to the point where she moves away. Years later, he sets off on a path for redemption. This is a solid Japanese animated film.

139. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020; Haruo Sotozaki)
After his family was brutally murdered and his sister turned into a demon, Tanjiro Kamado's journey as a demon slayer began. Tanjiro and his comrades embark on a new mission aboard the Mugen Train, on track to despair. Another Japanese animated film. I thought this was awesome. Some great action and emotion. Some pretty good ideas, too.

140. The Battle of Algiers (1966; Gillo Pontecorvo)
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government. Direction of this film was inspired by Italian neorealism. Not a big fan of neorealism, but I thought this was very good.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:38 am 131. Slumdog Millionaire (2008; Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan)
A Mumbai teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". This is a successful blend of Bollywood fantasy and harsh realities of poor people living in slums of Mumbai. Loved this one.
I generally liked this one.
132. Wreck-It Ralph (2012; Rich Moore)
A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives. I saw this film because Derived Absurdity said it was fantastic. And I can certainly agree with that. Loved this one too.
Its pretty good, though I haven't seen it in a while. I never saw the sequel, but the original film was also adapted as the second to last chapter of Kingdom Hearts: Union X.
133. Cry Macho (2021; Clint Eastwood)
A one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder takes a job to bring a man's young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. This was very good. It managed to be both amusing and poignant.
Yeah I really liked this one. Underrated IMHO.
134. Reminiscence (2021; Lisa Joy)
Rax didn't like this one. I thought this was very good. I liked the film visually, I liked the noir plot and I liked Hugh Jackman. I'm aware I'm in the minority, though.
Yeah I wish I liked this one more.
135. No Sudden Move (2021; Steven Soderbergh)
A group of criminals are brought together under mysterious circumstances and have to work together to uncover what's really going on when their simple job goes completely sideways. Loved this one. I loved the plot with all the twists and turns. I'm a big fan of Don Cheadle.
I liked it well enough but it hasn't left a huge impact on me.

Did you like the fisheye lens usage in the film?
136. The Green Knight (2021; David Lowery)
Loved this visually stunning film. One question for Rax: Do you agree with one person from imdb who said that this film is a subversion of the 'brave and noble knight' myth?
If anything I think the film plays into that kind of myth way more than the original poem it adapts. Like the movie gives you idea that Gawain dying to the Green Knight and giving up a possible but failed future as Arthur's successor is itself a kind of Jesus-esque sacrifice for the greater good. Like that whole ending is probably even based on The Last Temptation of Christ's similar ending. To me that would seem to be the highest form of chivalric virtue that Gawain could live up to.

Its also telling, to me anyways, that the film version of The Green Knight focuses more stereotypical knightly adventures and escapades more than the original poem ever did, which elided over those almost entirely and spent more time focusing on Gawain not knowing how to handle Bertilak and Lady Bertilak.

Also I think these kinds of anti-chivalry interpretations like that this IMDb person or even how people defend something like Bresson's Lancelot du Lac don't seem to recognize that criticism of chivalry or exploring the contradictions of chivalry isn't exactly a new idea. The Green Knight poem is itself from like the 14th century for goodness sake, and I think complicates notion of chivalry way more than the film adaptation does.

