The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[Atticus]

12 Angry Men (1957 via Prime)

Another film I've always meant to watch, but I've never been in the right place at the right time to catch it, but it's just dropped on Prime and it's another one to scratch off my movie bucket list poster.

It's phenomenal.

If you've not seen it, watch it.

Just an amazing film. Should be required viewing for all. Didn’t know it was on Prime. Great excuse for another watch

[wakka]

Have not seen this. Did not know it was on Prime. Thanks for the tip guys, will get it watched!

[Neon Ignition]

Superman: The Movie
Caught the 45th Anniversary screening at the cinema, another all time classic crossed off the big screen catch up list

[CMcK]

Went to see Blind Willow Sleeping Woman last night. It’s based on some Murakami short stories and animated with a blend of what looks like rotoscoping and a painterly art style. Very good film with the stories being interlinked and it leaves you guessing if what the characters are experiencing is real or just a visual metaphor. The art is very effective as a tool directing your gaze. Often outlines for buildings and incidental details are rendered with a white outline which de-emphasizes things. Sometimes an almost videogame like transparent object or indeed people are in shot providing context but not the focus. Very well done.

[Atticus]

Family film time called for a daft actioner and we got exactly that with Bullet Train. It's colourful nonsense that tries a bit to hard to be hip and quirky but it passed a couple of hours.

Then I found myself with a window last night and watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I've shared my experience with the film on here before ... first watching with mates on VHS 30 years ago and laughing through most it ... then watching at the cinema 10 years later, underestimating its raw power on the big screen and getting genuinely caught off guard ... it really floored me ... and my mates. Now, 20 years on, I'm ready to take another look, and what better time now it's got a lovely new 4k HDR release. You might think what's the point with something so dirty and grainy, shot on 16mm, but the result is great. The film looks easily the best I've ever seen it. And while it doesn't pummel you at home quite like it does in the cinema, it's still a powerful, intense watch. The magic is in the authentic feel ... grimy and hot ... documentary-like ... horror in broad, orangey daylight. The violence is brisk and sudden, never showing too much but implying loads ... and the real horror coming from the family toying with their victim. It's not lauded as one of the greats for nothing. It's very well made and very effective. Definite lightning in a bottle moment for horror filmmaking.

[fallenangle]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire was pretty great. It's about a painter and their reluctant subject, and the relationship that develops out of that situation. You can read around it to soak up some wider cultural context and the director's intent, or you can not, and still enjoy it plenty. It's a small cast but they are all doing incredible things with the most minute gestures; it also has one of the most striking final scenes I've seen in a movie for years. Very good.

I caught this film on BBC2 about six months ago and it reminded me of the sort of quality European films, particularly French ones, the BBC used to air regularly in the early hours on a Friday or Saturday in the late 70s and 80s.

Beautifully filmed and played but I thought a bit slow at times. I also thought that maybe there had been some editing/censorship of the sexual content too but, apparently, according to some reviews, that was intentional. It was keeping it romantic and sensual rather than explicit.

Trouble is when you don't do it that well the deliberate coyness looks like censorship and more to do with not frightening the more conservative viewers than an important artistic or story telling choice however hard you try to explain that decision.

Still the film entertained and indeed had an excellent ending.

[fuse]

I caught this film on BBC2 about six months ago...

I think the move away from the male gaze is a good thing, whereas the pace is potentially a bigger sticking point? Agreed about the ending, too!

Sicario - very strong opening that sets the tone perfectly, and carries on with amazing large-scale set pieces throughout. In a weird way I found that my struggle to keep up with the details was actually to the film's credit, as Emily Blunt's character and her frustration worked brilliantly as a proxy for how I saw everything. Didn't think the bigger themes were quite so interesting, but did still enjoy it a lot.

Under the Skin has been on my radar for a while, in particular with a friend's backhanded "I hated it but I bet you'd love it" comment. I definitely liked it more than them, and I do feel like it's exactly the film the director wanted to make, which shines through and is something I do respect. I can deal with it being glacially slow too, but I kinda wanted more out of it thematically?

A while back [MENTION=10111]QualityChimp[/MENTION] stuck Kill List on my radar, and I'm glad he did. Even without his nod, it set itself up very early as something that was going to be intense and unsettling, and... yeah, it was those things. It has a lot going on and while I don't think it all works, it does come together quite nicely.

