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Messages - moviesceleton
1
« on: October 22, 2020, 04:22:04 AM »
Congrats!
(but put your son in front of The Irishman right now or I'll call the social services. He has the right to experience cinematic greatness.)
You're right! Maybe I should just make a list of the ten best Scorsese films, hit play and let that be my solution to our nanny problems.
2
« on: October 22, 2020, 03:00:59 AM »
I have been hitting ?refresh? on that page, days and nights, for 6 months waiting for your list, Master.
That being said, you?ve seen the entirety of the Turin Horse and Winter Sleep but couldn?t find 4 small hours for The Irishman?
Don't forget about the four hours of An Elephant Sitting Still! That was certainly all fun and laughs all the way through. But all that was in my previous life, it seems. The Irishman came out after my son was born, and since then I've been mostly listening to podcasts and doing my own film. Maybe I'll catch The Irishman with my son when he hits the appropriate age, in twelve years or so.
3
« on: October 21, 2020, 11:29:11 PM »
Hi, just dropping in to give my list which all of you must have been waiting for like crazy.
Alphabetically:
top 10
Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt, 2016)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Human Surge (Eduardo Williams, 2016)
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel, 2012)
Leviathan (Andrei Zvjagintsev, 2014)
Paterson (Jim Jarmusch, 2016)
Painting Sellers (Juho Kuosmanen, 2010)
Toni Erdman (Maren Ade, 2016)
The Turin Horse (B?la Tarr & ?gnes Hranitzky, 2011)
Two Years at Sea (Ben Rivers, 2012)
top 11-35
All Is Lost (J.C. Chandor, 2013)
An Elephant Sitting Still (Hu Bo, 2018)
Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010)
Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
Counting (Jem Cohen, 2015)
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, 2012)
Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
Greenberg (Noah Baumbach, 2010)
Hilarious (Roee Rosen, 2010)
Locke (Steven Knight, 2013)
Machines (Rahul Jain, 2016)
Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016)
Mommy (Xavier Dolan, 2014)
Nebraska (Alexander Payne, 2013)
The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
The Florida Project (Sean Baker, 2017)
The Iron Ministry (J.P. Sniadecki, 2014)
Pina (Wim Wenders, 2011)
Love (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, 2010)
Son of Saul (L?szl? Nemes, 2015)
Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014)
I haven't seen some of the acclaimed films, like The Irishman. (Or American Sniper...)
4
« on: August 23, 2018, 12:01:46 AM »
BlackkKlansman (2018) - 7/10
The Closet (1966) - 9/10
Andy Warhol movie, running 66 min, the first appearance of Nico (and is she charming!). The whole film consists of Nico and a young college kid sitting in a closet and chatting, occasionally eating a sandwch or going through the stuff in the closet. This sounds like a possible (even probable) train wreck of a film, but it turns out fascinating. There are two miracles here: 1) Apparently it's done in one single shot, zooming in and out between a two-shot midshot and extreme closeups, which according to my knowledge shouldn't have been possible in 1966 without some serious technical innovations. There was one occasion that seemed like a cut but it could have been just a change of reels (the projection was on 16mm). 2) The chemistry between the two performers (can't really call them actors) is probably the strongest I can remember seeing on the screen. I saw it mainly as subtle sexual tension but Nico seems at times also maternal or sisterly. The seemingly sexual tension is also complicated by the fact that he was a lover of Warhol's boyfriend... Anyway, the tension is between being shy and being interested, between being self-conscious and sharing a tiny closet with an attractive person. And because it goes nowhere, the tension is succesfully stretched over 66 minutes. Unfortunately a quick googling shows that the film's quite hard to find, maybe even impossible in any digital format. I'd like to see it again some day myself, and preferably with better sound because for the first half I couldn't be sure of half of what they were saying.
5
« on: August 13, 2018, 06:53:56 AM »
Trial on the Road (Proverka na dorogakh, 1971/1986) - 9/10 One of the best war films ever. Landscape in the Mist (1988) - 7.5/10 This georgeous looking and in every way brilliantly crafted movie takes your breath away, but the next day you kinda start to question if it actually has anything more to it. The score is great. Roswell (1994 - 9/10 A great "experimental" short film. Can be found on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/76877472 Also a great score. New York, New York (1977) - 6.5/10 Flawed but not in any way horrible. Waaaaaaaayy too long though. Colossal Youth (2006) - 7/10 I'm a fan of Pedro Costa's Ossos and In Vanda's Room, but this one is a challenge even for my attention span. Still an interesting development of his style. Candy Mountain (1987) - 7/10 Indie road movie directed by Robert Frank and Rudy Wurlitzer. Certainly lacks the visual bravery of Frank's photography works but the road movie setting keeps situations changing at a constant pace, and I liked the northern US / Canada locations. Salaam Cinema (1995) - 9/10 This provocative Iranian "documentary" about a casting audition for non-actors questions (among a lot of things) the "authenticity" of non-actors that is often praised in films like the ones of Kiarostami or Bresson.
6
« on: August 12, 2018, 10:30:23 PM »
Wow, that was great. I wanted to see it at the time but missed it, and I didn't go out of my way because of the so so critical reception. It's pretty hard to find now (while its cult status steadily grows) so I only had a copy without subtitles. I cannot wait to see it again, with subtitles.
I've been meaning to rewatch this. My impression of it is still strong. If there was any fairness in the Hollywood system, this film should have skyrocketed Kaufman's career, not pretty much destroyed it.