This is outside of the Green Knight story, but just look at the literary development of Sir Mordred (The guy you know, who actually kills King Arthur in most myths), going from just being Arthur's beloved nephew, to eventually being reworked into Arthur's evil bastard son born of incest. If that's not commentary on the failures of chivalry nothing is, and the most famous version of the incest story is from 1485 for goodness sake! That's hardly edgy, new development! It's classical!
139. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (2020; Haruo Sotozaki)
After his family was brutally murdered and his sister turned into a demon, Tanjiro Kamado's journey as a demon slayer began. Tanjiro and his comrades embark on a new mission aboard the Mugen Train, on track to despair. Another Japanese animated film. I thought this was awesome. Some great action and emotion. Some pretty good ideas, too.
I haven't seen any of Demon Slayer yet, but I loved ufotable's animation on their Fate/ and Garden of Sinners adaptations, and I'll certainly watching Demon Slayer to get more of their absolutely gorgeous animation.
140. The Battle of Algiers (1966; Gillo Pontecorvo)
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government. Direction of this film was inspired by Italian neorealism. Not a big fan of neorealism, but I thought this was very good.
I haven't seen this since college but really liked it. One of the best films about urban terrorist tactics, certainly. The mix of the real people the events were about and actors was interesting too.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Did you like the fisheye lens usage in the film?
I noticed many people were annoyed by Soderbergh's decision to use this rather distorting effect. It really didn't bother me at all.
If anything I think the film plays into that kind of myth way more than the original poem it adapts. Like the movie gives you idea that Gawain dying to the Green Knight and giving up a possible but failed future as Arthur's successor is itself a kind of Jesus-esque sacrifice for the greater good. Like that whole ending is probably even based on The Last Temptation of Christ's similar ending. To me that would seem to be the highest form of chivalric virtue that Gawain could live up to.

Its also telling, to me anyways, that the film version of The Green Knight focuses more stereotypical knightly adventures and escapades more than the original poem ever did, which elided over those almost entirely and spent more time focusing on Gawain not knowing how to handle Bertilak and Lady Bertilak.

Also I think these kinds of anti-chivalry interpretations like that this IMDb person or even how people defend something like Bresson's Lancelot du Lac don't seem to recognize that criticism of chivalry or exploring the contradictions of chivalry isn't exactly a new idea. The Green Knight poem is itself from like the 14th century for goodness sake, and I think complicates notion of chivalry way more than the film adaptation does.

This is outside of the Green Knight story, but just look at the literary development of Sir Mordred (The guy you know, who actually kills King Arthur in most myths), going from just being Arthur's beloved nephew, to eventually being reworked into Arthur's evil bastard son born of incest. If that's not commentary on the failures of chivalry nothing is, and the most famous version of the incest story is from 1485 for goodness sake! That's hardly edgy, new development! It's classical!
Thank you so much for this short analysis, Rax. I must admit I didn't know many things you mentioned here.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Just to be clear I'm not like an expert on this stuff or anything, so take anything I have to say with a grain of salt.

The fisheye lens stuff didn't bother me as much as I couldn't parse why it was there, or what it was meant to achieve.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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141. Ford v Ferrari (2019; James Mangold)
It was very good. I liked Mangold's direction and I was impressed by Christian Bale's performance.

142. Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009; Lasse Hallström)
A very touching film about a relationship between a man and his dog.

143. Whiplash (2014; Damien Chazelle)
It was very good. I loved the editing and I loved J.K. Simmons' performance.

144. The Father (2020; Florian Zeller)
Rax already said everything about his film. I thought it was very good and I loved Anthony Hopkins' performance.

145. Hamilton (2020; Thomas Kail)
This was marvelous. I loved how Lin-Manuel Miranda implemented themes of history and politics into this musical.

146. The Intouchables (2011; Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano)
Most famous and popular French film of all time. It was very good. It avoided cheap sentimentality which was admirable.

147. Capernaum (2018; Nadine Labaki)
Very good Lebanese film about a poor 12-year old boy suing his parents for neglect.

148. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961; Stanley Kramer)
Excellent combination of court-room drama and a holocaust film. It has a very impressive ensemble cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, William Shatner, Maximilian Schell.

149. Warrior (2011; Gavin O'Connor)
This was fantastic. It is a combination of family estrangment and UFC/MMA fighting film. Definitely one of the most impressive films of the last decade.

150. My Father and My Son (2005; Cagan Irmak)
A very good Turkish dramedy about grandfather/father/son relationships.

151. The Bandit (1996; Yavuz Turgul)
A very good Turkish gangster film.

152. Rush (2013; Ron Howard)
A very good film about Formula 1 rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

153. A Separation (2011; Asghar Farhadi)
By far the most famous Iranian film. I thought it was excellent. This is a must-watch.

154. Wild Tales (2014; Damián Szifron)
Six short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress. It was very good. A lot of dark humor.

