Dracula
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Post by Dracula on May 28, 2016 19:55:45 GMT -5
Sorry for taking so long Justin Mala Noche (1985)Gus Van Sant had his mainstream breakthrough in 1989 when he made the film Drugstore Cowboy and for the longest time I was content to just treat that as his debut and ignore his true first film, the micro-budget indie Mala Noche. This isn’t all that common really, there are a lot of directors out there that have a “breakout” and a true “debut” and this would be the “Following” to Drugstor Cowboy’s “Memento.” Like a lot of indies at the time this was shot in black and white, presumably for budgetary rather than artistic reasons, and appears to have been funded by a credit card. Of course being a micro-budget production does have its advantages, namely that the movie can be very openly queer in an era where that couldn’t be the case in any kind of even slightly mainstream level. Politically the goal here seems to be to present non-stereotypical gay people and Van Sant does create a reasonably interesting protagonist played by a guy named Tim Streeter (whose only other credits are a role in a short film and a guest appearance on the original 21 Jump Street series). All that said this is still a regional indie and I get why it didn’t break through or get much play outside the festival circuit. If Van Sant hadn’t gone on to bigger and better things this would probably be pretty obscure, but you can see talent underneath it all and it is interesting in retrospect. **1/2 out of Five For the new round: Beyond the HillsChi-RaqHow to Survive a PlaugeThe Music RoomThe Nightmare RoomTangerineYouth
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Justin
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Post by Justin on May 28, 2016 22:48:51 GMT -5
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on May 29, 2016 7:13:38 GMT -5
Interesting choices. Think I'll just dive right in and do In the Realm of the Senses.
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Jibbs
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Post by Jibbs on May 31, 2016 18:14:54 GMT -5
I'll get to mine soon. Sorry.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on May 31, 2016 18:20:04 GMT -5
It would be cool to get one more person to do this so we could have an even 6 and I can jump in again. That's a healthy film club number. Everyone start putting feelers out.
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RedStorm901
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Post by RedStorm901 on Jun 8, 2016 0:33:23 GMT -5
I'll give it a try if ya'll will have me. I'll go ahead and give you a forewarning I'm horrible at writing reviews for movies or anything for that matter, it's pretty much yes I like it or no I didn't. But I'll do my best
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jun 8, 2016 16:16:22 GMT -5
I'll give it a try if ya'll will have me. I'll go ahead and give you a forewarning I'm horrible at writing reviews for movies or anything for that matter, it's pretty much yes I like it or no I didn't. But I'll do my best Cool, when these guys have their movies up I'll post a new round and I'll include you. The review doesn't have to be 19 paragraphs, just write a quick synopsis of the movie, what you liked and what you didn't like. Easy as cherry pie (Cherry Pie is my sister's name).
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Jun 9, 2016 23:33:39 GMT -5
In the Realm of the Senses (1976) In the Realm of the Senses is one of those movies that you know about it for its infamous little place in the art house cannon without actually knowing that much about what it’s actually about. Truth be told I didn’t know much about the movie going in except that it had a lot of sex in it and that turned out to be very true, in fact the thing makes The Last Tango in Paris look quite tame by comparison. The film has extended sequences of hardcore un-simulated sex between the two central characters and one could imagine that with a few judicious edits an unscrupulous producer could have turned the film into a straight-up porno but in the context of the film as presented none (or at least very little) of the sex is gratuitous. Instead it all serves to illustrate the increasingly deranged relationship at the film’s center which has a certain Sid and Nancy quality to it in that it’s this sort of dangerous lustful attraction that you can tell early on will only end in tragedy, and as you watch these graphically detailed sex scenes you do slowly see how the passion between these two characters starts to become poison. In many ways the goal seems to be to explain how things can get to the film’s extremely disturbing final scene (which is based on a real life incident that is very well known in Japan). Of added interest is that this is all happening against the backdrop of a Japan that is increasingly becoming an imperial power and mobilizing for war against China and I haven’t quite unpacked how that plays into all of this. Having said all that, I do feel like the movie actually does go just a little bit too far at times and I might have appreciated just a little extra time spent outside of the bedroom as it does feel at a certain point that the movie can’t even go five minutes without some added sex and the increasingly public ways in which the characters engage in their sexual exploits at times felt more sensational than meaningful or plausible. Still, this movie is clearly bold has hell and does things that are not very common in modern cinema. It's clearly the product of a time when people were experimenting and pushing boundaries in interesting ways and it was worth exploring.
