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FilmEra|OT| October 2017
- Thread starter Flow
- Start date
- Status
OP
OP
For many days did I wander in the desert, shouting "has anybody seen a movie lately" and receiving no reply.
I was confused, I was lost.
But, at last, a familiar sight appeared on the horizon. I stumbled forward, trying to focus, and slowly but surely what I saw was no longer familiar but transforming into something new.
I hesitated. I asked aloud, with an uncertainty in my voice, "Have you seen a movie lately?"
And then, like a whisper echoing through the sky, came the reply.
"Your account has been approved."
It's good to be back,MovieGAF FilmERA!
I have been eager to thank you for putting a particular movie on my radar, and am glad to have the opportunity to now do so, because this was a damn good horror recommendation.
The Wailing (8/10) - They say God works in mysterious ways, and The Wailing is a pretty convincing argument for why that should scare the holy shit out of us all. Here is a world where evil is opportunistic and good is obfuscating, where the path is always shrouded in fog and the worst parts of our humanity will always lead us astray, where faith is a gamble doomed to fail.
The Wailing is basically about a cop investigating a string of bizarre murders, which may be linked to an illness, and the desperate measures he will pursue when his own daughter becomes afflicted with said illness. But it's about a whole lot more, too. Na Hong-jin spends no less than 156 minutes weaving a tapestry of plots, characters, genres (it isn't a Korean film without at least five genres stapled together) and themes to create a detailed portrait of life in a small village. This is a movie about ignorance, the people who chase superstition and ritual for easy answers and comforts. This is a movie about vigilante justice, a community attempting to placate itself with revenge. This is a movie about greed and exploitation. This is also a movie about racism. The presence of a Japanese immigrant, and the reaction of the other villagers to his presence, is the most delightfully subversive element of the film.
Na Hong-jin also walks a fine line here as he purposefully misleads and misdirects the audience for much of the narrative. It's risky, but I think it pays off. The Wailing plunges the viewer into a suspended state of doubt and uncertainty, and the final moments are so intense I grinded my teeth into dust. Na suggests that faith may be impossible, and the source of evil is ultimately within our own hearts. The scope of his portrait allows him to ground the story in a way that is believable and acute in its social and religious criticism. He digs deep, and the horrors he unearths in the film's final stretch are devastating.
This isn't the kind of horror movie content to make you jump out of your seat.
This is the kind of horror movie determined to hurl your soul into the abyss.
This is the kind of movie that makes you want to crawl into a hole, assume the fetal position, and die.
Fuck yeah, that's my kind of movie.
I was confused, I was lost.
But, at last, a familiar sight appeared on the horizon. I stumbled forward, trying to focus, and slowly but surely what I saw was no longer familiar but transforming into something new.
I hesitated. I asked aloud, with an uncertainty in my voice, "Have you seen a movie lately?"
And then, like a whisper echoing through the sky, came the reply.
"Your account has been approved."
It's good to be back,
I have been eager to thank you for putting a particular movie on my radar, and am glad to have the opportunity to now do so, because this was a damn good horror recommendation.
The Wailing (8/10) - They say God works in mysterious ways, and The Wailing is a pretty convincing argument for why that should scare the holy shit out of us all. Here is a world where evil is opportunistic and good is obfuscating, where the path is always shrouded in fog and the worst parts of our humanity will always lead us astray, where faith is a gamble doomed to fail.
The Wailing is basically about a cop investigating a string of bizarre murders, which may be linked to an illness, and the desperate measures he will pursue when his own daughter becomes afflicted with said illness. But it's about a whole lot more, too. Na Hong-jin spends no less than 156 minutes weaving a tapestry of plots, characters, genres (it isn't a Korean film without at least five genres stapled together) and themes to create a detailed portrait of life in a small village. This is a movie about ignorance, the people who chase superstition and ritual for easy answers and comforts. This is a movie about vigilante justice, a community attempting to placate itself with revenge. This is a movie about greed and exploitation. This is also a movie about racism. The presence of a Japanese immigrant, and the reaction of the other villagers to his presence, is the most delightfully subversive element of the film.
Na Hong-jin also walks a fine line here as he purposefully misleads and misdirects the audience for much of the narrative. It's risky, but I think it pays off. The Wailing plunges the viewer into a suspended state of doubt and uncertainty, and the final moments are so intense I grinded my teeth into dust. Na suggests that faith may be impossible, and the source of evil is ultimately within our own hearts. The scope of his portrait allows him to ground the story in a way that is believable and acute in its social and religious criticism. He digs deep, and the horrors he unearths in the film's final stretch are devastating.
This isn't the kind of horror movie content to make you jump out of your seat.
This is the kind of horror movie determined to hurl your soul into the abyss.
This is the kind of movie that makes you want to crawl into a hole, assume the fetal position, and die.
Fuck yeah, that's my kind of movie.