155. Ben-Hur (1959; William Wyler)
One of the most impressive sword-and-sandal epics.

156. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939; Frank Capra)
I thought this was a masterpiece. I loved how they juxtaposed a naive and idealistic James Stewart character against corrupt politicians in the Senate. Great stuff.

157. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974; Martin Scorsese)
This is one of those female independence films. It was very good.

158. New York, New York (1977; Martin Scorsese)
It was very good. I loved Marty's direction, I loved the music/songs and De Niro was great.

159. Greed (1924; Erich von Stroheim)
This is a great silent film. I saw the 4 hour version. A lot of it is reconstructed with just photographs/stills. The finale in the Death Valley was very memorable. This film certainly influenced stuff like Sierra Madre and There Will Be Blood.

160. The Earrings of Madame De... (1953; Max Ophüls)
This director is mostly famous for his fluid camerawork. I liked how this revolved around these earrings which sort of reminded me of how Winchester 73' revolved around that gun. It was very good.

161. A Matter of Life and Death (1946; Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
Another lush film from these guys. It was very good.

162. Sans Soleil (1983; Chris Marker)
A very impressive essay film from Marker focused mostly on contemporary Japan.

163. Un Chien Andalou (1929; Luis Buñuel)
It was fine. It didn't do much for me.

164. Battleship Potemkin (1925; Sergei M. Eisenstein)
This is a rewatch. Very impressive direction from Eisenstein.

165. The Red Shoes (1948; Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger)
Very good film with one fantastic ballet sequence.

166. Dreams (1990; Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda)
I liked this visually. It was environmentalist themed and it was against nuclear energy. Martin Scorsese was in it. He plays Van Gogh. This is definitely one of weaker Kurosawa films.

167. Noah (2014; Darren Aronofsky)
Solid film of two parts: before the flood and after the flood. I preferred the first part because it was visually stunning.

168. October (Ten Days that Shook the World) (1927; Sergei M. Eisenstein)
Great film with a very energetic and experimental direction from Eisenstein. I liked this more that Potemkin.

169. Strike (1925; Sergei M. Eisenstein)
It was fine. October was better.

170. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922; Fritz Lang)
I saw this silent film because both chaos_rampant and tedg said that this film is a precursor to classic film-noirs. It was very long (4 hours 30 minutes), but it was very good indeed.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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It's amazing how good Whiplash is.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:31 am 141. Ford v Ferrari (2019; James Mangold)
It was very good. I liked Mangold's direction and I was impressed by Christian Bale's performance.
I remember liking this but it hasn't really stuck with me.
143. Whiplash (2014; Damien Chazelle)
It was very good. I loved the editing and I loved J.K. Simmons' performance.
Agreed with you and Gendo, this was great.
144. The Father (2020; Florian Zeller)
Rax already said everything about his film. I thought it was very good and I loved Anthony Hopkins' performance.
[smile]
155. Ben-Hur (1959; William Wyler)
One of the most impressive sword-and-sandal epics.
I really liked Ben-Hur, but I wonder how many of these sword and sandal movies are actually like any good. You would think it would easy to make this kind of stuff cinematic (And Ben-Hur certainly is), and yet we both probably could name way more masterpieces from sister genres like Westerns and samurai films. I'm not very familiar with wuxia but I wouldn't be shocked if there are way more masterpieces in that genre too.
156. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939; Frank Capra)
I thought this was a masterpiece. I loved how they juxtaposed a naive and idealistic James Stewart character against corrupt politicians in the Senate. Great stuff.
This is a classic of course.
157. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974; Martin Scorsese)
This is one of those female independence films. It was very good.
I remember liking this but not much about it specifically. Might need a rewatch.
158. New York, New York (1977; Martin Scorsese)
It was very good. I loved Marty's direction, I loved the music/songs and De Niro was great.
I think I must be alone here in not liking this one a whole lot lol.
163. Un Chien Andalou (1929; Luis Buñuel)
It was fine. It didn't do much for me.
Ah I liked this one.
164. Battleship Potemkin (1925; Sergei M. Eisenstein)
This is a rewatch. Very impressive direction from Eisenstein.
Certainly a masterpiece.
166. Dreams (1990; Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda)
I liked this visually. It was environmentalist themed and it was against nuclear energy. Martin Scorsese was in it. He plays Van Gogh. This is definitely one of weaker Kurosawa films.
I dunno, I think its still way ahead of stuff like One Wonderful Sunday and Sanshiro Sugata Part II.
167. Noah (2014; Darren Aronofsky)
Solid film of two parts: before the flood and after the flood. I preferred the first part because it was visually stunning.
I generally liked this one yeah.
169. Strike (1925; Sergei M. Eisenstein)
It was fine. October was better.
I generally liked Strike but have not seen October yet. One day I'll have to get to that.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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What didn't you like about New York, New York, Rax?
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I think we talked about this before, but the mix of naturalistic acting and the artificiality of the sets and such was awkward to me IIRC.
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Gotcha. I guess, the very things that worked for me didn't do anything for you. I watched it with my wife again last year and we both loved it. The red exit sign still looms large in my memory.

