Last Movie You Watched

[Octave]

SIMON KILLER (Antonio Campos, 2012)
Really frustrating and a bit dull, though a number of things were notable: it sustained an oppressive dread vibe that couldn't always be traced to a clear danger; the effective, spare, percussive score; some slithering 'pivot' camera shots that also built tension that only disappointed, appropriate for the vibe and story.  Actually most of the things I disliked about the picture are things I often like in other pictures (noir male-hysteria/disintegration, pathetic protagonist, obsessive sex dogged by humiliation, occluded psych/libido, occasional sicko handheld camera, relentlessly routed climax, etc), so my distaste is slippery.  This was also (less so) the case with Danny Boyle's TRANCE, which might in a way make a pretty good double-feature with SIMON KILLER.  I did like the cold visual style, its detachment; but at times it seemed to be cribbing its moves so baldly (Chantal Akerman) that I just felt like throwing in the towel.
I read an interview with the male star of SK, and apparently Georges Simenon was a big inspiration for this loser/downer/unravelling/~noirish-descent narrative, or its flavor.  That actually makes lots of sense and make me think it will improve in my memory in a few days.

My impression was that the film looked good but that IFC Films' DVD transfer was especially mediocre; if you can see it in HD, that would be preferable.

[listener]

Tonight I transferred my VHS to DVD of the 1917 George M. Cohan SEVEN KEYS TO BALDPATE.  Somewhat difficult to follow easily at first as all the night exteriors are shot in broad daylight.    Otherwise a fun, creaky melodrama that still pops up on amateur group stages.
The cast also includes Hedda Hopper.

[Octave]

TOMBOY (Céline Sciamma, 2011)
I loved it.  I dragged feet seeing it because I dreaded something didactic-pathetic (a lecture with Judith Butler Checklist in hand), but this is an afterschool special from a somewhat brighter future, from another world (sic).  The intermingling of warmth (the child protagonist seems to have a pretty healthy family, at a glance...almost picturebook) and melancholy is remarkable.  The closing down and opening up of possibilities, at once, is all shown and not discussed; a result is that the film very calmly seems to resonate with implications more far-reaching than just gender identity.  (If such a thing is even possible.)  There's also mixture of soft glow (without preciousness) and threat that runs throughout.  It's a delectable twilight/dawn feeling.  The protagonist feels his/her body rebelling against her (a universal experience?) and responds creatively.

The narrative/camera techniques seem stock-in-trade for the current art cinema, in a 'documentary' mode (I thought of the Dardenne Bros. sometimes); but it had the effect of bleeding off sentimental baggage that would have distracted from the mysterious mix of emotions that the filmmaking respected.  No coldbloodedness here, though....it's not near as stout a challenge to notions of human feeling and togetherness and the limits of "love" as are, say, André Téchiné's movies.  Master that Téchiné is, my own temperatment likes TOMBOY more.

The muted ~'naturalistic' performance by Zoé Héran was really impressive. 

[Rinaldo]

Cleverly directed, beautifully shot (Deakins!) and perfectly acted:



It loses a bit of steam at one point but still very much worth it. Refreshingly un-hollywoodish.

[Daverz]

TOMBOY (Céline Sciamma, 2011)

I've wanted to see that one, and you've given me the last push to seek it out.

[Brian]

Cleverly directed, beautifully shot (Deakins!) and perfectly acted:

There needs to be a Blu-Ray box set Roger Deakins Collection. I know the studios would never collaborate to get it together, but Deakins' greatest in one box... I'd snap it up.

The only trouble in assembling that box would be knowing where to stop. How do you choose a top 5 or 10?

[TheGSMoeller]

There needs to be a Blu-Ray box set Roger Deakins Collection. I know the studios would never collaborate to get it together, but Deakins' greatest in one box... I'd snap it up.

The only trouble in assembling that box would be knowing where to stop. How do you choose a top 5 or 10?

You'd have to include Wall-E in that set.    Even only as a consultant, you have the feeling that the films look was enhanced quite a bit by Deakins' assistance.

[Brian]

You'd have to include Wall-E in that set.    Even only as a consultant, you have the feeling that the films look was enhanced quite a bit by Deakins' assistance.

I see he played the same role for Rango, which explains some things about that wonderful movie.

[TheGSMoeller]

I see he played the same role for Rango, which explains some things about that wonderful movie.

Didn't know about Rango, makes sense, these are two of the best looking animated films of the past 10 years.