The People Under the Stairs: Part 1 of an urban horror twofer. Wes Craven seems like one of the least qualified people when it comes to making any kind of movie about black hardships, but he actually does a decent job of working those elements into a kinder, gentler version of his earlier films. Indeed, Momma and Daddy here wouldn't feel too out of place with the clans of both Krug and Jupiter, though with the "pitched to the rafters three states over" performances we get from both Everett McGill and Wendy Robie, perhaps a little too ambitious for the simpler methods that those two were known to employ. The film does get surprisingly nasty in the way that Craven was known for before mainstream success, and it does help make it all the more palpable when the main protagonists are both kids going through hell and back and back into hell again throughout the story, but it's also zany in a way that wouldn't be out of place in something like Home Alone, complete with ridiculously elaborate traps and human bodies that take on fatal amounts of punishment with only a few bloodstains to show for it (in one case, a dog-mauled arm straight up heals itself between scenes!). The strange tone does make the horror elements weaker than they should be, but at the same time, the film is rather confident in embracing the strange elements and does well by its heroes, with both Brandon Adams and A.J. Langer being solid in their parts and bringing a much-needed sense of grounding that keeps the threat level surprisingly high in the face of state-of-the-art DIY home security and, well, people under the stairs. Speaking of, this film never really seems to know what to do with them, other than adding to a list of crimes that was already miles long for both Momma and Daddy, which seems like a waste, but thankfully, not much mind is paid to them to burden you to their presence, aside from the amusing thought of what actually happens to them in the ending. Craven does a good job staging the attacks and suspense throughout, so that's more than enough to recommend this film, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how weird it gets, even if it does hurt the efforts at making a social commentary or being particularly scary. Not bad at all, but this is actually one film where a remake would be really interesting to see if it could embrace the darker elements more to give it the bite it could have had.
Tales from the Hood: Part 2 of an urban horror twofer. Best of all, it's anthology time, which is like a bunch of reviews for the price of one!
Welcome to My Mortuary: In the rarest of incidences for anthology films, this is the one where the wraparounds are the best part, thanks entirely to the demented performance from Clarence Williams III as Mr. Simms. Clearly taking a page out of the Jack Palance playbook of "Every Word is Your Favorite Word," Williams is having so much fun with his overly dramatic line readings and bug-eyed facial expressions that he is having fun for everyone else and still has energy left over. That the wraparounds get their own title should clue you in to its importance to the overall structure, though it's not an uncommon sight for horror anthologies to go down this route. The weak performances from the gang-bangers that Simms is hosting at his funeral home bring this one down a tad, but as soon as Williams is bellowing lines like "the doo-doo," they're quickly a distant memory.
Rogue Cop Revelation: Rodney King gone horrifically more wrong, but is justice about to be meted out by the undead? This one sets a lot of the tone and pace for the stories to follow, which is to say that they frequently deal with a lot of real life issues and atrocities, while also needing to carry out the expected elements of anthology shorts. Police brutality is hardly light material, but the story here seems very confused on how to play that element properly, giving it too much of a pulp treatment that only grazes on the social commentary. It also doesn't help that the short tries to throw in one more twist in the works that doesn't play at all, leading to a curiously unsatisfying story, despite the gruesome special effects and, if we're being honest, seeing a bunch of murdering racists get theirs.
Boys Do Get Bruised: A little boy confides to his teacher that the bruises he's getting are the work of a real monster, but how can he defeat it when no one believes him? Here, domestic abuse is at the heart of this story, and boy oh boy, does it feel very tasteless at times with the genre conventions being applied to scenes of very brutal violence against women and children, especially when the story's one paranormal element feels entirely shoehorned in just to give the film a more palatable flavor. It doesn't work, and this veers too much into straight-up uncomfortable territory, with the director utterly failing to handle such disparate elements and having little to show for it beyond a 180 for David Alan Grier as an actor. How no one realized how deeply fucked up this one turned out is a complete mystery to me.
KKK Comeuppance: Live footage of a member of the GOP on the election trail, with an ending that most people would hope happens to them! OK, so it's not quite that, but this one does feel rather relevant in this day and age with a nakedly racist candidate for elected office barely avoiding blurting out what he really wants to say, and shows no qualms with letting it all out in private. It's a shame for that in the old plantation house that he resides in hides the souls of over a hundred dead slaves that were since transferred into little dolls, and all too ready for their chance for revenge. Not a whole lot new here in terms of the raw content (possessed dolls are hardly new territory for anthologies), but it's a competent telling of a well-worn tale that does get a bit more bite (har har) with its political commentary that, in 2017, stings harder than it did back in 1995. Credit should go to Corbin Bernsen for pulling it off, too, especially when his ridiculous hairpiece isn't all that crazy anymore.
Hard-Core Convert: A killer barely survives a shooting, but what's waiting for him in rehabilitation may make him wish he hadn't. This one is also dealing with very dark subject matter, but unlike the second major story, it seems to handle it better by virtue of being thoroughly provocative the whole way through. It has the balls to draw a link between our protagonist's actions and those of a white supremacist, as at the end of the day, as the latter argues, a dead black is a dead black, regardless of who's responsible for it. The story also houses a rather shocking scene, the rehabilitation itself, which is a rapidly edited montage that shifts from staged gang violence of a most graphic variety (this movie definitely earned its R-rating) with images of real-life lynchings and racially-motivated murders against blacks, further drawing the link that the endless cycle of violence is simply giving the other side just what they want. It's an interesting perspective, but it's not explored at in any great length due to this being part of a larger anthology, and the director here decides that this is the story that required the most elaborate sets and costuming, making the rehabilitation center look like something that came out of a music video, right down the latex-clad nurses. It's bizarrely over-directed throughout, perhaps due to the knowledge that this was the last of the stories for the movie to tell and needed to go out with a bang, but I don't think it helps serve whatever points that it's trying to make at all and serves only to distract.