It was a bit disorienting to see Liza Minelli here after seeing her as Lucille in Arrested Development.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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171. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011; Rupert Wyatt)
172. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014; Matt Reeves)
173. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017; Matt Reeves)
A very good trilogy about downfall of human race and survival of the apes. Matt Reeves, who directed the 2nd and the 3rd, did a great job. Both films looked great and offered some great action sequences. Central character of this trilogy is an intelligent ape called Caesar. He is brilliantly played by Andy Serkis (with that motion capture thingy, of course). I really recommend this trilogy.

174. The Draughtsman's Contract (1982; Peter Greenaway)
This is a rewatch. This film is a masterpiece and Greenaway's greatest film. I loved how he weaves all those thematic layers together: art, image/seeing, meaning/interpretation, conspiracy, mystery, sex. It is visually stunning and has an excellent score by Michael Nyman.

175. 1917 (2019; Sam Mendes)
Another rewatch. It really worked for me this time. I think that 'filmed in one long shot' trick made for a very immersive viewing experience. Really great war film.

176. Gandhi (1982; Richard Attenborough)
I loved this one. Everything was great: acting, cinematography, writing. I think I enjoyed this one much more than Rax when he saw it.

177. Kagemusha (1980; Akira Kurosawa)
Another rewatch. It definitely improved on my second viewing. It is a great film, beautifully composed. It makes a great companion piece to 'Ran', although it is not quite good as that film. But 'Ran' is a timeless masterpiece anyway.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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I remember enjoying Rise quite a bit but still need to see the sequels at some point.

I have pretty mixed feelings about the faux-long take in 1917, because I'm not sure how much it really adds even before you talk about the hidden cuts and such. Its not bad movie but Idk. David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, and a lot of others had an interesting roundtable discussion about contrasting 1917 with Dunkirk if you're interested.



Yeah Gandhi wasn't one of my favorites.

Kagemusha has really grown on me over time, but I agree Ran is better.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Unfortunately, Rax, the video you posted can't be viewed in my country. That's okay, though.

I saw some new films and I did some Nolan rewatches.

178. The Exterminating Angel (1962; Luis Buñuel)
Not a big fan of Bunuel, but this film had some very interesting ideas.

179. Los Olvidados (1950; Luis Buñuel)
A very good film about poor kids living in the slums of Mexico City. It makes a good companion piece to 'City of God' and 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

180. Lovers of the Arctic Circle (1998; Julio Medem)
This is basically Medem telling the same story from two different perspectives. It is about two lovers who are sometimes together and sometimes apart. It was good, but I prefer how Tarantino does these narrative gymnastics.

181. Sex and Lucía (2001; Julio Medem)
Various lives converge on an isolated island, all connected by an author whose novel has become inextricably entwined with his own life. This was interesting, and it asks the question: How much of what is happening is real, and how much is only writer's imagination?

182. Inception (2010; Christopher Nolan)
I enjoyed this, but it had two really big flaws. First one is way too much exposition. Second one is that Nolan's vision of dreams is very bland and unimaginative: we are talking about mostly big and loud action sequences. Lynch did it much better.