[QualityChimp]

Amazing. I love that we're swapping recommendations to each other!

Under the Skin does just that. Both that and Kill List aren't films you "enjoy" but they get under your skin.
I think the UTS book is a bit more clear in what's going on, but didn't think the film needed it.
I think that horrible noise when the men "meat" their fate is chilling.

Kill List has you wondering what the hell is going on and it just drip feeds this oppressive atmosphere after an initially pedestrian start of two middle-class couples sharing a coffee morning together.

I watched In Bruges (2008 via Prime) and really enjoyed it.
It wasn't really what I was expecting, being a bit more whimsical and funny than I thought, considering the subject matter.
Echoes of Sexy Beast, but still very much its own thing with a lot of laughs and emotion along the way.

Another one to tick off the bucket list movie poster, but I'm really enjoying the motivation to see films I probably should have seen by now.

[fuse]

Actually stunned that you were watching that, as I was genuinely thinking to myself that In Bruges would make for a very interesting double bill with Kill List!

[Atticus]

Enjoyed a spaghetti western Saturday matinee at the weekend with The Big Gundown. Writer of Once Upon a Time in the West, (brilliant) score by Ennio Morricone, starring Lee Van Cleef ... had to be worth a look. It's basically (and more than) a manhunt with Van Cleef playing the role of bounty hunter and Tomas Milian the perp of a vile crime. It's a huge amount of fun.

[prinnysquad]

Enjoyed a spaghetti western Saturday matinee at the weekend with The Big Gundown. Writer of Once Upon a Time in the West, (brilliant) score by Ennio Morricone, starring Lee Van Cleef ... had to be worth a look. It's basically (and more than) a manhunt with Van Cleef playing the role of bounty hunter and Tomas Milian the perp of a vile crime. It's a huge amount of fun.

The Indicator release is a nice set.

One of the added bonuses of this film is that the soundtrack was lifted for various Kung fu flicks, such as Secret Rivals.

[Atticus]

The Indicator release is a nice set.

One of the added bonuses of this film is that the soundtrack was lifted for various Kung fu flicks, such as Secret Rivals.

Interesting. I thought QT pioneered the lifting/re-purposing of soundtracks.

I picked up the Indicator from CeX on a bit of a whim. One of those blind buys that paid off. Wish I'd picked up the Masters of Cinema LE of Run, Man, Run when it was available a couple of months back ... might have to settle for the single disc ver one day.

[CMcK]

Went to see Suzume last night. If you liked Your Name or Weathering With You this’ll be right up your street. Stunning looking film and deals with its emotional core well. Can be really quite moving at times. I’m not sure they didn’t get a bit too carried away with the big threat the world faces in the film to the detriment of the lead character’s story but it does all wrap up nicely. Highly recommended.

[prinnysquad]

Interesting. I thought QT pioneered the lifting/re-purposing of soundtracks.

I picked up the Indicator from CeX on a bit of a whim. One of those blind buys that paid off. Wish I'd picked up the Masters of Cinema LE of Run, Man, Run when it was available a couple of months back ... might have to settle for the single disc ver one day.

I got that the same day as I got The Big Gundown. An expensive day!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b3X8r47zNxw

Watch the opening of this.

[fuse]

Partner's away at the moment which has been why I'm clearing out a few things off the 'to watch' list that probably wouldn't go down great with her as a casual evening watch. The latest on that list: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Midsommar.

TTCM wasn't quite what I was expecting - it started out and immediately I saw the origins of loads of other slashers I've seen, but the leap from mild tension to just flat out terror was swift and just... did not mess around. That first appearance of Leatherface is so brilliantly direct. I'm sure someone at some point has told me about the total absence of splatter in it, but I'd clearly forgotten about it, which I'm glad about, as I was really surprised and impressed by its subtlety in that regard. Very good.

Midsommar's a funny old thing. It is really, really beautiful to look at, and I thought Florence Pugh was great. The intentionally shocking bits did indeed get their gasps out of me, so I guess a tick in the box there, too. That aside, in general I found a lot of it... silly? As a whole I couldn't take it all totally seriously, is what I think I'm getting at. Like the American students, who jump from being raging misogynists to oblivious yet culturally sensitive anthropology nerds at the drop of a hat.