Beautiful Feet

Didn't make it to Iona this year due to the pandemic so had to make do with watching this film, Iona (2015, Scott Graham). Hopefully Easter next year for real.  Because I love quiet films about sin and redemption and the motherland, this one was a winner for me.

It's been a long time since I've had time to write here, aside from some notes to jog my memory and make some recos. Now that we're in the Pandemic of 2020, I don't exactly have more time, but I do have more creative energy busting at the seams with few outlets. So I asked a film-critic friend for some recos and, knowing my wont, he suggested Threads  (dir. Barry Hines, UK, 1984, the internet archive) with the caveat that it was "FUCKING depressing," which I gladly took on. And indeed he was right.  However, I think the aesthetic of 35+ years ago took away somewhat from the effect—not that I wasn't affected; I was—but I've been more wrecked by (somewhat) more current films, such as The Book of Eli and The Road (or the OG book by Cormac McCarthy ). Also did not love the suffering cat part... However, I had asked him for a timely reco, and that I got. There were two parts that struck me as too close to home. One was the beleaguered NHS with no r...

Holy crap—so much in this film! Despite some flaws, there is lots to admire and wonder    at in this slow-build sci-fi. The colour palette, camera focus, sets, costumes (what is with the earrings?!?), the unexplained and the unshown... And of course the whole virus thing is timely. If you like reflecting both during and after a film, you'll find lots to chew on. I've asked my local video store to hold back a poster for me.

Only because I love black and white film, I have recently seen two films set at the seaside, both done in B&W. Bait was interesting but ultimately failed IMHO, whereas The Lighthouse was much more successful (even though I don't like scary movies), in part due to Willem Dafoe's and Robert Pattinson's performances. The build-up was slow but crazy-effective. Check out these reviews by Bowler or Fez . I met Mark Campbell over Bait and went to The Lighthouse based on his comments when we chatted. This week we're going to see Little Joe , which looks like my kind of sci-fi. We'll see if it earns a bowler or fez...

I was sorry to see I had missed A Hidden Life for the time being, but then I tripped upon this film Terrence Malick executive produced. My fave themes, and Martin Sheen is always interesting in works about faith.

This film is hard to watch if you understand the artist's soul. It's claustophobic yet riveting. The epilogue is also interesting, and the final shot... Well, understandably, Netflix won't let me screen-capture it. It's out of this world.  And, of course, I was blessed to see a Lowry in a gallery the day after I watched the film. I also loved this older film, which I had wanted to see because I might have a long-term crush on Matt Damon and love the music of Arvo Part, as did my companion. It seems to be a Love It or Hate It film, but I loved everything about it, even if it was draining to watch. Good if you're into the culture of slow (anything). Also superclaustrophobic despite the desert setting. Here's an interesting writeup about it [total spoilers!]:  https://offscreen.com/view/gerry#.Xka8FBuQcL4.twitter  

The Sheen/Estevez clan sure can make some good moving pictures.

The Guilty ||  Den Skyldige

I'm heading to Warsaw on business, and I'll be making a pilgrim age to  Krzysztof Kieślowski's grave and to the block of flats where part of The Decalogue was filmed, so I wanted to watch Three Colours: Blue, White and Red and learn more about the series. Blue was definitely my favourite and had the best Preisner music, but Red was a close second. 

With two businesses and trips to Europe for work, I haven't had time to blog about some of the wonderful films I've seen, but I had to put in a plug for Wildfire. Top-notch performances and Lang's music suits the setting perfectly.

Blue Jay (2016) by Mark and Jay Duplass. A perfect film, outstanding captioning.

I love quiet films because they actually are not. There is so much going on beneath the surface, which is the sign of considered and also intuitive directing, in this case. Joanna Hogg's treatment, and mode of filming (2010) is roiling and rife with contradictions and ironies. Not for action-lovers, and the Guardian quote on the poster about "frequently very funny" is absolutely untrue. Great if you love sucker punches.  The only problem with it was that it did not come with closed captions.

  Keep the Change  

Watch this trailer for Babylon Berlin . If this video does not convince you to watch the series (in German! God, don't ruin it by watching the dub!)...    zu Asche zu Staub  recurs in various forms throughout season one—you'll know it by heart before long. This series is smart, informative, so creatively different! And has  great  acting. Auch fantastische is  Dark , a better version of  Stranger Things.  The atmosphere in this show is so affecting. As is Oliver Masucci. Very addictive. You're welcome.  Mute , directed by Bowie's son Duncan Jones (2017) seems to be, according to the reviews, like Christmas cake: you either love it or you hate it. While I can see why some critique its sloppy elements, it's clearly a labour of love and is one of those interesting glimpses into our putative future. Similar feel to the urban fabric found in  Altered Carbon.  Worth a look if you're into dystopian projections. Alexander S...

ALT: Joel Kinnaman as Tak Kovacs in a dark, strange world, wearing a blue coat and shirt; he's looking around in wonder. Oh god, I didn't know whether I could get past the first episode: I love dystopian futures, but this seemed hackneyed...  Altered Carbon has the feel of sometimes The Hunger Games , sometimes Harry Potter , often Repo! The Genetic Opera or Gotham City or Narcopolis .There's martial arts, comic booky treatments, digital effects and story content. Some of it is dumb, and the names for things in the future are lazy: The Array is the internet, a sleeve is a host, ONIs are basically smartphones, Poe is like TNG's Data, Meths are the 1%, and paying my chip-implanted fingers is technology that's already here. The "strong, independent woman cop" is the lamest character attempt/trope out there, and the actress is terrible. The producers seem to be trying to appease audiences on every front rather than trying to make a solid, consistent produ...