[TheGSMoeller]

Trailer for Wes Anderson's new film. It's become quite clear that Anderson has created his own world of cinema with every new film he releases, and I hope he never changes or stops...


http://www.youtube.com/v/1Fg5iWmQjwk

[Brian]

Trailer for Wes Anderson's new film. It's become quite clear that Anderson has created his own world of cinema with every new film he releases, and I hope he never changes or stops...


http://www.youtube.com/v/1Fg5iWmQjwk

Wow. I don't even much like Wes Anderson but that's the best, most exciting (to me anyway) trailer I've seen since The Master and Tinker, Tailor. All my favorite things: Budapest! Comedy! Murder mysteries! Bill Murray with a giant mustache!

[George]

Trailer for Wes Anderson's new film. It's become quite clear that Anderson has created his own world of cinema with every new film he releases, and I hope he never changes or stops...


http://www.youtube.com/v/1Fg5iWmQjwk

Thanks for that!

Am I the only one that wishes trailers didn't come out so soon? This doesn't come out until March 7, 2014. 

[SonicMan46]

Shane (1953) w/ Ladd, Heflin, Arthur, et al - recent replacement of my old DVD - BOY, what a difference - the color restoration is just stupendous and the details marvelous; sound also much improved - review HERE for those who need convincing -   Dave

[Octave]

beautifully shot (Deakins!)

I just recently noticed that the first feature he lensed (pace IMDB) was "Marquis de Sade's Justine".   
Not long ago I saw another earlier Deakins job, perhaps only his ~third fiction feature and his real departure from TV and documentary work: NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (Michael Radford, 1984).  My initiation was, unfortunately, seeing this on TV as a little kid [trauma]; but it was still pretty amazing, and the photography already had that cool, detached, richly-appointed, almost ironic look of his later work.  My impression was that the film was a fitting complement to the book, improving on it even as it fell short in other ways. 
Richard Burton was eiskalt.

Q: It sounds like you take a very painterly approach. Is that a fair comparison: a D.P. to a painter?
RD: I guess so, yeah. (laughs) A lot of filmmaking, quite honestly, is more about planning and logistics than managing to shoot a schedule. The art side, if it's there at all, is often something you don't have time to think about.

Q: Most directors I've spoken with have all said that the D.P. is their most essential partner during a shoot. Is the same true for a D.P. with a director?
RD: Oh yeah. Really, a cinematographer's work is only as good as the director, really. That's why I love working with the Coens and with Norman Jewison. They really push you to do something and you feel like you can work from a position of strength and take chances and risks. It's hard when you're on a film if a director doesn't have the experience to understand the visual language involved, and there is a whole language involved. And if the director doesn't understand that or isn't confident enough with himself to let you, the cameraman, to take what the script requires and create the visuals it can be frustrating.

from this pretty good but not very technical interview

[Octave]

Re: TOMBOY:

I've wanted to see that one, and you've given me the last push to seek it out.

I hope you like it, or rather that you'll say a word about your impressions.  Films grow and decay in my memory, and I really don't know if I saw a great film or just a solid, humane, minor film that I happened to relate to on some level.

BTW, I watched Johnnie To's DRUG WAR and had a similar reaction as you, to wit

Drug War left a somewhat bad taste in my mouth, as some other films made on the Mainland have (e.g. Hero.)

and probably for similar reasons, though I also get Police State Itch when I watch LAW AND ORDER.  But all that surveillance apparatus footage!  Shots of rows of traffic cameras and monitors and spy cameras etc.  It was hard to believe that JT wasn't making a critical comment at some level.  Is that wishful thinking? 
Unfortunately, DW improved for me when gunplay started.  The ending (last two scenes) was so cold it layered sour upon sour...doubly cold. 
This is the second recent JT flick that I have disliked (watched the sort-of "financial thriller" LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE several months ago in tow with the excellent and highly recommended MARGIN CALL).

I remember liking EXILED quite a bit and also BREAKING NEWS with its famous long opening tracking shot....crazy virtuosity.  I don't think it broke records, but it upped the ante.
I would probably also recommend the nutty, intricate MAD DETECTIVE to anybody who likes dark cop action thrillers w/nutty center.

[Drasko]

What I'd like to see from Deakins on DVD is Pascali's Island, hasn't had any DVD release so far, and VHS hardly does any justice to photography and settings.

[snyprrr]

Hitchcock (2013)

Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock during the filming of 'Psycho', very well done I thought.

[Wakefield]

Maybe this is more a question for Drasko (our specialist in weird flicks  ), but: Do you mean that Justine's version directed by Jesús Franco and starred by a young Romina Power and Klaus Kinski?

[kishnevi]

Going old school tonight:
[asin]B000V7HFL4[/asin]

Rather than paraphrase or rewrite the back cover,  I'm posting the Amazon product description/Editorial Review for this particular version, which is apparently as close to the original film as anyone inside or outside Russia has seen since the 1920s.