**** out of Five
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jun 18, 2016 14:18:30 GMT -5
Better incredibly late than never, eh, Doomsday? Animal Kingdom (2010)Animal Kingdom is the story of a teenager whose Mom dies of a drug overdose, prompting him to go live with his estranged grandmother and uncles, all of whom make up one big crime family. Pretty soon, the teenager becomes heavily involved in the family's illegal dealings. Not long before I watched Animal Kingdom, I happened to watch director David Michod's follow-up film, The Rover. My impression of that film was that Michod was clearly a real talent behind the camera, but he just needed a good, fleshed-out story to back him up. Well, Animal Kingdom proved that. Granted, the story of this film contains elements we've seen done plenty of times before, but the script is tightly written, the performances are strong and the direction is fairly commanding. Michod drops us unapologetically into the middle of this twisted family unit and manages to hold our attention fairly well. Again, some of the plot beats feel kind of typical of the overall genre, but it's the storytelling that makes it all effective. Jacki Weaver is very strong as the matriarch figure, managing to exude charm/kindness at the same time, and Ben Mendelsohn stands out as well as Pope, the oldest and most dangerous of the main boy's uncles. Another thing the film does well is that it keeps everything fairly focused on the characters, which helps draw you into the story more. Animal Kingdom is clearly a strong crime drama -- maybe one of the strongest of the decade so far -- and it gets me very curious to see what director David Michod does next. ***1/2 /****
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Justin
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Post by Justin on Jun 18, 2016 20:45:30 GMT -5
All right guys. I'll have it up within the next couple days. School is eating up most of my time.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jun 21, 2016 14:59:54 GMT -5
All right guys. I'll have it up within the next couple days. School is eating up most of my time. That's cool, when you post yours I'll throw another round up. I think just about everyone has caught up so we can start with a clean slate. It looks like we'll have six so that should make for a pretty good round.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jun 21, 2016 16:22:02 GMT -5
I was thinking of throwing my hat back in the ring, but if it would mess up the number or anything, I don't mind waiting.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jun 21, 2016 16:27:06 GMT -5
I was thinking of throwing my hat back in the ring, but if it would mess up the number or anything, I don't mind waiting. Nah if you want in just say the word.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jun 21, 2016 16:31:08 GMT -5
Alright, then sure, sign me up.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jun 22, 2016 17:02:45 GMT -5
I have Phantom and RedStorm in, Jibbs and Drac I assume are in, how about you Justin and PG Cooper?
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jun 22, 2016 17:21:31 GMT -5
Sure, sign me up.
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Justin
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Post by Justin on Jun 22, 2016 17:21:43 GMT -5
I may have to bow out. I have an exam coming up and a shit ton of reading.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jun 29, 2016 17:37:15 GMT -5
I think we're waiting on a couple from Justin and Jibbs. When we get close I'll throw up a new round.
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Justin
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Post by Justin on Jul 1, 2016 0:43:03 GMT -5
Room (2015) - A-
Cried like a man-child and also realized I hate the sound of bristles rubbing against enamel.
Some of the music was a little overbearing and saccharine but whatever, this was a really solid film with terrific acting and directing. Disturbing too.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 21, 2016 19:36:32 GMT -5
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jul 21, 2016 22:56:26 GMT -5
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jul 22, 2016 0:09:59 GMT -5
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RedStorm901
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Post by RedStorm901 on Jul 22, 2016 0:21:36 GMT -5
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Jul 22, 2016 6:18:36 GMT -5
I can do The Spy Who Came in from the Cold For you 45 Years Dogtooth Embrace of the Serpent Winter Sleep
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jul 22, 2016 6:45:29 GMT -5
I can do The Spy Who Came in from the Cold For you 45 Years Dogtooth Embrace of the Serpent Winter Sleep I think I'll do Winter Sleep but I wanna see all of these so that might change.
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