Whatcha Been Watching?

This is the place where you can conflab about all the other stuff besides videogames
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dezm0nd
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by dezm0nd »

Just come out from watching The Many Saints of Newark.

If you're a Sopranos fan it's essential viewing but it's quite its own thing. Don't expect more of the TV show but expect it to feed into it quite well.
Marlew
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Marlew »

Been on a little 'silent movie season' at home recently, partly because my wife and I have had Covid and she's been feeling a bit wrecked. Either way, I've watched and really loved some of the classics, Vampyr and The Passion of the Joan of Arc by Carl Th. Dreyer, and Nosferatu and Faust by F.W. Murnau.

Initially, I thought I'd be interested in the same way I can look at a game from the home computer days and appreciate the relative achievements. Even though I don't play many retro games, I can admire the ingenuity of bedroom developers working with so little technical capacity or generations of knowledge to build upon. I expected this to be a similarly academic exercise of interest rather than enjoyment.

It wasn't like that at all, though.

Of course, silent movies are building on the established techniques and traditions of theatre and photography, these pictures didn't appear from a vacuum, but there's something inspiring and resonant about these films even now that I don't get from retro games, to continue the comparison.

In particular, The Passion of the Joan of Arc is one of the greatest films I've ever seen, even accounting for recency bias and excitement. The central performance from Falconetti is so completely captivating and emotionally devastating. It must be one of the greatest ever captured on film. I'm a bugger for watching films in chunks but I didn't pause this for a second. So much of the film is shot in close up, with one face at a time on screen. There's almost no sense of place, and yet you're completely drawn into its atmosphere. Anyway, enough gushing, if you are even more slightly tempted by a silent movie, I would make it this one.
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Tolkientaters
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Tolkientaters »

Marlew wrote: September 26th, 2021, 10:36 am I've watched and really loved some of the classics, Vampyr and The Passion of the Joan of Arc by Carl Th. Dreyer, and Nosferatu and Faust by F.W. Murnau.
Have you checked out Warner Herzog's 1979 remake of Nosferatu, it's also great.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Marlew »

Tolkientaters wrote: October 5th, 2021, 6:05 amHave you checked out Warner Herzog's 1989 remake of Nosferatu, it's also great.
Cheers for the reply. I haven't yet but it's in a Herzog BFI box that I picked up earlier in the year. Will definitely get to it soon. Very interested in his take on it.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

I'm halfway through the first season of Ted Lasso. It's been great so far.
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duskvstweak
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by duskvstweak »

Marlew wrote: September 26th, 2021, 10:36 am Been on a little 'silent movie season' at home recently, partly because my wife and I have had Covid and she's been feeling a bit wrecked. Either way, I've watched and really loved some of the classics, Vampyr and The Passion of the Joan of Arc by Carl Th. Dreyer, and Nosferatu and Faust by F.W. Murnau.

Initially, I thought I'd be interested in the same way I can look at a game from the home computer days and appreciate the relative achievements. Even though I don't play many retro games, I can admire the ingenuity of bedroom developers working with so little technical capacity or generations of knowledge to build upon. I expected this to be a similarly academic exercise of interest rather than enjoyment.

It wasn't like that at all, though.

Of course, silent movies are building on the established techniques and traditions of theatre and photography, these pictures didn't appear from a vacuum, but there's something inspiring and resonant about these films even now that I don't get from retro games, to continue the comparison.