Editorial Reviews
Additional Features
An extraordinary accomplishment, Kino International's restoration of Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 masterpiece Battleship Potemkin has made the film more glorious than ever. Working with the Deutsche Kinematek, British Film Institute, Bundesfilm Archive Berlin, and the Munich Film Museum, Kino's effort was to return Battleship Potemkin as closely as possible to Eisenstein's original cut, as originally seen by Moscow audiences during its world premiere run. What happened after that, according to the German restoration team extensively interviewed in an engrossing documentary ("Tracing Battleship Potemkin") on one of the two discs in this set, was that the film's very negative was re-cut by German censors and others. (It's likely, the team says, that Eisenstein himself secretly supervised the German cut to accommodate demands while also keeping personal control over the film's dramatic flow. What this means is that Eisenstein probably ended up with two authentic versions of Battleship Potemkin.)

"Tracing Battleship Potemkin" goes on to detail the extensive number of shots long lost from constant authorized and unauthorized re-cuts in the last 80 years, and how many of those shots have been returned. Indeed, the film is all the more powerful and lyrical with a number of key scenes (especially the famed "Odessa steps" sequence) filled out and shaded with emotional nuance. But there's more: a glimpse at numerous stills from shots that Eisenstein himself left out of the first cut (these have not been reintroduced in the film itself), two versions of the film with English and original Russian intertitles (with English subtitles), and the original, monumental score by Edmund Meisel (composed for the German version) make this Battleship Potemkin a brilliant experience. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
For eight decades, Sergei Eisenstein s 1925 masterpiece has remained the most influential silent film of all time. Yet each successive generation has seen BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN subjected to censorship and recutting, its unforgettable power diluted in unauthorized public domain editions from dubious sources. Until now. Kino is proud to join the Deutsche Kinematek in association with Russia s Goskinofilm, the British Film Institute, Bundesfilm Archive Berlin, and the Munich Film Museum in presenting this all new HD Transfered restoration of BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN. Dozens of missing shots have been replaced, and all 146 title cards restored to Eisenstein s specifications. Edmund Meisel s definitive 1926 score, magnificently rendered by the 55-piece Deutches Filmorchestra in 5.1 Stereo Surround, returns Eisenstein s masterwork to a form as close to its creator s bold vision as has been seen since the film s triumphant 1925 Moscow premiere. Odessa 1905. Enraged with the deplorable conditions on board the armored cruiser Potemkin, the ship s loyal crew contemplates the unthinkable mutiny. Seizing control of the Potemkin and raising the red flag of revolution, the sailors revolt becomes the rallying point for a Russian populace ground under the boot heels of the Czar s Cossacks. When ruthless White Russian cavalry arrives to crush the rebellion on the sandstone Odessa Steps, the most famous and most quoted film sequence in cinema history is born.

Although the Odessa Steps sequence is the most famous,  there are a number of other sequences which are technically just as, or even more brilliant, including a quick shot in which the movement of a naval squadron is depicted solely by the image of black smoke coming out of their stacks. Another impressive shot is the crowd lined up on the Odessa pier to pay tribute to the murdered soldier. The score is a crucial element, in effect supplying the dialogue impossible in a silent film.  (The intertitles barely qualify as dialogue; most often they seem to have been lifted out of the nearest Agitprop notebook.)  It is perhaps carping to say that Eisenstein's presentation of the story itself is sometimes confusing--one moment the crew is complaining about the poor food, and a moment later the admiral in charge is ordering a group of them shot by firing squad then and there--at the end, as the Potemkin sails to challenge the tsarist fleet, it is companioned by a small destroyer which apparently appears out of nowhere--we are signalled that one of the officers is a villain simply by a shot of him sneering as he twirls his mustache (well, maybe that wasn't a cliche back in 1925)--it's not the story that needs to be admired so much as the way the story is told, the cinemagraphic acheivement.

Technical note: there are two versions of the film plus a documentary in this issue--on DVD 1 is the version with English only intertitles and subtitles, while on DVD 2 is the version with Russian intertitles shown with English translation in subtitles..

The score by Meisel is itself not quite the original, having been reorchestrated for this issue to be played by a slightly larger orchestra than was used in 1925.

[Octave]

I enjoyed your notes on POTEMKIN, Jeffrey.

Unrelated, here's a link to a recent article on Britten's work in relation to cinema (crossposted from the composer thread):

Storming the stage: Benjamin Britten's cinematic mind by Paul Kildea, published 16 Oct 2013
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/storming-stage-benjamin-britten-s-cinematic-mind
"How Britain's greatest modern composer revitalised his country's opera under the sign of the movies."