7
« on: July 27, 2018, 07:30:41 AM »
Just saw this movie last night.
I've grown rather bored with rating films numerically, but on IMDb I gave it 8/10.
It's far from being a perfect film but the obvious B-movieness is part of its charm. Is Lerner geniously efficient in his visual storytelling or is the style just a product of the seven day shooting schedule? I don't know, but it works. Is the script masterly in its ellipses and in the ambiguity of the protagonist, or is that just rushed screenwriting? I don't know, but it works. Are the mood shifts from serious to comical and back intentional or lack of directorial control? I don't know, but it works.
Some dialogues and monologues (like the one Drink pointed out) kinda almost ruin the subtleties of the overall style, but I found myself thinking "I'm just gonna forget I saw/heard that".
Personally I don't care if it's "Noir" or not. The bright daylight scenes contribute to the very matter-of-fact style which is in places worthy of Bresson.
And the score is 11/10 for me.
8
« on: April 21, 2018, 08:02:17 AM »
Ok, update on my US trip: We're not coming to NYC this time, so we have to make that McSorley's trip some other time in the future. This time we'll tour the West and South parts of the country. But the OUATITW arch is on our route, so I'll be able to post pictures of it in a month or so.
9
« on: March 30, 2018, 10:48:40 AM »
Hey, aren't you in the US now?
Not yet. In a month, if it's going to happen at all.
10
« on: March 29, 2018, 01:49:19 PM »
I wouldn't say "lifeless". It's cold but it's supposed to be cold and distant.
My main complaint actually is how conventional and not cold it eventually turned out. I mean the resolution at the end (spoiler: him loosing his job and thus spending more time with his daughters) is just way more Hollywood than I was expecting and Östlund couldn't really sell it to me. Actually I couldn't make out what he was trying to say in the end – I have a feeling he doesn't know either. But regarding the movie as a whole, I could just copy/paste your rating and thoughts. 
11
« on: February 05, 2018, 10:48:36 AM »
First I read you wrote "May" and got excited 'cause I'll possibly be around there 22nd to 26th May. But better luck next time!
I'll get back to you guys closer to May again when my schedule is clearer. It would be cool to grab a beer at McSorley's. Though I'm not sure how many of the board members even remember the poor old moviesceleton.
BTW, we're planning to start our trip from L.A. and drive to New Orleans or there about (and fly to NYC). Is it a total suicide mission to drive through Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and/or New Mexico in April/May because of the tornados?
12
« on: October 23, 2017, 10:14:37 PM »
I'm excited.
And looks like PTA is also the new hot cinematographer in town. Could be the "debut" of the year.
13
« on: September 20, 2017, 04:21:59 AM »
This one sounds interesting. I'm guessing location work as opposed to sets?
I'm not sure, it's been like two weeks since I watched the film, but I'd guess mostly location work. There's a dvd of it (I saw it on 35mm), but I'm not sure if there's one with English subs.
14
« on: September 18, 2017, 11:42:06 PM »
Elokuu (1956) - 9/10
One of the best Finnish films. An ensemble piece set during one summer day/night and revolving around a failed author working as a bridge watchman, his wife, mistress, children and maids. Based on the Nobel laureate F.E. Sillanpää's novel of the same name which usually isn't considered a major work.
Homo sapiens (2016) - 9/10
90 minutes of wide shots of abandoned places (mostly East Asia, Russia and East Europe).
Ossessione (1943) - 8/10
Visconti's debut. Operatic movement in the guise of neorealism.
La terra trema (1948) - 8/10
What seemed like documentary realism in 1948, appears significantly less so today.
In the Realm of Senses (Ai no korîda, 1976) - 8/10
Stromboli (1950) - 7/10
106 min version. I have a huge problem with Rossellini's miracle endings, so that's a big issue here. The other issue is the score: it's very good music but it's horrendously overused. Those things set aside, it would be a very modern and good film.
The Human Surge (El auge del humano, 2016) 6.5/10
Very strange, interesting and ultimately too long avant garde film.
Un flic (1972) - 7/10
Hard Candy (2005) - 4/10
Description of a Struggle (Description d'un combat, 1960) - 9/10
Chris Marker is an entertaining fella.
A Ciambra (2017) - 8/10
"Modern neorealism", meaning pretty much what the Dardennes have been doing the last twenty years. But with some dream elements that work surprisingly well. A bit overlong.
Raw (2016) - 6/10
French cannibal film turns out to be more funny than scary.
Closeness (Tesnota, 2017) - 7.5/10
1998 in Russia. The brother of a Jewish teenage girl is kidnapped and the family is struggling to pay the ransom. I think I didn't fully understand the historical/political context but it didn't seem so important. What does seem important is that there's a real video playing in middle of the film showing real executions and torture performed by Chechen guerrillas – a shocking trick which ultimately tells more about the director's narcissism than anything else. Otherwise it's without a doubt a very promising first film.
15
« on: August 23, 2017, 10:45:35 AM »
You had already showed me the short some time ago. I like the music video. What gear did you use on that one? Have you done the grading?
Thanks. I used a Canon C300 and Zeiss Compact Primes if I remember correctly and a macro lens of some sort. I was new to the camera and had no time to test it but it turned out ok. We set the look together with the director and he then did the actual grading work, sending me versions online. I think he used Davinci Resolve.
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