Movie Thread

[ab_grp]

Audition (1999, streaming on Kanopy)

Following ab_grp's lead, I decided to watch a Japanese horror film last night, settling on Takashi Miike's famously disturbing Audition. The film follows a widower that holds auditions to find a new wife (the women think they are auditioning for an acting role). He meets an enchanting young woman and things seem too good to be true... And sure enough, things are not quite as they seem.

This movie is very well regarded in certain circles (it is apparently one of Quentin Tarantino's favorites), and I can see why. It is a well directed and acted genre bender with some interesting things to say about misogyny and feminism.

Overall, I came away quite impressed and a little shaken. This film is certainly not for everyone, but if you can stomach it then there are significant rewards to be had. I suspect that this will stay with me in the days and weeks to come and I wouldn't be surprised if my esteem for it grows with a little distance.

Grade: A-

Sounds intriguing! I will put it on our list.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Audition (1999, streaming on Kanopy)

Following ab_grp's lead, I decided to watch a Japanese horror film last night, settling on Takashi Miike's famously disturbing Audition. The film follows a widower that holds auditions to find a new wife (the women think they are auditioning for an acting role). He meets an enchanting young woman and things seem too good to be true... And sure enough, things are not quite as they seem.

This movie is very well regarded in certain circles (it is apparently one of Quentin Tarantino's favorites), and I can see why. It is a well directed and acted genre bender with some interesting things to say about misogyny and feminism.

Overall, I came away quite impressed and a little shaken. This film is certainly not for everyone, but if you can stomach it then there are significant rewards to be had. I suspect that this will stay with me in the days and weeks to come and I wouldn't be surprised if my esteem for it grows with a little distance.

Grade: A-

Sounds intriguing! I will put it on our list.

Let me know how you like it once you've had a chance to watch!

[spork]

[...]

Sounds intriguing! I will put it on our list.

Let me know how you like it once you've had a chance to watch!

I still remember the expression on the actress's face in the penultimate scene. The film is not for the faint of heart.

If you like outside-the-norm Japanese films, I can recommend Tokyo Decadence (1992). I saw it in a San Francisco theater after reading a Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In Movie Review that described it as "a porn movie that you can convince your girlfriend is an art film."

More along the lines of a brutally violent revenge flick with some psychological content is The Horseman (2008), from Australia. Also from Australia, and also a film I found difficult to watch, is The Proposition (2005).

[ciao_yall]

[...]

Sounds intriguing! I will put it on our list.

Let me know how you like it once you've had a chance to watch!

I still remember the expression on the actress's face in the penultimate scene. The film is not for the faint of heart.

If you like outside-the-norm Japanese films, I can recommend Tokyo Decadence (1992). I saw it in a San Francisco theater after reading a Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In Movie Review that described it as "a porn movie that you can convince your girlfriend is an art film."

More along the lines of a brutally violent revenge flick with some psychological content is The Horseman (2008), from Australia. Also from Australia, and also a film I found difficult to watch, is The Proposition (2005).

Joe Bob Briggs At The Drive-In! Wow, that brings me back...

[Sun_Worshiper]

[...]

Sounds intriguing! I will put it on our list.

Let me know how you like it once you've had a chance to watch!

I still remember the expression on the actress's face in the penultimate scene. The film is not for the faint of heart.

If you like outside-the-norm Japanese films, I can recommend Tokyo Decadence (1992). I saw it in a San Francisco theater after reading a Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In Movie Review that described it as "a porn movie that you can convince your girlfriend is an art film."

More along the lines of a brutally violent revenge flick with some psychological content is The Horseman (2008), from Australia. Also from Australia, and also a film I found difficult to watch, is The Proposition (2005).

Sounds like a good watch, but I don't think my wife will fall for this

[ab_grp]

Yeah, this wife probably wouldn't go for that either (especially knowing what I know thanks to Spork!).

We got our covid and flu vaccines Friday (me morning, him afternoon), so we were ailing both movie nights.  Friday we watched In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2023), about Ireland in the 1970s, the IRA, and Liam Neeson as a hired killer who gets himself in trouble by exacting his own justice.  I guess I was expecting more of an action movie, and there was action, but it was really more of a drama.  It wasn't the greatest movie ever, but I was drawn in and interested to see how things would turn out.  Kerry Condon was very good in her role as an IRA bad ass.  The acting was pretty good all around.  We appreciated that it was very straightforward, given our mental states.

Saturday was Paddington (2014), even more our speed at the time.  We were really watching it to get to Paddington 2 (2017), which we heard somewhere at some point is the best movie of all time.  Neither of us can remember where we heard that, or even if the source was reputable, but why not believe it to be true until we find out otherwise? So that will be on the list sometime in the future.  Anyway this one was pretty cute.  Hugh Bonneville is fun to watch in these types of roles, especially after Downton Abbey.  In case the basic story is not known, Paddington is a bear who hails from darkest Peru.  He ends up in London, which ends up being quite different than he expected, and needs to find a home.  He has heard that this is easy to do.  It turns out not to be! Shenanigans ensue as Paddington is taken in for what is to be a brief stay with a half-reluctant family helmed by Bonneville.  Unfortunately, an evil person is after Paddington.  Everyone will learn some lessons about family.  We definitely enjoyed it.

