Films you've seen recently and would unreservedly recommend:

[empty mirror]

^ mostaccios, then?

 

[IdleRich]

watched valerie the other night and loved it. thanks for the tip!
i'd like to see more czech films, any more recommendations?

The best one I've seen is The Cremator

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews21/cremator_dvd_review.htm

Also the usual suspects of Daisies (playful and colourful silliness), The Party and The Guests (surreal political comedy) are both worth checking. The End of August At Hotel Ozone is great as well - kind of meandering and low-key post-apocalyptic sci-fi thing which is really quite effective.

 

[boombox]

i'd like to see more czech films, any more recommendations?

Ucho - about a Communist party member under suspicion, and whose marriage is under severe pressure because of it. Very good.

Unlike all the rhetorical superlatives stirring up the media hype about Lars von Trier's "Antichrist" (which, admittely, I haven't seen yet but expect to be utter garbage, considering the preposterous statements Trier made in interviews and the way it's received and celebrated in mainstream media by clueless critics), the above assessment is not in the least hyperbolic but simply accurate

Antichrist is excellent.

 

[baboon2004]

Sorry, but - don't believe the hype!

 

[mixed_biscuits]

I too haven't seen Antichrist and believe it to be a fabulous film.

 

[grizzleb]

Antichrist is great! Of course it's not some intellectual exercise, it accomplishes what it sets out to, that is to say a feeling of gnawing dread that does nothing but build. Cinematography is great, as are the hilarious surrealist touches. 8/10

 

[IdleRich]

"I watched a good film called City of Pirates (La Ville des Pirates) yesterday. Another extremely surreal film in which the main protagonist Isidore is spirited away to the Isle of Pirates by a peculiarly malevolent boy child who has declared himself her fiancee (after slaughtering his entire family and castrating her lover). There is no city in the film and no pirates either but there is a lot of weirdness involving characters having numerous personalities and strange familial relationships that seem to be in constant flux throughout the film. At one time Isidore's father seems to think that a bouncing white ball is his missing son - and, fair enough, it does come and go at his command so who is to say he is wrong?
The film is disjointed and loses its way at times - possibly a consequence of the fact that the director was apparently writing it as he went along - but overall I think it is more satisfying than other similar films where you feel as though the director is just sticking in weird stuff for the sake of it (say Black Moon for example).
An unusual pinkish filter which is used at times along with the film's constant switching between black and white add to the sense of otherworldliness as do the excellent/insane performances from all the cast, especially the terrifying child.
The director is a South American (Chilean?) called Raoul Ruiz and the only other thing I've seen by him is a short called Colloque de Chiens which is told in stills like La Jette - I'm definitely going to try and find more of his stuff though"

OK, watched another one of his and it's more of the same - a crazy, narcotic almost-narrative about a student who kills his benefactor for no reason and then, whilst making his escape, meets a sailor who tells him his own story, that of a peculiar directionless voyage on a ghost ship where almost every scene contradicts the previous one and nothing makes any sense. It's hard not to keep using the word dreamlike because it's the most aposite word with some scenes in "normal" colour, some scenes in black and white and some relying on a coloured lens - all lushly shot of course.
There are many stories within the original story and they entangle with each other and the overarching story and, inevitably, eventually with the story of the student. Add in a child who grows backwards, men who never shit, a ship that rises out of the water three days after it sinks and a woman who removes her nipples and vagina with her clothes and you get something of an idea of this film.
What it's all about apart from a new take on the Flying Dutchman myth mixed with David Lynch I dunno but it's great fun to watch and discuss afterwards.

 

[craner]

That was sounding really good until I got to the words 'David' and 'Lynch' and then I suddenly lost all interest.

 

[4linehaiku]

It's on my shortlist, will get to it shortly.
The Reflecting Skin awaits on my HD, will give that one a go tomorrow.
IdleRich: If your source doesn't work out let me know and I'll upload it to you somehow.

 

[IdleRich]

"That was sounding really good until you got to the words 'David' and 'Lynch' and then I suddenly lost all interest."