Overall: Like most anthologies, uneven. It seems like the social commentary throughout was a bad idea to try and wed to the normal Tales from the Crypt-inspired stories of supernatural comeuppance, and in at least one instance, is so bleak and distressing that no amount of gussying up can save it from being too unsavory a subject to even attempt to make lighter. It does provide a lot of gory fun from time to time, and the more established actors do at least fine work, but as mentioned earlier, it's virtually unthinkable that the wraparounds are the best the movie has to offer. Not that there's anything wrong with that when Clarence Williams III gives it all and then some, but that's not these things are expected to work at all. Given his name featured as a exec producer, I would have loved to have seen Spike Lee give his take on the material, as I suspect he'd be able to solve the issues of maintaining tone as well as the integrity of the material, but as it is, it's a noble effort that falters in some rather uncontested ways that are very, very hard to ignore.
Tales from the Hood: Part 2 of an urban horror twofer. Best of all, it's anthology time, which is like a bunch of reviews for the price of one!
Welcome to My Mortuary: In the rarest of incidences for anthology films, this is the one where the wraparounds are the best part, thanks entirely to the demented performance from Clarence Williams III as Mr. Simms. Clearly taking a page out of the Jack Palance playbook of "Every Word is Your Favorite Word," Williams is having so much fun with his overly dramatic line readings and bug-eyed facial expressions that he is having fun for everyone else and still has energy left over. That the wraparounds get their own title should clue you in to its importance to the overall structure, though it's not an uncommon sight for horror anthologies to go down this route. The weak performances from the gang-bangers that Simms is hosting at his funeral home bring this one down a tad, but as soon as Williams is bellowing lines like "the doo-doo," they're quickly a distant memory.
Rogue Cop Revelation: Rodney King gone horrifically more wrong, but is justice about to be meted out by the undead? This one sets a lot of the tone and pace for the stories to follow, which is to say that they frequently deal with a lot of real life issues and atrocities, while also needing to carry out the expected elements of anthology shorts. Police brutality is hardly light material, but the story here seems very confused on how to play that element properly, giving it too much of a pulp treatment that only grazes on the social commentary. It also doesn't help that the short tries to throw in one more twist in the works that doesn't play at all, leading to a curiously unsatisfying story, despite the gruesome special effects and, if we're being honest, seeing a bunch of murdering racists get theirs.
Boys Do Get Bruised: A little boy confides to his teacher that the bruises he's getting are the work of a real monster, but how can he defeat it when no one believes him? Here, domestic abuse is at the heart of this story, and boy oh boy, does it feel very tasteless at times with the genre conventions being applied to scenes of very brutal violence against women and children, especially when the story's one paranormal element feels entirely shoehorned in just to give the film a more palatable flavor. It doesn't work, and this veers too much into straight-up uncomfortable territory, with the director utterly failing to handle such disparate elements and having little to show for it beyond a 180 for David Alan Grier as an actor. How no one realized how deeply fucked up this one turned out is a complete mystery to me.
KKK Comeuppance: Live footage of a member of the GOP on the election trail, with an ending that most people would hope happens to them! OK, so it's not quite that, but this one does feel rather relevant in this day and age with a nakedly racist candidate for elected office barely avoiding blurting out what he really wants to say, and shows no qualms with letting it all out in private. It's a shame for that in the old plantation house that he resides in hides the souls of over a hundred dead slaves that were since transferred into little dolls, and all too ready for their chance for revenge. Not a whole lot new here in terms of the raw content (possessed dolls are hardly new territory for anthologies), but it's a competent telling of a well-worn tale that does get a bit more bite (har har) with its political commentary that, in 2017, stings harder than it did back in 1995. Credit should go to Corbin Bernsen for pulling it off, too, especially when his ridiculous hairpiece isn't all that crazy anymore.
Hard-Core Convert: A killer barely survives a shooting, but what's waiting for him in rehabilitation may make him wish he hadn't. This one is also dealing with very dark subject matter, but unlike the second major story, it seems to handle it better by virtue of being thoroughly provocative the whole way through. It has the balls to draw a link between our protagonist's actions and those of a white supremacist, as at the end of the day, as the latter argues, a dead black is a dead black, regardless of who's responsible for it. The story also houses a rather shocking scene, the rehabilitation itself, which is a rapidly edited montage that shifts from staged gang violence of a most graphic variety (this movie definitely earned its R-rating) with images of real-life lynchings and racially-motivated murders against blacks, further drawing the link that the endless cycle of violence is simply giving the other side just what they want. It's an interesting perspective, but it's not explored at in any great length due to this being part of a larger anthology, and the director here decides that this is the story that required the most elaborate sets and costuming, making the rehabilitation center look like something that came out of a music video, right down the latex-clad nurses. It's bizarrely over-directed throughout, perhaps due to the knowledge that this was the last of the stories for the movie to tell and needed to go out with a bang, but I don't think it helps serve whatever points that it's trying to make at all and serves only to distract.
Overall: Like most anthologies, uneven. It seems like the social commentary throughout was a bad idea to try and wed to the normal Tales from the Crypt-inspired stories of supernatural comeuppance, and in at least one instance, is so bleak and distressing that no amount of gussying up can save it from being too unsavory a subject to even attempt to make lighter. It does provide a lot of gory fun from time to time, and the more established actors do at least fine work, but as mentioned earlier, it's virtually unthinkable that the wraparounds are the best the movie has to offer. Not that there's anything wrong with that when Clarence Williams III gives it all and then some, but that's not these things are expected to work at all. Given his name featured as a exec producer, I would have loved to have seen Spike Lee give his take on the material, as I suspect he'd be able to solve the issues of maintaining tone as well as the integrity of the material, but as it is, it's a noble effort that falters in some rather uncontested ways that are very, very hard to ignore.
