They were on free-to-air Art on Sundays years ago in Australia, back to back. wonderful, Alan Rickman between Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliet Stevenson all manically chattering in pots
2 Likes
I started watching Judex, the 1916 French serial film. It’s really cool to see that the progenitor of super hero movies has better class politics than, like, the Dark Knight. Our hero’s main target is an unscrupulous banker and ransoms his life in exchange for public funds. The serial format allows for a larger cast and the juggling of multiple plot lines, but no thread is more captivating than the pure love between Jean and Licorice Kid.
7 Likes
went on a Criterion Channel binge and watched a bunch of movies in the past couple days:
talkies
Tampopo - obviously a classic, although is was my first time watching it. i thought it was all vignettes and so was surprised to learn that there was a main story threading throughout the whole movie. just kind of awesome and heartwarming and funny all around. and damn, i want ramen.
Death in Venice - i read this book during college (can’t remember if it was undergrad or grad) and remember liking it despite the overt disturbing nature of the material and i think this movie manages to capture that feeling pretty well. and damn, i want a vacation at a fancy hotel in Venice in 1913.
silent
Der Golem - WOW! this movie is so good! and the digital remaster they made from the negatives looks so incredible. i feel like the pacing of this movie really holds up well and the sets and costumes are also so beautiful. i’m only familiar with the outline of the original Golem story, so i can’t say how faithful it is to the original. also seems to do that late-19th ce. thing where they blend a bit of Crowley-esque black magic occultism into their interpretation of Jews and so i guess your mileage may vary with the film wrt to that.
Japanese Girls at the Harbor
just gonna copy and paste CC’s description:
Hiroshi Shimizu’s exquisite silent drama, set in the modernizing port town of Yokohama, tells of the humiliating downfall experienced by Sunako (Michiko Oikawa) after jealousy drives her to commit a terrible crime. With its lushly photographed landscapes and innovative visual storytelling, JAPANESE GIRLS AT THE HARBOR shows a director at the peak of his powers and experimentation. The film is presented with a new score written and performed by noted silent-film composer Donald Sosin.
cool movie
4 Likes
Der Golem was scripted by a jewish writer and based pretty directly on the legend of the Golem of Prague. (For years I believed it was based on the Gustav Meyrink novel too, but it wasn’t)
4 Likes
yeah i tried (briefly) to find out some background info on the people involved but gave up too quickly.
with both that film and Japanese Girls at the Harbor, part of what was fascinating is seeing the kinds of work that came out of countries that were on the precipice of a major societal and tonal shift
2 Likes
is it because they used that still on the cover of the paperback?
because for me, it was because they used that still on the cover of the paperback
I watched Tabu, a film I’ve wanted to see for about ten years. The story behind its production is far more interesting than the plot itself. Two monumental directors of their time decided to have a working vacation together in Bora Bora. By the end of production, one was left bankrupt, the other, dead. They were Robert Flaherty and F. W. Murnau.
I have a soft spot for both of these directors. Murnau had masterful abilities at superimposing images and montage sequences, as can be seen in Sunrise. He wielded cinematic techniques in order to develop a lush and expressive form of melodrama.
Flaherty was quite different. He deserves all the criticism he has received for misrepresenting and exoticizing non-white ethnic groups. Yet, he had a unique approach to narrative that can still be appreciated. Rather than squeeze his characters through a narrow plot, he preferred to show them simply go about their daily routine. The film that endeared me to him is Louisiana Story. It’s worth tolerating the oil company propaganda to watch a boy chill with his pet raccoon.
So when these two big personalities came together in the Pacific for nine months, what happened? Essentially, Flaherty was sidelined with cut wages and Murnau took over creative control. In the end, its a visually striking movie, the most vibrant black and white film I’ve ever seen, but the white gaze of the creators and the film’s intended audience hampers the development of the characters. Like the Inuit in Flaherty’s Nanook of the North, the Tahitian protagonists in Tabu are portrayed as being “untouched by the hand of civilization.” Wrong from the start. Despite the weak story, the local cast gives great performances, the two leads especially.
5 Likes
Nadja is a movie about a vampire living in new york city in the 90s who wants to change her life. and it’s a little late for that. This is a movie made by the Hamlet 2000 director, who, despite making pretty mediocre movies all throughout his career, can still get funding to make more. This one is a mess, but it’s actually pretty cool? It’s not enough to say this, but this movie is very 90s (just watch the first five minutes, take it in). The coolest thing about it, I think, is it plays with the fidelity of footage and does interesting collage editing and it even has expressionistic moments. It isn’t a great vampire story, but I haven’t seen a vampire movie like it. I would recommend checking it out! It can be pretty funny, Peter Fonda is like Van Hellsing and the acting is endearingly all over the place. Here is the entire movie on youtube:
The soundtrack has both Portishead and My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless on it, which seems pretty hip and early considering the film was from 1994. But I have no real sense for the popularity of those bands, since they’ve always been popular/respected my entire life.
4 Likes
“David Lynch Presents”
Go on…
1 Like
I had the same reaction. He’s even got a cameo in it!!
2 Likes
we rewatched lost highway last night and i absolutely love how much david lynch vibed with the 90s
5 Likes
I’ve been listening to the soundtrack all day, thinking about the amazing opening credit sequence
4 Likes
lost highway was great. bill pullman was inches away from wearing a members only jacket, the soundtrack is just whatever lynch was listening to at the time, they just kinda had a script to fo whatever they wanted with
when the movie was over i was like WOW WHAT A QUICK FLICK but its over two hours long! twiggy ramirez is still cute. the bass in apple of sodom rules. i cant believe the first time i watched this movie i was so angry because he didnt show up until 5 minutes before the end but also what a fun prank to play on teenyboppers. good job
5 Likes
and marilyn manson! and multiple uses of multiple rammstein songs!
1 Like
the billy wilder LA is a nightmare phase of lynch’s career is so good. patricia arquette is on that double indemnity shit for like half of lost highway. daphny says it would probably be better on VHS and I think they’re right
4 Likes
i dont talk about that fucker anymore because of what he did to evan rachel wood
twiggy though. hes still cool. twiggy was always cool
im gonna go watch his segment on MTV cribs RIGHT NOW
every band in it got two plays or two songs except smashing pumpkins. nin got two songs, marilyn manson got two songs, david bowie got to bookend with the same song twice, rammstein got two songs, smashing pumpkins gets played over some other song for like ten seconds. i like eye but i also like reading this as a dig on billy corgan sucking
5 Likes
man patricia arquette got to be menaced in a freddy movie AND a david lynch movie she is living the dream
2 Likes
i remember reading an interview with Reznor where he talked about doing the soundtrack and how he initially wanted to bring in folks like Coil etc, but Lynch insisted on it being more about the pop acts of the time
2 Likes
lynch rejected the first song The Artist Formerly Known as Billy submitted so lol. adore is a good album though sorry david lynch
5 Likes
(didn’t know about that sad stuff with evan rachel wood)
adore is a fantastic record. it’s one of my favorites.
2 Likes