[RatGuy]

Saturday was Paddington (2014), even more our speed at the time.  We were really watching it to get to Paddington 2 (2017), which we heard somewhere at some point is the best movie of all time. 

Paddington 2 really is one of the greatest movies -- and this is coming from someone who knew nothing about the character before the first movie.

[RatGuy]

Sorry for the double post  ...

As part of our discussion today, I asked students to give me examples of the most romantic movie scenes. I got a lot of what you'd expect: The Notebook kissing in the rain, Titanic, the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice. But one dude said Leia's confession in Empire Strikes Back and frankly that kid gets bonus.

[spork]

[...]

Sounds intriguing! I will put it on our list.

Let me know how you like it once you've had a chance to watch!

I still remember the expression on the actress's face in the penultimate scene. The film is not for the faint of heart.

If you like outside-the-norm Japanese films, I can recommend Tokyo Decadence (1992). I saw it in a San Francisco theater after reading a Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In Movie Review that described it as "a porn movie that you can convince your girlfriend is an art film."

More along the lines of a brutally violent revenge flick with some psychological content is The Horseman (2008), from Australia. Also from Australia, and also a film I found difficult to watch, is The Proposition (2005).

Sounds like a good watch, but I don't think my wife will fall for this

You could frame it as "an exploration of a Japanese subculture."

[Sun_Worshiper]

[...]

Sounds intriguing! I will put it on our list.

Let me know how you like it once you've had a chance to watch!

I still remember the expression on the actress's face in the penultimate scene. The film is not for the faint of heart.

If you like outside-the-norm Japanese films, I can recommend Tokyo Decadence (1992). I saw it in a San Francisco theater after reading a Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In Movie Review that described it as "a porn movie that you can convince your girlfriend is an art film."

More along the lines of a brutally violent revenge flick with some psychological content is The Horseman (2008), from Australia. Also from Australia, and also a film I found difficult to watch, is The Proposition (2005).

Sounds like a good watch, but I don't think my wife will fall for this

You could frame it as "an exploration of a Japanese subculture."

No I learned my lesson after we watched The Handmaiden together

[ab_grp]

A tale of two movie review reactions:

Ratguy- thanks for the recommendation about Paddington 2! Now we are even more excited to watch it.

Sun_Worshiper- thanks for the heads up about The Handmaiden! I will not put that near the top of my list.  Too bad, it's a Park Chan-wook movie, too.  Might be too far over on that side of the spectrum to be a huge hit with me.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Civil War (2024, streaming on HBO)

You, the viewer, are dropped in the midst of a US civil war with a group of photojournalists, who are venturing to DC in hopes of interviewing and photographing the besieged US president. Along the way, they see violence, chaos, and occasional calm, and often find themselves in deadly situations.

Interestingly, this movie has a more to say about photojournalism than about war or American politics. In fact, they could have set it in any other country without changing the script at all. And its take on journalists and what drives them is refreshingly cynical.

Overall, it is very watchable, with good performances and jarring visuals, but it didn't really stay with me or give me much to think about.

Grade: B

[Sun_Worshiper]

A tale of two movie review reactions:

Ratguy- thanks for the recommendation about Paddington 2! Now we are even more excited to watch it.

Sun_Worshiper- thanks for the heads up about The Handmaiden! I will not put that near the top of my list.  Too bad, it's a Park Chan-wook movie, too.  Might be too far over on that side of the spectrum to be a huge hit with me.

It is a great movie - one of the best of that year... but has a lot of explicit content and my wife was giving me the side eye for most of the run time

[ab_grp]

Sun_worshiper, I'll definitely keep it on our list, but I probably wouldn't run right out and see it. 

Has anyone seen Tuesday (2023), with Julia Louis-Dreyfus? I searched the thread but haven't had much luck with searches in this thread (maybe because of the tags surrounding some movie names?).  My husband is semi-obsessed with watching this.  I think it's just because of the bird.  Here's the IMDB blurb:

A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.

I watched the trailer and already started crying despite thinking it looks dumb.  I don't mind crying my eyes out at a good movie, but I don't want to just have my heartstrings pulled so hard over the course of a crappy plot.  Just thought maybe someone had seen it or heard anything that could be helpful to know.

[fishbrains]

Watched La La Land for the first time last night. It seemed very long and very boring. I'm wondering what I missed. I mean, Ryan Gosling is handsome AF, but he can't sing, can't dance, and can barely act. Other than "We don't always get to live our very best lives, but that's okay if we can still be an international movie star or a cool jazz pianist," I'm not sure what I was supposed to get out of this movie.

Any insight into my deficiencies (other than living in fly-over country and not caring at all about Los Angeles) would be appreciated.