Why don't our brains explode when we watch movies?
Here's a fun little video answering the question:
https://aeon.co/videos/for-millenni...ke-film-cuts-how-do-we-process-them-so-easily
Original article:
https://aeon.co/essays/why-don-t-our-brains-explode-when-we-watch-movies
Here's a fun little video answering the question:
https://aeon.co/videos/for-millenni...ke-film-cuts-how-do-we-process-them-so-easily
Original article:
https://aeon.co/essays/why-don-t-our-brains-explode-when-we-watch-movies
Love Tsai Ming-Liang. I saw Stray Dogs at a film festival and became an instant fan. The ending was fantastic to experience in a cinema, feels like it is seared into my brain.
Yeah, it's hard to tell. For me, your avatar is broken too. Sounds like just easily forum bugs.
Sup guys, gigaslash here.
1. What's your favorite Movie? — Seven Samurai
2. Who's your favorite director? — Kurosawa. Big surprise, right?
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? — Another unexpected one. Mifune.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — Jidaigeki, chanbara, Nikkatsu action.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? — Mifune in High and Low, probably.
On the topic of new(ish) films, went to see François Ozon's L'Amant double yesterday. What a ride! I've never been much of a fan of Ozon's work, but this film might've changed my mind. It's an incredibly tense film, gripping, brutal. I like how Ozon crafts his own story here, but also makes it sort of grounded in the history of cinema, there are so many subtle hints, references and winks here, I think I need another viewing to get most of them. There are obvious references to Bergman's Persona & Zulawski's Possession which kinda make you expect certain things from the movie, but then it flip-flops back and forth and ends up in a somewhat unexpected place. Very, very impressed. This one might be my film of the year so far, before I see Miike's Blade of the Immortal later this year.
Funny story: I managed to completely confuse Ozon's L'Amant double and Garrel's L'Amant d'un jour , I though I was going to see the latter movie and was very surprised to see Ozon's film instead lol. But it worked out really well, I didn't know anything about L'Amant Double so it ended up being a very cool surprise.
1. What's your favorite Movie? — Seven Samurai
2. Who's your favorite director? — Kurosawa. Big surprise, right?
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? — Another unexpected one. Mifune.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — Jidaigeki, chanbara, Nikkatsu action.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? — Mifune in High and Low, probably.
On the topic of new(ish) films, went to see François Ozon's L'Amant double yesterday. What a ride! I've never been much of a fan of Ozon's work, but this film might've changed my mind. It's an incredibly tense film, gripping, brutal. I like how Ozon crafts his own story here, but also makes it sort of grounded in the history of cinema, there are so many subtle hints, references and winks here, I think I need another viewing to get most of them. There are obvious references to Bergman's Persona & Zulawski's Possession which kinda make you expect certain things from the movie, but then it flip-flops back and forth and ends up in a somewhat unexpected place. Very, very impressed. This one might be my film of the year so far, before I see Miike's Blade of the Immortal later this year.
Funny story: I managed to completely confuse Ozon's L'Amant double and Garrel's L'Amant d'un jour , I though I was going to see the latter movie and was very surprised to see Ozon's film instead lol. But it worked out really well, I didn't know anything about L'Amant Double so it ended up being a very cool surprise.
I don't think I ever did this in the movies thread but here goes
1. What's your favorite Movie? — Thin Red Line
2. Who's your favorite director? — plenty of choices here but gun to the head...Michael Mann
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
Too many so I'll go with currently: Casey Affleck, Michael Shannon, Tom Hardy, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — anything that's decent
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Brando in On the Waterfront, Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive, Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea and Dana Carvey in Wayne's World
1. What's your favorite Movie? — Thin Red Line
2. Who's your favorite director? — plenty of choices here but gun to the head...Michael Mann
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses?
Too many so I'll go with currently: Casey Affleck, Michael Shannon, Tom Hardy, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — anything that's decent
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Brando in On the Waterfront, Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive, Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea and Dana Carvey in Wayne's World
Saw Thor ragnarok last night.
Havnt had that much fun in the cinema for ages.
Very fun movie. Very similar vibe to GOTG.
Music was great, directing was great and a visual treat.
Surprised at how much comedy there was, and Hemsworth was great with his delivery.
Highly recommend it.
I'd never see the day where Spider-Man and Thor come out in the same year and I would prefer Thor.
Havnt had that much fun in the cinema for ages.
Very fun movie. Very similar vibe to GOTG.
Music was great, directing was great and a visual treat.
Surprised at how much comedy there was, and Hemsworth was great with his delivery.
Highly recommend it.
I'd never see the day where Spider-Man and Thor come out in the same year and I would prefer Thor.
Hi, it's me.
Rewatched Mulholland Drive last night. Still doesn't make any sense but it doesn't really need to when it's so tightly controlled and immensely entertaining for what it is. Dived into some analysis's online to find a lot of far fetched theories. Let's just settle on the fact that Lynch respired some ideas and decided to shoot them ey? Very lush.
Rewatched Mulholland Drive last night. Still doesn't make any sense but it doesn't really need to when it's so tightly controlled and immensely entertaining for what it is. Dived into some analysis's online to find a lot of far fetched theories. Let's just settle on the fact that Lynch respired some ideas and decided to shoot them ey? Very lush.
