Theatrical Film Releases that don't need their own thread

Paycheck.

I watched it (Roma) this evening. I had a different experience. More like: Holy. Fuck. This film.

It’s not an exciting film. There’s no denouement, no emotional arc to the film. It’s an absurd film and a mundane one. It’s got a bit in common with Hernandez’s Palomar stories with some of the sensibilities (having just watched this for @Navaronegun’s Qt3 film club) Ozu’s Tokyo Story–banal domesticity mixed with cultural absurdity mixed with quiet desperation mixed with a ragged but heartfelt idea of family. The camera work is absolutely phenomenal: a sharp edged, brightly lit, anti-noir. Many of the shots consist of slow circular pans back and forth. Often the main action in a scene is in the background or even off-screen. There is no score to the film at all–only source music–even during the opening and closing credits, and the sound design is immaculate and crucial.

There’s a way in which the Corpus Christi Massacre (an event in Mexican history I had no knowledge of prior to watching this film) forms a centerpiece of it, but it’s also a MacGuffin. The film is very much about Mexico, in the same way that Tokyo Story is about Japan, but it’s very intimate. Cleo is in nearly every shot of the film, and it’s her response to situations that the camera cares about. Despite the deliberate pace of the film, and the lack of real drama, almost nothing happens the way you expect it to. That is, the plot of the film is much more like life than like the movies. It’s refreshing to watch something that lets a life be a life, that doesn’t need to inject a plot twist or unlikely tragedy, that lets situations be exactly as tense as they are without trying to heighten the tension. Recommended to people who like slow, contemplative, gorgeous filmmaking.

It’s very hard to evoke an emotional response without a score, but there were moments watching this film that I was surprised to find I had tears in my eyes.

I went today. I like almost all historic movies, even if they are not accurate and I liked this up to the point where I had to leave the small “arthouse” theatre. Maybe 70 minutes in. There were maybe 30 people in the 100 seat cinema. And around 60 minutes in somebody started playing with his keys or coins maybe one or two rows behind me… First I thought he/she is looking for something in his/her bag or jacket … but then the clinging noise was permanent. Ok, I turned around but could not see who was doing the noise. I noticed that nobody else was annoyed. OK, I tried to focus on the film, but the silence was constantly disturbed by those coins or keys, unbelievable. I turned and said calmy, Excuse me, please can you stop that noise … but no reaction. Not even from others… I did this three times with more verve, I asked some elderly guy behind me, what was going on and he told me that cannot do a thing, but it must have been his neighbour or someone behind him… so after 15 minutes I walked out, too riled up to go back. I complained at the box office, and left. This never happened before. I do not understand how the people next to the noise maker did not say anything. It was really annoying and pretty noisy. I do not get it why nobody stood up.

So that was Queen of Scots
5/10

Sold. Thanks for this write up, Matt. I’m going to try to catch this now. I tire of the way overdone pushed plots and times and I think what you describe would be an awesome step back to watching real film making.

Got a chance to see Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old last night. Thoroughly enjoyable. Such an amazing technical feat, turning grainy, underexposed/overexposed B&W WWI footage into beautifully rendered color video. The “making of” segment at the end of the credits is well worth hanging around for. Highly recommend seeing this film in the theater, assuming they add more dates.

Anyone know anything about a movie called The Legend of the Demon Cat? It’s starting at my local theater tomorrow and I’ve not heard a thing about it. Poster says it’s in Mandarin with English subtitles so I know it’s a foreign film, but that’s it.

I watched this last night. I agree with your assessment. I enjoyed it, and it kept my attention despite overdoing some twists. The first few minutes of the movie kind of reminded me of how the first few minutes of Up tell a story.

I would also recommend this movie.

Also, finding posts about a movie named “Searching” is almost impossible in a forum search.

Heres a bit of a random question. Where has Joseph Gordon Levitt disappered to? He was doing pretty well, showing up in bigger and bigger movies, even directed a successfull movie with ScarJo & then just “vanishes”…

EDIT: Nevermind. He appears to be joining Sorkin on his Chicago 7 movie, which seems to be showing life signs again. Still odd that Levitt didn’t make movies for 3 years…

He’s been active on Twitter all this time. I think maybe he’s spending more time on his “Hit Record” project, though he used to do Hit Record AND do three or four movies a year. I think he may have gotten married in the last year or two. But yeah, too bad that he hasn’t kept up that ridiculous work ethic.

I rewatched Lincoln last night, and was surprised that Lincoln came out seven years ago. That was definitely in the prime of the hot streak you mention. He only had a small role there but he was also in Inception, Looper, Dark Knight Rises and Premium Rush within a year.

Last night saw Burning, a creepy and brilliant Korean almost-Lynchian/Hitchcockian noir mystery…about as high praise as I can think of.

Best not to know too much going in, but I think the trailer does a good job not giving much away.

(I saw it for free on Hoopla, if your local library offers it)

Just saw the trailer for the Elton John movie.

Just can’t get past the casting, as I just see Taron Egerton in weird costumes & unfortunately don’t buy him as Elton John.

Oh that’s the kid the Kingsman. It probably helps that’s the only thing I recognize him from, and I couldn’t get past the second one even.

It’s funny, because Elton John was in the 2nd Kingsman.

God, don’t remind me. Worst celebrity-as-themselves appearance in a film ever. (But there were far worse things in that film than John’s role.) I enjoyed the first Kingsman, but the second was over-the-top in all the wrong cringe-inducing ways.

I didn’t make it past the flower power girl, tent, whatever the hell it was scene. I remember Elton John in that but the movie was just awful and gross.

Yeah, that was definitely the worst moment in a film full of bad moments.

It was so beyond cringe worthy for me, just gross. I was disappointed even before that though, and I kind of liked the first one. I don’t think the problem was acting though, so I won’t hold it against this young man for his future movies.

Burning is terrific. That long sunset scene is the most amazingly rich thing I’ve seen in a movie in years. And its ending is just astonishing.

Yeah, it probably would have been on my top ten list if I’d seen it in time. It really sticks with you, too. It’s been rolling around in my head since I saw it, gosh, well over a month ago?

-Tom

IF you haven’t seen this yet…

— Alan