In particular, The Passion of the Joan of Arc is one of the greatest films I've ever seen, even accounting for recency bias and excitement. The central performance from Falconetti is so completely captivating and emotionally devastating. It must be one of the greatest ever captured on film. I'm a bugger for watching films in chunks but I didn't pause this for a second. So much of the film is shot in close up, with one face at a time on screen. There's almost no sense of place, and yet you're completely drawn into its atmosphere. Anyway, enough gushing, if you are even more slightly tempted by a silent movie, I would make it this one.
All those are good ones. Have you watched The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari? It really freaked my wife out!
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by duskvstweak »

Alex79 wrote: October 5th, 2021, 4:09 pm I'm halfway through the first season of Ted Lasso. It's been great so far.
We're playing catch up with season two!
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Tolkientaters
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Tolkientaters »

Marlew wrote: October 5th, 2021, 7:51 am Cheers for the reply. I haven't yet but it's in a Herzog BFI box that I picked up earlier in the year. Will definitely get to it soon. Very interested in his take on it.
Yeah, I ended up preferring it to the original, but 50 years of filmmaking techniques do help even though it's almost a shot for shot remake. I'll also second Dusk's suggestion about The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Truk_Kurt »

Went to see Prisoners of the Ghostland over the weekend. I had the whole cinema to myself for the first time ever which was quite a weird experience! This film is described by Nicholas Cage as his weirdest film yet and he ain't wrong. It's very weird, and whilst I have no problem with weird premise films, this is by turns brilliant and rubbish. Cage is in his element, it has visual invention to spare, and the fight scenes are fun, but it’s a shame such imagination is tethered to equally all-over-the-place storytelling. 3/5
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

I remembered a lost love for classic film noir today, and planned to watch the few I own on DVD over the next couple of weeks; The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, A Touch Of Evil, The Third Man and a few others. I also found this list, so plan to pick through some of these too: https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the- ... -all-time/

Anyway - so The Third Man I first watched as a really young kid, maybe 6 or 7, and was transfixed by the soundtrack back then. It was only in the last 15-20 years I really watched the film properly and grew to love it, but the reason I mention it is because I was just looking on Wikipedia, and only today learned that the director, Carol Reed, was a man! For all this time I'd thought it was pretty interesting that a female director had made such a high profile film back in the 1940s (it would have been unusual back then, I mean). Not the case. Never mind!

Also, if anyone has any got recs for the genre, hit me up. I'm really talking pre-1960s here, possibly slightly later, but not neo-noirs like Taxi Driver and the like.
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Miririn
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Miririn »

Succession is back after a two year wait and I'm so happy - impeccable show in all respects (writing, casting, music etc), up there with Mad Men and The Sopranos for me as one of the GOATs and it's not even finished yet. Kendall Roy is also one of the best drama characters in a tv show, and in a show where every character is pitch perfect that's high praise.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by duskvstweak »

Alex79 wrote: October 20th, 2021, 8:29 pm I remembered a lost love for classic film noir today, and planned to watch the few I own on DVD over the next couple of weeks; The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, A Touch Of Evil, The Third Man and a few others. I also found this list, so plan to pick through some of these too: https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the- ... -all-time/
Have you watched Asphalt Jungle yet? That's one of my favorites. In a Lonely Place and the Big Heat are good ones too.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

duskvstweak wrote: October 22nd, 2021, 9:03 pm
Alex79 wrote: October 20th, 2021, 8:29 pm I remembered a lost love for classic film noir today, and planned to watch the few I own on DVD over the next couple of weeks; The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, A Touch Of Evil, The Third Man and a few others. I also found this list, so plan to pick through some of these too: https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the- ... -all-time/
Have you watched Asphalt Jungle yet? That's one of my favorites. In a Lonely Place and the Big Heat are good ones too.
I've seen The Big Heat I think, but don't remember much about it, but never heard of the other two, thanks!
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Cornelius_Smiff »

Dune.. Wow just wow!

It might not be for everyone, but it does that thing that Lord of the Rings did so brilliantly, it wraps you up in its imagery and sound to make you feel completely a part of that world. I was transfixed the entire time and honestly did not want it to end. I pray they get to make the follow up, I have seen it at least 5 times now.
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registradus
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by registradus »

has anyone heard of this? Bringing Back Golden Eye (FULL MOVIE 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRoAswoR9Qc&t=539s
just saw grant kirkhope tweeting about it
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by KissMammal »

The Many Saints of Newark
Watchable but rather aimless and plodding story with surprisingly weak, one-note characterisation and heavy handed symbolism. Almost entirely lacking in the humour, strangeness and beautifully captured sense of the mundane that made The Sopranos so compelling. Wouldn't recommend going out of your way to watch it honestly.