Metro Manila (2013) - ★★★☆☆
I've long wanted to check out "Metro Manila" mainly because of the beautiful poster, and some nice looking marketing by Sean Ellis and his team. I have no idea if this is categorized "indie" or if it is of a well-known film production but no matter who the creators are, they've taken on the task of telling the rest of the world what most Filipinos in my country the Philippines are going through, because of the harsh reality they all live and go through to improve their lives, not only for themselves but for family. It's a hard and relentless task living in the Philippines, especially if you're not so privileged to be having contacts abroad or already being established in an apartment or condo in the capital of Manila.
I've been to Manila multiple times myself, as I am half-Filipino and thus have a huge family and many connections throughout the beautiful country. So I've seen what people are going through and it's tough, but I've never been close to the slums, which are quite frankly the harshest environment with all odds against you. That's ultimately what this movie is about, but it does give you a glimpse into that life and for that alone I think you should give this "foreign" story a watch.
No, the primary theme of Metro Manila is that of love, which is the central plot of many Filipino films. But this one is grim, it is rough, and it is not such an easy watch if you have some concern for these poor people. This is ultimately a story about how far a man can go to save his family.
In "Metro Manila" we follow the farmer from a province in Banaue, named Oscar. He can no longer earn a living for himself and his family which consist of one woman and two young daughters, so as with many other families, they see no other option than to travel to the mega-city of Manila were millions of people are seeking the dream of a better life. But as in real life, there's too few apartments or places for these millions of people, but luck does seem to be on their sides, when they find a host who offers them a one-room apartment for all the money they have left. Unfortunately, they soon find out they've been deceived, and they have to move out the entire family, and seek out the slums where the most hardened criminals are roaming, and that alone can put Oscar and his new partner at his new job at risk.
"Metro Manila" eventually places Oscar at his new job, where he'll have to transport money banks and weapons in armored trucks throughout the city, which is considered one of the most dangers jobs in Manila. Here he's partner Ong quickly takes him under his wing, but he is not all that it seems, and has ulterior motives, and so what should have been a simple job, ends up being very complex, and one where Oscar is at risk all the time. His wife likewise gets to live the complex life as soon as she is hired at a bar, and especially this one was tough for me to watch, for not to speak of the daughter's toothache which is actually the focal point of one very sweet but honest scene in the second act.
I've laid out the premise and the plot of "Metro Manila" without going too deep into what'll happen, and the consequences of a life in the slums of Manila. It's a very nicely produced movie coming out of the Philippines, without shaking up the genre with new kinds of storytelling or twists, but it does have a fulfilling ending, that could perhaps have been showcased instead of being explained and laid out by the end, so if anything I would have wished that Sean Ellis had shown the plan, instead of used a heavy amount of exposition to explain it all.
I've long wanted to check out "Metro Manila" mainly because of the beautiful poster, and some nice looking marketing by Sean Ellis and his team. I have no idea if this is categorized "indie" or if it is of a well-known film production but no matter who the creators are, they've taken on the task of telling the rest of the world what most Filipinos in my country the Philippines are going through, because of the harsh reality they all live and go through to improve their lives, not only for themselves but for family. It's a hard and relentless task living in the Philippines, especially if you're not so privileged to be having contacts abroad or already being established in an apartment or condo in the capital of Manila.
I've been to Manila multiple times myself, as I am half-Filipino and thus have a huge family and many connections throughout the beautiful country. So I've seen what people are going through and it's tough, but I've never been close to the slums, which are quite frankly the harshest environment with all odds against you. That's ultimately what this movie is about, but it does give you a glimpse into that life and for that alone I think you should give this "foreign" story a watch.
No, the primary theme of Metro Manila is that of love, which is the central plot of many Filipino films. But this one is grim, it is rough, and it is not such an easy watch if you have some concern for these poor people. This is ultimately a story about how far a man can go to save his family.
In "Metro Manila" we follow the farmer from a province in Banaue, named Oscar. He can no longer earn a living for himself and his family which consist of one woman and two young daughters, so as with many other families, they see no other option than to travel to the mega-city of Manila were millions of people are seeking the dream of a better life. But as in real life, there's too few apartments or places for these millions of people, but luck does seem to be on their sides, when they find a host who offers them a one-room apartment for all the money they have left. Unfortunately, they soon find out they've been deceived, and they have to move out the entire family, and seek out the slums where the most hardened criminals are roaming, and that alone can put Oscar and his new partner at his new job at risk.
"Metro Manila" eventually places Oscar at his new job, where he'll have to transport money banks and weapons in armored trucks throughout the city, which is considered one of the most dangers jobs in Manila. Here he's partner Ong quickly takes him under his wing, but he is not all that it seems, and has ulterior motives, and so what should have been a simple job, ends up being very complex, and one where Oscar is at risk all the time. His wife likewise gets to live the complex life as soon as she is hired at a bar, and especially this one was tough for me to watch, for not to speak of the daughter's toothache which is actually the focal point of one very sweet but honest scene in the second act.
I've laid out the premise and the plot of "Metro Manila" without going too deep into what'll happen, and the consequences of a life in the slums of Manila. It's a very nicely produced movie coming out of the Philippines, without shaking up the genre with new kinds of storytelling or twists, but it does have a fulfilling ending, that could perhaps have been showcased instead of being explained and laid out by the end, so if anything I would have wished that Sean Ellis had shown the plan, instead of used a heavy amount of exposition to explain it all.