183. Interstellar (2014; Christopher Nolan)
It wasn't as intellectually stimulating and visually stunning as Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece, but I did enjoy it very much. The emotional element really worked for me.

184. The Dark Knight Rises (2012; Christopher Nolan)
I know Rax and Gendo didn't think much of this one. I am going to have to disagree with them. I thought it was a fantastic and epic opera of darkness. I loved Hardy's Bane and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman. This is easily one of my favourite films of all time.

185. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004; Quentin Tarantino)
This was better than the first one. It was less action packed and more dialogue based, but it managed to be visually stunning and had some really memorable moments. Uma Thurman was simply fantastic. Definitely one of my favourite performances of all time.

186. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993; Henry Selick)
Excellent animated film which juxtaposes the darkness of Halloween with joyfulness of Christmas.

187. Frankenweenie (2012; Tim Burton)
This is a black and white animated film. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is very uncommon. Also, it managed to reference a lot of other horror/monster films in an interesting way. It was very good.
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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:11 pm 184. The Dark Knight Rises (2012; Christopher Nolan)
I know Rax and Gendo didn't think much of this one. I am going to have to disagree with them. I thought it was a fantastic and epic opera of darkness. I loved Hardy's Bane and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman. This is easily one of my favourite films of all time.
Interesting. Do you like it more than the first 2?
185. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004; Quentin Tarantino)
This was better than the first one. It was less action packed and more dialogue based, but it managed to be visually stunning and had some really memorable moments. Uma Thurman was simply fantastic. Definitely one of my favourite performances of all time.
I go back and forth on which part I enjoy more; but the dialog and backstory given in part 2 is really excellent. Love them both.
186. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993; Henry Selick)
Excellent animated film which juxtaposes the darkness of Halloween with joyfulness of Christmas.
I'm always bothered that Henry Selick doesn't get his due credit here thanks to everyone associating this with Tim Burton. It's a great film and the music is really excellent.
187. Frankenweenie (2012; Tim Burton)
This is a black and white animated film. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is very uncommon. Also, it managed to reference a lot of other horror/monster films in an interesting way. It was very good.
So far I've only seen the 1984 original short film (which came as a special feature on my Nightmare Before Christmas DVD), but I recently bought the new one, so I'll see it before too long.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Do you like it more than the first 2?
I think all 3 are fantastic, but if I had to choose one as my favourite I would choose The Dark Knight (2008).
So far I've only seen the 1984 original short film (which came as a special feature on my Nightmare Before Christmas DVD), but I recently bought the new one, so I'll see it before too long.
I think you are really going to enjoy this one, Gendo.
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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:11 pm 178. The Exterminating Angel (1962; Luis Buñuel)
Not a big fan of Bunuel, but this film had some very interesting ideas.
Did the repeated part get you? I watched the film in a stream and thought a bad internet connection had caused it to glitch out or something lol.
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Did the repeated part get you? I watched the film in a stream and thought a bad internet connection had caused it to glitch out or something lol.
I always expect the unexpected with these surrealist filmmakers, so I guess it didn't.

I saw some new films.

188. The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973; Wojciech Has)
This is a fantastic surrealist film. Stylistically and tonally, it fells like a hybrid of Tarkovsky and Terry Gilliam film. A lot of its imagery seems very esoteric at first, but it soon becomes apparent that Has wanted to convey Jewish/Polish experience of Holocaust/WW2.

189. The Saragossa Manuscript (1965; Wojciech Has)
Another brilliant film by this guy. It is a study of nested narratives, or in other words, narrative within narrative within narrative and so on. Really inspired stuff.

190. First Man (2018; Damien Chazelle)
Whiz-kid director Damien Chazelle, who impressed us all with Whiplash and La La Land, directs this Neil Armstrong biopic. I thought it was excellent, and I was particularly impressed by sequences in space. Some really excellent editing, just like in Whiplash.

191. The Secret World of Arrietty (2010; Hiromasa Yonebayashi)
It is a studio Ghibli film. Basically: The Clock family are four-inch-tall people who live anonymously in another family's residence, borrowing simple items to make their home. Life changes for the Clocks when their teenage daughter, Arrietty, is discovered. It is mostly excellent, and features some really good wordless sequences.

