Movies
Movies
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Streaming service MUBI “Watch Great Cinema”
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Just watch Sources streaming or purchasing sources for movies.
Online film festivals
“My French Film Festival”) – My French Film Festival January – February
Movies / shows seen
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Goodish.
- The brutalist – 2024 – So so.
- Coup 53 Amazing, in every sense.
- La Cocina – 2024. Held my attention.
- The Brutalist 2024 It is memorable, not quite enjoyable. The main character somehow annoyed in that he is not very articulate.
- Le Silence de la Mer – 1949 Good.
- Caphernaum – Amazing.
- My Favourite Cake – 2024 A sweet film with a dash of humour that pokes gentle fun at stereotypes and the strict morality of the patriarchy.
- The Moon in the Gutter (1983) Directed by Jean-Jacques Beinix.▪ A bit dated – more than other films that he directed of the same era.
- About Elly (2009) Great, amazing.
- Cave of Forgotten Dreams▪ Can be seen here or https://www.bitchute.com/embed/7HGhUv33MfQH/. Guardian review.
- I lost my body (2019)▪ **** This mostly works for me; good animation, interesting story, good soundtrack.
- Black Box (2021)▪ **** Gripping, good acting.
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)▪ ***** Visually stunning, good acting and directing by Celine Sciamma
- Water Lillies (2007) ***** good acting and directing by Celine Sciamma
- Paris 13th District (2013)▪ **** Good acting and photography, written by Celine Sciamma
- Tomboy (2011)▪ ***** Good acting and well directed by Celine Sciamma
- Jeanne du Barry (2023)▪ “The life of Jeanne Bécu, who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.” Strikes an odd note. I wonder how in 2024 it is still possible to make films about monarchs and their mistresses, unless there is an unusual angle. Perhaps in this case the fact that Jeanne is “low born” provides that. There is a lot of caracature in the movie and somehow everything feels forced. The king himself (Johnny Depp) doesn’t seem to feel all that comfortable in his role and perhaps shouldn’t, though he is lucky enough to die of the pox before everyone gets guillotined. (The Revolution, and the fate of the other characters is not shown, only mentioned at the end.)
- La Fôret Not every turn of the plot or every character in this series is credible (as is usual in TV series), but it is quite well made, some of the acting is very good, and it is gripping to watch.
- Les combattantes (Women at War) – 2022. From the first episode, I get the impression that the show is mean-spirited; too many likeable characters were killed off, in less time than it takes to say “Game of Thrones”. I don’t think I’ll continue watching it.
- Notre Dame – 2022 French TV series; enjoyed.
- All of Us Strangers▪ “One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry, which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As a relationship develops between them, Adam is preoccupied with memories of the past and finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and the childhood home where his parents appear to be living, just as they were on the day they died, 30 years before.”
- Tears us a bit this way and that, but all things considered a very poignant movie.
- Girl Interrupted – 1999▪ “Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen’s prescribed “short rest” from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice’s Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line between normal and crazy. Susanna soon realizes how hard it is to get out once she has been committed, and she ultimately has to choose between the world of people who belong inside or the difficult world of reality outside. “
- Fine film, amazing acting
- Reality – 2023▪ Worth watching.
- The Beast▪ Léa Seydoux mesmerises in wildly ambitious sci-fi romance
- A wild ride. Good acting. Not sure about this one, and if you ask me in a months time, I will have forgotten almost everything; not just because I have a bad memory but because the film didn’t build much commitment to anything.
- Civil War▪ “In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.”
- Actually not on the brink, but very much in a state of war. The film is well-made considering the genre, taking the interesting angle of a foursome of news journalists and photo-journalists; one a rookie. There is nothing particularly new here regarding the motivations of war journalists; it’s only new that instead of covering events in some distant country, they are in their home country. Their lens, as critics note, is also turned on us, as the consumers of this violent imagery. Why are we attracted to it? Is it because, as the rookie photo-journalist admits, it somehow makes us feel more alive? Certainly we wonder how we would react if faced with similar choices. The film embraces the journalists’ cynicism. There is no moral judgement or even comment regarding the worthiness of the rebel cause; we only know that the regime and the man behind it are corrupt. We do not see a leader on the other side; it is as if the foot soldiers themselves are calling the shots, like a raggedy band of mercenaries, though they command tremendous fire-power. All in all, it’s an emotionally rewarding film, though it offers little hope or learning.