OP
OP
Killing of a Sacred Deer. Will write more about it later, but the long and short is: Yorgos being Yorgos. Reminded me of Mother! for better or for worse. This is considerably more nuanced as an expression of metaphor / allegory -- primarily because it's more difficult to siphon out the specific influences and their respective & relative weights and significance. Can't tell you what he's trying to say about modern culture (of any origin). If it's a specific critique of the greek way of life then it's lost on me. Would love to get perspective from someone from Greece. It's darkly humorous -- however I was the only one laughing in the theater (although it was me and 2-3 others located maybe 8 rows behind me so it was hard to tell if they found it funny). As ludicrous as it was -- even more so than Lobster if you can believe that -- the twists were seriously compelling, and that comes down to the acting, specifically that of Kidman, the boy that played Martin (Keogh?) and the girl that played Kim. Seriously great acting. This movie is for very few of us. But I can definitively say -- I kinda dug it. And that shot of the girl singing at the tree (seen in the trailer): awesome. Cinematography was a mixed bag -- a mix of styles, switching from behind the back steadicam (like Mother!) to wide angle pans, to locked framing, to slow zoom, to sliders -- but man that shot at the tree (on a slider) was amazing.
Oh, and don't be eating anything in the opening minutes. You might regret it. Save the popcorn and raisinets for at least the second scene. Fair warning.
Oh, and don't be eating anything in the opening minutes. You might regret it. Save the popcorn and raisinets for at least the second scene. Fair warning.
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Same my man, can't believe all of you guys still post in here, pretty hyped.
I watched Thin Red Line for the first time last week and thought the Criterion transfer was perfect. Koteas and Caviezel were great.
Waiting on that definitive five-hour cut. Where you at, Malick.
Youth (re-watch)
Age, understanding, sacrifices -- and meaning amongst senses over means to an image. Better than The Great Beauty.
6.9/10
Age, understanding, sacrifices -- and meaning amongst senses over means to an image. Better than The Great Beauty.
6.9/10
Gigi: 2/10. One of the worst films ever made.
All Quiet On The Western Front (1930): 6/10. Fantastic battle scenes but I found the "golly gee wilkers war actually isn't that great is it" conversations a bit grating. Like, dude, I know. Also cute little world war you had going, you ain't seen nothing yet. :lol
Victoria: 7/10. Didn't realize it was a single shot until afterwards, pretty cool I guess. I don't think it was fake single shot like Turdman either. A little annoying watching Eurotrash caterwauling for 45 minutes but then it gets tense as shit. Most incompetent police force on Earth?
All Quiet On The Western Front (1930): 6/10. Fantastic battle scenes but I found the "golly gee wilkers war actually isn't that great is it" conversations a bit grating. Like, dude, I know. Also cute little world war you had going, you ain't seen nothing yet. :lol
Victoria: 7/10. Didn't realize it was a single shot until afterwards, pretty cool I guess. I don't think it was fake single shot like Turdman either. A little annoying watching Eurotrash caterwauling for 45 minutes but then it gets tense as shit. Most incompetent police force on Earth?
You really trying to watch Koteas roll around with his wife for an extra two hours?
1. What's your favorite Movie? — Master and Commander/Lawrence of Arabia
2. Who's your favorite director? — No longer around with us: Stanley Kubrick. Active: I do believe it might be Señor Tarantino.
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? Cate Blanchett is a QUEEN.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — I'll watch anything. Anything GOOD, that is.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth/Haley Joel Osment in A.I.
2. Who's your favorite director? — No longer around with us: Stanley Kubrick. Active: I do believe it might be Señor Tarantino.
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? Cate Blanchett is a QUEEN.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — I'll watch anything. Anything GOOD, that is.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth/Haley Joel Osment in A.I.
1. What's your favorite Movie? Pulp Fiction (2: Mononoke, 3: 2001, 4: Chungking Express)
2. Who's your favorite director? Akira Kurosawa
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? Tony Leung
4. Favorite Genre(s)? Imaginative and inventive stuff, could be any genre really.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Tony Leung in Lust Caution scared the heebie jeebies out of me, in another one like Chinese Odyssey 2002 he does a Stephen Chow impression, then in Hero he's this sad, stoic figure. When I think of performance I think of him.
I would also like to know from everyone who keeps track of that about how many movies you've seen and what website you use for your database.
I've just recently turned to Flickchart and I'm pretty confident that the 1254 I've ranked on there is a representative number for me.
Just to add something more meaningful, the most memorable film experiences I had semi recently were
- discovering Tarkovsky by watching Stalker
- losing my mind about how they shot Hardcore Henry
- discovering Assayas through Personal Shopper, then having my mind blown by Clouds of Sils Maria
- still not having processed how much pure cinematic fun Baby Driver is
- Charlize Theron kicking more ass in a one take stairwell fight scene than Daredevil (in Atomic Blonde)
2. Who's your favorite director? Akira Kurosawa
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? Tony Leung
4. Favorite Genre(s)? Imaginative and inventive stuff, could be any genre really.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Tony Leung in Lust Caution scared the heebie jeebies out of me, in another one like Chinese Odyssey 2002 he does a Stephen Chow impression, then in Hero he's this sad, stoic figure. When I think of performance I think of him.
I would also like to know from everyone who keeps track of that about how many movies you've seen and what website you use for your database.
I've just recently turned to Flickchart and I'm pretty confident that the 1254 I've ranked on there is a representative number for me.