192. After the Rain (1999; Takashi Koizumi)
This was written by Kurosawa. He died after completing preproduction. It was directed by his former assistant, and it turned out to be a rather excellent, off-beat and low-key samurai film.

193. Beau travail (1999; Claire Denis)
Very good film from Denis. Key influences on the film are Jean-Luc Godard's "Le Petit Soldat" and Resnais' "Muriel". It is army themed, and Denis shows again how interested she is in themes of French colonialism.

194. Hadewijch (2009; Bruno Dumont)
Another excellent film from Dumont which proves again how he is heavily influenced by Bresson. This film is basically a remake of Bresson's 'The Devil, Probably' with a bit of 'Mouchette' thrown in. Unfortunately, this film is very obscure.
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

Post by Lord_Lyndon »

Saw some new films.

195. Rogue (2020; M.J. Bassett)
Megan Fox plays a leader of mercenaries in South Africa on their extraction mission. This was actually a pretty solid action film.

196. My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006; Ivan Reitman)
This films tries to combine two genres: superhero genre and romantic comedy genre. The highlight of this film is Uma Thurman's performance as the G-girl. But the script was a bit lackluster.

197. Anna (2019; Luc Besson)
Besson writes and directs this KGB/CIA spy thriller. It was solid with some familiar faces: Helen Mirren, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy.

198. The 39 Steps (1935; Alfred Hitchcock)
I liked the last 5 minutes, but that's about it. It is similar to Hitchcock's other film North By Northwest, but that film at least managed to be entertaining.

199. Jupiter Ascending (2015; Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski)
I don't know if this film is underrated or if I just enjoy sci-fi/space operas regardless of their quality, but this was surprisingly entertaining. I was really impressed by Mila Kunis.

200. Jennifer's Body (2009; Karyn Kusama)
I remember when this came out. Huge hype was surrounding it because Megan Fox, who was incredibly popular back then, was in it and it was written by Diablo Cody, who wrote the acclaimed Juno. Anyway, when people actually saw the film and the hype died down, the only thing people were impressed by was Amanda Seyfried's performance. I loved her in it and she is beautiful, but I was impressed by two more things: a young and fat Chris Pratt and J.K. Simmons' gorgeous wig.
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Gendo
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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I also watched The 39 Steps this year; indeed North By Northwest is a much better take on it. The plot also felt very similar to a couple others of his from the same era.
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maz89
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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I saw Beau Travail a while ago randomly on Criterial Collection and loved it. Just beautifully shot, soaked in atmosphere. The extras were great. In particular, enjoyed her chat with Barry Jenkins who was reeling from the Floyd murder that had occurred recently.
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose"
Lord_Lyndon
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

Post by Lord_Lyndon »

maz89 wrote: Tue Dec 28, 2021 3:36 am I saw Beau Travail a while ago randomly on Criterial Collection and loved it. Just beautifully shot, soaked in atmosphere. The extras were great. In particular, enjoyed her chat with Barry Jenkins who was reeling from the Floyd murder that had occurred recently.
I'm glad you enjoyed Beau Travail. Anyway... Maybe this it a bit random, maybe not since you saw Lily Chou quite recently, but I hope you will be able to see Shunji Iwai's Swallowtail Butterfly in the future. I would love to read your thoughts on that film since it is my favourite Iwai film and one of my favourite films of all time.
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maz89
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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Thanks for the rec! I'd been meaning to see more from Iwai and Swallowtail Butterfly sounds like a logical next step, given how revered it is in his filmography. Will let you know. What did you think of All about Lily Chou-Chou?
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Lord_Lyndon
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Re: Lyndon in 2021

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maz89 wrote: Tue Dec 28, 2021 5:30 pm What did you think of All about Lily Chou-Chou?
I loved All About Lily Chou-Chou. But... I saw it a long time ago. It was back in 2015. I really have to rewatch it, but I don't think my opinion of it will change drastically. It is a terrific film. One of Iwai's three best films.
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