Riders of Justice
Very entertaining dark Danish film that is hard to categorise. Part dark comedy, part tangled crime thriller, part heartwarming family drama and part earnest meditation on the random nature of the universe. Amazing central perfomances from all of the main cast but especially Mad Mikkelsen as a hardnut military veteran. Reminded me quite a bit of Headhunters in how it mashes up various tones and genres and frequently stretches suspension of disbelief to breaking point. Well worth a watch, and could kind of count as a Christmas film.

The Breaker Upperers
Honestly wasn't expecting too much of this Kiwi comedy, but I thought it was an absolute delight. Very silly and sweet, doesn't outstay its welcome, and is absolutely hilarious. Laughed my arse off throughout. Astoundingly good comedic performances from a largely female cast, many of whom you'll recognise if you're a fan of the Taika Waititi/Flight of the Conchords cinematic universe. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Dune
Really enjoyed it - nice to see a big budget blockbuster that doesn't look like a phoney greenscreen/cgi cartoon nightmare for a change. Proper cinematic filmmaking. Felt that it was a bit dense on plot at the expense of character development. Perhaps would have been more suited to a miniseries rather than a film so we could spend more time with each of the characters? Still, sign me up for part two (and the inevitable directors cut).
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by KissMammal »

Extra Ordinary

Kinda meh Irish supernatural comedy. Really nicely filmed for what I presume was a pretty low budget and it definitely has its moments but the performances are patchy, script is a little weak and the hit rate of the jokes is very hit and miss.

Lots of people try to emulate the Shaun of the Dead/American Werewolf in London formula, but Horror Comedy is a tough nut to crack.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Seph »

I saw Dune the other day. I have previous experience with this series, not even the Lynch film. I thought it was well made and interesting, but the thing I would criticise it for is also the thing that I think makes it commendable: and that is how it doesn't bog you down with exposition or explanations every five minutes. For someone like me who has no knowledge about this world I found it hard to follow at times and had to rely on my experience of tropes to get through it, but if I was a fan of the books I think this would be the film I'd want and not some dumbed-down nonsense.

One of the guys I went with is a big fan and said it was really faithful and that I should probably read a wiki or something to help me fill in the gaps. It feels strange to come away from a film with homework, but, again, I admire the aim of this film even if it felt frustrating to watch at the start.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Angry_Kurt »

Went to see No Time to Die and thought it was brilliant and a perfect send off for Craig as Bond. It even got me emotional, not just once, but twice which has never happened with a film and a rarely cry at films full stop. I never thought a Bond film would. I think it’s because the Craig films have their own arc which other Bond films haven’t and his arc of Bond films are the only ones I’ve seen at the cinema, whereas other Bond films I’ve watched on TV growing up, until Die Another Day which was my first cinema Bond film.

The story, performances and script were all great and has some great set pieces, cinematography and great Hans Zimmer soundtrack. It does have problems though which make it my second favourite Bond film and not enough to eclipse Casino Royale. The villains motivations for wanting to kill millions of people aren’t explained at all, it is too long (even though I didn’t get bored at any point) and the character Paloma should’ve been in it more as her sequence with Bond in Cuba is one of the best parts of the film.

Can’t wait for it to come out on Blu ray 4/5
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Tolkientaters »

I watched Dr Brain, it has a dumb name, but it's a really slick well directed scifi thriller show about an unemotional guy creating memory transfer tech. The showrunmer is Kim Jee-Woon the director who made The Good The Bad The Weird and I Saw The Devil.
https://youtu.be/ZK2nevD7cWA
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