Just to add something more meaningful, the most memorable film experiences I had semi recently were
- discovering Tarkovsky by watching Stalker
- losing my mind about how they shot Hardcore Henry
- discovering Assayas through Personal Shopper, then having my mind blown by Clouds of Sils Maria
- still not having processed how much pure cinematic fun Baby Driver is
- Charlize Theron kicking more ass in a one take stairwell fight scene than Daredevil (in Atomic Blonde)
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Check back in when you've seen demonlover.
If this is where you're starting with Assayas, you're in for one hell of a ride.
1. What's your favorite Movie? — Jurassic Park. More because it's near and dear to my heart.
2. Who's your favorite director? — Tied between David Fincher and Qunetin Tarantino
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? I... don't think I know the answer to this question.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — Drama and Sci-fi are my top priority these days.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Daniel Day Lews in There Will Be Blood, no question.
2. Who's your favorite director? — Tied between David Fincher and Qunetin Tarantino
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? I... don't think I know the answer to this question.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? — Drama and Sci-fi are my top priority these days.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? Daniel Day Lews in There Will Be Blood, no question.
Bout to watch the Foreigner. Everything I've read tells me it's up my alley (political thriller with some action). I'll let y'all know how I like it.
Only 5 people in the theater.
Only 5 people in the theater.
What We Do In The Shadows: It's about time I watched a proper horror movie this month. I've seen vampires before, but these guys aren't the sophisticated, classy types like Dracula, and that's why I like them. They're just trying to live life in Wellington, with all the vampire tropes (they can't get into most places because no one will invite them in). I do with Petyr could have had some more screen time. I know he's over 8,000 years old, and quite different from the rest, but I'm less affected when something happens halfway through the movie. The flat looks nice too.
I do recommend this as an out-of-the-ordinary horror movie.
I do recommend this as an out-of-the-ordinary horror movie.
The Foriegner was good. Jackie's pain could be felt through his emotions. Very well done. Bros an was good, I see why a lot of people say it was his movie but I still felt Jackie was the lead.
The action was sparse but good. Things escalated well. Jackie wasn't mr invincible in this film like Liam Neesons ass kicking.
Overall, it was good. I'd see it again.
The action was sparse but good. Things escalated well. Jackie wasn't mr invincible in this film like Liam Neesons ass kicking.
Overall, it was good. I'd see it again.
Finally saw Brawl in Cell 99, cool movie. Vince Vaughn played a convincing walking hulk.
Really liked the tone and setting, reminded me of a 70's-early 80's John Carpenter movie.
7/10
Really liked the tone and setting, reminded me of a 70's-early 80's John Carpenter movie.
7/10
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Gotta catch personal shopper. Clouds was solid but not as good as I expected giving the criterion release.
This is a fantastic film, hope some of that Taika comedy slips into Thor besides those little short films he made.
Also, Man, this Babysitter Netflix movie is incredibly odd. I don't know what to make of it so I'll sleep on it and see what my thoughts are in the morning.
There's actually a good reason you're not seeing my avatar.
Haven't picked one yet. ;)
Saw some good stuff yesterday. Ok, not so good.
Captain America (1990) - 3/10 - there's a reason this one didn't spawn a franchise. It's a messy, messy low-budget film that's not really worth anyone's time, it's saving grace being length (measly 95 minutes). The movie looks bad, but that's the least of it, it's totally non-sensical and really badly acted. The worst part about it though is the protagonist himself - he is completely, completely useless and the actor playing him does a terrible job and sinks the film even further. Seriously, the president of the united states (!) does more to solve the central conflict than Cap does. Cap is a total asshole too for seemingly no reason whatsoever. At least the scene of his awakening is simply hilarious.
Plan 9 from Outer Space - 1/10 - it had been called the worst film of all time and for a reason. There is nothing even remotely resembling quality in the film, beyond maybe Bela Lugosi. The plot is an unmitigated disaster, with the titular plan being so terrible it's a wonder how Ed Wood didn't notice it made absolutely no sense (I don't even know, how did they want to conquer Earth with few very slow zombies that succeed at all only because their targets don't even attempt escape. I'd assume they wanted to create a larger army obviously, but one scene in the film suggests that they consider raising three people from the dead a success!). The acting is wooden, dialogues are terrible, the framing device is flabbergasting. The special effects are legendary for their awfulness. Obviously the saucers look cheap and in some scenes you can see strings they're attached to but I particularly liked shots taken from what looks like an archival war (WWII?) footage arranged to be an attack on the saucers interspersed with an army lieutenant looking through his binoculars monitoring progress, while standing very obviously in a studio with a sheet behind him for background (you can see his shadow on the wall!!). It's amateurish, it's terrible and the only good thing to come out of it was Tim Burton's Ed Wood. What's weird is that the first half isn't even that legendarily awful - it's a sloppy, cheap, 2/10 '50s B-movie at that point, but in the second half what little's there just completely collapses spectacularly. My brain hurt just trying to process the plot, it was that bad. It's a piece of film history for sure and it delivers in that respect. Seeing it once might be worth it, but I doubt I will ever try seeing it again, once is painful enough.
Captain America (1990) - 3/10 - there's a reason this one didn't spawn a franchise. It's a messy, messy low-budget film that's not really worth anyone's time, it's saving grace being length (measly 95 minutes). The movie looks bad, but that's the least of it, it's totally non-sensical and really badly acted. The worst part about it though is the protagonist himself - he is completely, completely useless and the actor playing him does a terrible job and sinks the film even further. Seriously, the president of the united states (!) does more to solve the central conflict than Cap does. Cap is a total asshole too for seemingly no reason whatsoever. At least the scene of his awakening is simply hilarious.