- I am Mother▪ “A teenage girl is raised underground by a robot “Mother”, designed to repopulate the earth following an extinction event. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.” I thought the movie worked well enough, with sufficient dramatic tension and mystery to keep me watching. The plot was not implausible, unless you begin to think about it deeply and to ask questions. But part of the film’s success was not over-explaining.
- Anatomy of a Fall▪ “A woman is suspected of her husband’s murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness”. The acting is good, especially by the young boy. I was dissatisfied by the film as a whole and did not find the story very convincing. There was no way the woman could have been convicted of murder on such flimsy evidence, though this was maybe not the full thrust of the movie. Practically all we know about the husband is based on a single conversation. We only really learn about the wife. Their story seems a little cliched.
- Until the end of the world (1991) -“In 1999, a woman’s life is forever changed after she survives a car crash with two bank robbers, who enlist her help to take the money to a drop in Paris. On the way, she runs into another fugitive from the law — an American doctor on the run from the CIA. They want to confiscate his father’s invention – a device which allows anyone to record their dreams and visions.” I saw the Director’s Cut version which came out a few years later. My write-up is here
- Ripley (2024)▪ “A grifter in 1960s New York is hired to convince a wealthy man’s son to return home from Italy and begins a life of deceit, fraud and murder.” I have neither read the novels or seen the 2000 Matt Damon movie (The Talented Mr. Ripley). However everything is almost perfect about this Netflix limited series. That it left me with the feeling I needed to shake it off or take a shower, that simply means that it had worked as intended, no doubt.
- Outlander (2014)▪ saw the first episode of season 1. Although I don’t usually go in for fiction that involves time-travel; it being ridiculous, one has to admit that it provides scope for creativity. I thought the first episode was well-made and acted, so may go on to see additional episodes. Update: I grew tired of this after a couple more episodes.
- Gone Girl (2014)▪ Held my attention, though half-way through I realized I had seen it before – perhaps not till the end. It works well as a comedy, though, as usual, I tend to take a too serious view. It’s smart and full of cynicism towards human relationships.
- Damsel (2024) Neflix.▪ Held my attention; simple fantasy story with entertainment value – an interesting twist on the fairy tale of a damsel being sacrificed to a dragon in order to save a town.
- The Holdovers 2023▪ “A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.” I found it slightly tedious. Some good acting, especially by Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
- Perfect Days by Wim Wenders | Guardian review
Directors to watch
- Asghar Farhadi
Movies to find/check
(raw notes – some since found.)
- The Beast in Me – Netflix
- The Secret Agent – 2025
- Romeria – 2025
- Moon – 2024
- Blue Moon – 2025 Linklater
- Nouvelle Vague – 2025 Linklater
- Sentimental Value – 2025 Joahim Trier
- It was just an accident – 2025 jafar panahi
- [severance?(tv series)
- Santosh
- Trenque Lauquen
- All we imagine as light
- Loveable – 2024
- There Is No Evil – 2020
- Universal language – 2024
- Vermiglio – 2024
- The room next door – 2024
- No other land – 2024
- Hard Truths by Mike Leigh
- A Moment of Innocence (Nun va Goldoon) rec. by Andre
- Tha Apple by Samira Machmalbaff
- Mysterious World 2011 – Recommended by Andre
- Safari Available on Arte (with VPN)
- Grand Tour 2024 : Review by Peter Bradshaw set in colonial times, Portuguese
- Motel Destino ? Review by Peter Bradshaw Erotic noir, Brazilian
- Love torn in a dream
- Millennium Mambo
- World on a Wire
- The Marriage of Maria Braun
- The Strange Tale of Oyuki
- Café Lumière
- City of Pirates
- Three Crowns of the Sailor Not on tpb
- My Brilliant Friend▪ Comparison between TV series and the books
- Transit
- Styx
- The Whispering Star
- naked lunch
- themis / himizu
- love & peace
- a taxi driver
- Foundation -tv
- Ascension (film about china 2022)
- Writing with fire (2021 – about india)
- Our Daily Bread▪ about agribusiness 2005 – on tpb
- Parallel Mothers▪ review – Almodóvar delivers an emotional bundle of joy
- Pedro Almodóvar’s poetic conviction and creative fluidity flow through this moving baby-swap drama about two single mothers and buried secrets from the Spanish civil war
- Severance
- A chiara
- Lombard