But you couldn't leave it alone eh?

"It's on my shortlist, will get to it shortly."

Cool, let me know what you think.

"The Reflecting Skin awaits on my HD, will give that one a go tomorrow.
IdleRich: If your source doesn't work out let me know and I'll upload it to you somehow."

Thanks man - very keen to see this indeed - but I haven't got a computer so I'm not sure how I can upload it. Let me have a think....

Gonna watch this next I think... an early one from Ruiz.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews33/hypothesis_of_the stolen_painting.htm

 

[continuum]

Was lucky enough to attend a preview of this one. A detailed, emotionally resonant and visceral dose of mayhem. It will most probably generate a fair bit of controversy due to its skewed portrayal of Nigerians and Voudon but the pacing, FX and some performances are amazing. The less you know about it going into the theater the better.

RE: District 9

Saw this today. Really enjoyed it. Lol at the name Christopher Johnson

 

[boombox]

Lady in the Water

Magnificent, joyful fun.

Re District 9, I thought the exact opposite about this rotting landfill of a film - face-palm simplistic allegory, awful acting and a hateful undertone; why can't we feel sorry for the aliens without the humans being portrayed as insanely moronic and impossibly heartless? Highly amateurish all round.

 

[empty mirror]

i finally got around to Taxidermia. one of the most visceral films i've ever seen---meaning lots of viscera. excellent film. (saw yr thread about this one, idle rich, afraid i've nothing to add to it)

and yeah, probably doesn't belong in this thread but i saw King of Marvin Gardens and it was just all right. a bridge to nowhere. it started out with promise (in the city i live in---all night shots) but just kind of went soft on me. one of those 70s pictures with lots of talking. of interest, it shows atlantic city nj before the casinos----had no idea the casinos were such a recent thing.

 

[lanugo]

Red Cockroaches - a weird as fuck dystopian Sci-Fi incest drama that was shot on a budget of just 2000 $! For me, this was the most original and rewarding film I've seen in a very long time. Highly recommended.

 

[IdleRich]

It's certainly got a good cover.

 

[nomadthethird]

Lanugo wins thread.

I watched Suddenly Last Summer recently. A Tennesse Williams/Gore Vidal collab.

 

[mistersloane]

Was lucky enough to attend a preview of this one. A detailed, emotionally resonant and visceral dose of mayhem. It will most probably generate a fair bit of controversy due to its skewed portrayal of Nigerians and Voudon but the pacing, FX and some performances are amazing. The less you know about it going into the theater the better.

It made for difficult watching*; I haven't seen a film that's forced me to view it from such multiple points of (the oppressor/ the father's) gaze for a while.

I thought the depiction of the Nigerians was deliberately contentious - and hammered home a personal idea of racism to its South African audience - bearing in mind the trouble last year, where there was serious talk of expelling all Nigerians from the country, and 50 people died in race riots.

By portraying Nigerians as a stereotypical gang - and some gangs in South Africa are called 'The Americans'; y'know, by nationalities - it forced its (South African) viewers to really question what was happening now in their country. I kind of admired the fact he took all that money and then made a huge film - and knowing that probably most people in South Africa will watch it, it being the biggest film to have come out of there - to take that money and make a film with a deliberately parochial message I thought was brilliant.

*District 9

 

[DJ PIMP]

Liked Martyrs. Dunno about it being the sickest ever horror though... enjoyed that it took a standard premise and ramped it up a notch or two.

Antichrist was great fun. The shot with the deer is marvellous. Liked the classic horror archetypes. Basically a genre flick. My favourite von Trier?

Un Prophete.

Ponyo on the cliff by the sea. Miyazaki oozes imagination. The mix of innocence and primal creativity struck me as being highly personal. The more I see 3D the more I appreciate Miyazaki. Delightful...

 

[craner]

Local Hero. I really love this film!

 

[crackerjack]

Local Hero. I really love this film!

Yep, me too. Forsyth was the underrated genius of 80s British cinema. Remember likiing the Ice Cream War (that right?) a lot too.