Plan 9 from Outer Space - 1/10 - it had been called the worst film of all time and for a reason. There is nothing even remotely resembling quality in the film, beyond maybe Bela Lugosi. The plot is an unmitigated disaster, with the titular plan being so terrible it's a wonder how Ed Wood didn't notice it made absolutely no sense (I don't even know, how did they want to conquer Earth with few very slow zombies that succeed at all only because their targets don't even attempt escape. I'd assume they wanted to create a larger army obviously, but one scene in the film suggests that they consider raising three people from the dead a success!). The acting is wooden, dialogues are terrible, the framing device is flabbergasting. The special effects are legendary for their awfulness. Obviously the saucers look cheap and in some scenes you can see strings they're attached to but I particularly liked shots taken from what looks like an archival war (WWII?) footage arranged to be an attack on the saucers interspersed with an army lieutenant looking through his binoculars monitoring progress, while standing very obviously in a studio with a sheet behind him for background (you can see his shadow on the wall!!). It's amateurish, it's terrible and the only good thing to come out of it was Tim Burton's Ed Wood. What's weird is that the first half isn't even that legendarily awful - it's a sloppy, cheap, 2/10 '50s B-movie at that point, but in the second half what little's there just completely collapses spectacularly. My brain hurt just trying to process the plot, it was that bad. It's a piece of film history for sure and it delivers in that respect. Seeing it once might be worth it, but I doubt I will ever try seeing it again, once is painful enough.
Hello movie era, I was mostly inactive on the other place (having a 1 year old has killed a lot of movie watching time) but will attempt to post more in here.
1. What's your favorite Movie? - Lost in Translation.
2. Who's your favorite director? - Ingmar Bergman, working today - David Fincher
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? - Fassbender, Chastain and Vikander at the moment.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? - like most people, I'll watch anything but I love a good police procedural.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? - Falconetti as Joan of Arc or De Niro as Lamotta.
Recently watched a handful of things, but I was really taken by Lady Macbeth and Ingrid Goes West. Florence Pugh will be totally overlooked at the end of the year in most places (hopefully bafta won't) but she's really, really good in LM. Ingrid Goes West is great for about 70% of its runtime, then takes a quite noticeable dive but just about manages to right itself at the end.
Also caught up with Baby Driver and besides the first 20 minutes, that movie is a mess. I continue to be unimpressed with Edgar Wright's output. Despite his obvious flair for visuals, he always leaves me feeling like there's no substance in his work.
1. What's your favorite Movie? - Lost in Translation.
2. Who's your favorite director? - Ingmar Bergman, working today - David Fincher
3. Who are your favorite actors/actresses? - Fassbender, Chastain and Vikander at the moment.
4. Favorite Genre(s)? - like most people, I'll watch anything but I love a good police procedural.
5. What's your favorite performance in film? - Falconetti as Joan of Arc or De Niro as Lamotta.
Recently watched a handful of things, but I was really taken by Lady Macbeth and Ingrid Goes West. Florence Pugh will be totally overlooked at the end of the year in most places (hopefully bafta won't) but she's really, really good in LM. Ingrid Goes West is great for about 70% of its runtime, then takes a quite noticeable dive but just about manages to right itself at the end.
Also caught up with Baby Driver and besides the first 20 minutes, that movie is a mess. I continue to be unimpressed with Edgar Wright's output. Despite his obvious flair for visuals, he always leaves me feeling like there's no substance in his work.
The Handmaiden (the long version) - Beautiful and unexpected with out-of-his-world production values. Features all the right kind of scissors. Too bad the pacing was sometimes a little off.
4/5
and the retcon reaction shots in some of the flashbacks bugged me
Also, having recently took part in a Japanese engravings exhibition I knew that print would appear. I was expecting a live reenactment though. That would have given that Old boy'octopus a run for its money
Out of all the horror franchises I watched this month, Halloween might prove to be the toughest. These sequels are so shit.
Personal Shopper is divisive, many people seem to feel it's meandering and lacks purpose, I thought it was a strong character study on grief . It stuck with me for months now.
As for Clouds, I was delighted by how openly it commented on its actresses. For example knowing Binoche would appear in Ghost in the Shell after seeing that sci fi argument play out in Clouds. Pure fun.
Also want to join in on recommending The Handmaiden and Brawl in Cell Block 99.
Logan: Pretty good but I didn't find it to be leagues beyond the other X-Men films like some have claimed. Things take a turn for the worse once
Wolvie's clone shows up. That whole sequence felt exploitative and the film continued on a downhill trajectory from this point on. Laura quoting Shane was a bit much at the end. Also, is her uprooting the cross supposed to signify that Wolvie's not quite dead?
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Yep, I caught that but thought there maybe more to it.
I've been also watching The American West by Robert Redford. As someone who loves westerns but wasn't too aware of the history of the Wild West era, this doco has been pretty fascinating.
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I've already seen The Handmaiden and I absolutely loved it. But it seems like I've been watching the normal edition, since it's 2:19 hours long. And I now see there's an extended edition at 2:48 hours. What does it add to the normal version?
X-24 was the worst shit I had seen in a cbm film for a long time. It really soured me on the movie.
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