- [Revolution of Our Times](https://m4uhd.tv/watch-movie-revolutioj’ai loupén-of-our-times-2021-267299.html)
- Lucky
- While we watched documentary about news reporting in india▪ Review
- Mask Girl – netflix
- Burning Body – netflix
- The Lost Child
- [Fallen Leaves](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Leaves_(film)
- creatura
- The Mirror – Tarkovsky – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrMINC5xjMs▪ (full movie)
- Dance of the Serpent (it’s on tpb)
- The Voice of Dust and Ash – about Iranian musician Mohammad Reza Shajarian
- Romantic Guide to Lost Places (Guida romantica a posti perduti)
- La Vie de Boheme (1992)
Recommendations
Michael:
FILMS:
- Woman at War▪ ( To her friends, Halla (Halldóra Geirharõsdóttir) leads a quiet and routine life. But her happy and upbeat exterior hides a secret double life as a committed environmental activist. Known to others as “The Mountain Woman”, she wages a one-woman-war on the local aluminium industry to protect the stunning highland landscape that is under threat) ( Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2v3_jHrvBQ )
- The Embrace of the Serpent▪ (Tracking two parallel odysseys through the Amazon three decades apart, this visionary adventure epic from Colombian director Ciro Guerra offers a heart-rending depiction of colonialism laying waste to indigenous culture.)
- ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G_d2xRgZg0 )
- Brand New Testament▪ (God exists! He lives in Brussels and he’s a real bastard, a petty tyrant to his wife and daughter. His son is known well; JC managed to escape his father’s grasp and live among us, getting himself killed in the process. But God has a daughter, too. Ea is ten years old and has had enough of her father using humanity as his playthings. When she spies the right opportunity, she hacks into his computer and leaks to the entire world via text message their inevitable date of death. What follows is Jaco Van Dormael’s witty and eccentric answer to the loaded question: what would you do if you knew exactly how much time you had left to live?) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsh_wFI0uMU )
- Two Distant Strangers▪ (The film examines the deaths of Black Americans during encounters with police through the eyes of a character trapped in a time loop that keeps ending in his death. Two Distant Strangers won the award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, marking distributor Netflix’s first win in the category) ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPgf-JaWNh8 )
- The Present▪ (on his wedding anniversay, Yusef and his young daughter ser out in the West Bank to buy his wife a gift. Between soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints, how easy is it to go shopping?)( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUbITonUeGQ )
DOCUMENTARIES:
- The Music of Strangers:▪ Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble
- (Over the past 16 years, an extraordinary group of musicians has come together to celebrate the universal power of music. Named for the ancient trade route linking Asia, Africa and Europe, The Silk Road Ensemble, an international collective created by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, exemplifies music’s ability to blur geographical boundaries, blend disparate cultures and inspire hope for both artists and audiences) ( Trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Ofj4hOVpA )
- The Eagle Huntress▪ Aisholpan is a 13-year-old nomadic Kazakh child of the Altai Mountains who is determined to become an eagle hunter like her father. While she wants to be the first female in 12 generations of her family to become an eagle hunter. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfi5JS6HTH0 )
Andre (“Photographer’s films”)
- Reconstruction, Christoffer Boe, 2003. |
- Memento, Christopher Nolan, 2000. |
- L’Important c’est d’aimer, Andrzej Żuławski, 1975. |
- Carol, Todd Haynes, 2015. |
- Blow-Up, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966. |
- Smoke, Wayne Wang, 1995.
- Al di là delle nuvole, Michelangelo Antonioni / Wim Wenders, 1995.
- Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock, 1954.
- Femme Fatale, Brian De Palma, 2002.
Notes
I have been grossed out by tobacco usage in movies lately (it’s not necessarily the most recent films, but there seems to be a long-term trend in certain kinds of films that characters are rarely seen without a cigarette poking from the side of their mouth. I suspect that this is the result of funding from Big Tobacco. Yesterday I tried to watch Nightmare Alley, and after the first hour gave up, afraid I would get lung cancer just from seeing it (I’ve never smoked at all; anything.)