FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: films of a certain quality

[JackRiddler]

I am watching Leviathan when less tired.

Great exchange from the trailer:

"Any current presidents?"
"Not enough historical perspective." And drink!

.

[Cordelia]

(^^Currently reading a novel, set during WWI, that features the German-made ocean liner Leviathan.) .

Re-watched Peter Weir's first (I think) Hollywood endeavor. Outstanding film, set in Jakarta during the Communist Party of Indonesia's unsuccessful 1965 coup attempt. Early Mel Gibson & Sigourney Weaver, who give terrific performances, but the best one (maybe of that decade) is Linda Hunt's tour de force as dwarf Billy Kwan.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2k9d0c4sAM

[JackRiddler]

They don't make them quite this dumb any more.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyaUd1tBAa0

[8bitagent]

I recommend OJ: Made In America. It's over 7 hours, but pretty much the definitive OJ documentary...but its its massive delving into race in America that is the most interesting part of it

[Harvey]

Always worth reminding ourselves, it holds up surprisingly well.

[chump]

Okay... Keanu!


https://youtu.be/B_zLEi_Sk3Y

I'm not gonna comment (on it) 'til all of ya’ll have seen it too.

Okay... Keanu wasn't the comedy it was cracked up to be.

But, I loved A New Leaf!

A New Leaf
1971 G Rated G 1hr 42m

Self-centered New York playboy Henry Graham schemes to marry a wealthy woman -- and then kill her. But when his new bride proves to be an innocent klutz, Henry starts to change. Soon Henry is disposing of his self-serving ways instead of his wife.
Cast: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, more...

https://youtu.be/e8srIRngCkg

[brekin]

This looks great. Didn't know this guy was Paul Theroux's son.

[chump]

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wolfen-1981

Wolfen

An intriguing film named “Wolfen,” which is not about werewolves but is about the possibility that Indians and wolves can exchange souls, has crept stealthily into several Chicago theaters. Despite the fact that it stars Albert Finney, was directed by Michael Wadleigh (“Woodstock”), and is an uncommonly intelligent treatment of a theme that is usually just exploited, the movie arrived without much advance publicity. If the subject interests you, move fast, before “Wolfen” closes.


The story begins with the mysterious killing of a politician, his wife, and their chauffeur. There are lots of suspects and lots of motives, but the clues are puzzling: the bodies were slashed to ribbons, but apparently not with blades of any known metal. Could the wounds have been caused by teeth?

Albert Finney, a cop with assorted psychological problems, is put on the case, teamed up with another officer (Diane Venora). They begin to gather a fact here, a hunch there. Could wolves have done this damage? Scientists discover wolf hairs on several of the dead bodies that begin to turn up. But wolves are supposed to be extinct in the East, and certainly within New York City.

The movie intercuts the police investigation with imaginative scenes shot from the wolves' point of view. These are fast-moving tracking shots; the camera swoops down streets at the eye-level of a wolf, pausing, taking cover, following one track and then another. Wadleigh suggests a wolf's senses with special optical effects in which objects with a scent also seem to shimmer.

The movie's narrative style is brooding. Finney comes into contact with an assortment of eccentric people (scientists, cops, morgue attendants, pathologists), and the trail eventually leads to a group of American Indians employed as high-steel workers. There is a breathtaking confrontation to top of a bridge. What do the Indians know about wolves? Is it possible that they practice ancient rituals to turn into wolves? Or do they just share spiritual communion with them?

“Wolfen” develops a strong, angry theme about ecological and human waste. We learn that the wolves make their headquarters in a ruined section of the South Bronx that resembles a bombed-out wasteland. Their original victim, the politician, had just visited there for a groundbreaking ceremony, vowing to "renew" the area. In killing him, the wolves are merely exercising their territorial imperative.

What is perhaps most interesting about “Wolfen” is that the story remains plausible given its basic assumptions, of course. This is not sci-fi, fantasy or violent escapism. It's a provoking speculation on the terms by which we share this earth with other creatures.

This seriousness reportedly did not impress the releasing studio, United Artists, which would have preferred a sleazy exploitation picture (and is releasing “Wolfen” as if it were one). That's a shame. Love, thought, care and craftsmanship have gone into this film, which is now, so to speak, being thrown to the wolves.

https://youtu.be/weYGiULosmE


https://youtu.be/N-ogI-LH1ko
Wolfen - full movie

[Nordic]

Just watched Croneberg's "Maps to the Stars" last night.

I was expecting dark, but this was darker in a way I wasn't expecting. Although I'm not sure what I was e petting honestly.

Hell of a quality film. It'll stick with you. But DARK. Horrible people in this movie.

[norton ash]

It's a new favourite of mine, Nordic. A hate letter to Hollywood from Cronenberg in some ways... how evil, madness and absolute dysfunction can flourish amidst the money and sunshine of LA.

[km artlu]

The author of Maps' source book and screenplay is Bruce Wagner. Bruce, at the time using the nom de sorcery of Lorenzo Drake, was within Castaneda's inner circle until CC's death.

[Cordelia]

Re-watched 'In The Name of The Father' about The Guilford Four.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-bBlbyzN6g


Filmed long before Day-Lewis was 'Lincoln' and sold out for his knighthood; a stretch from portraying Gerry Conlon to
becoming

[DrEvil]

Wolfen is a great movie (and based on a Whitley Strieber book).

Here's another 80's horror in the same vein, with extra cheese (Pierce Brosnan's atrocious french accent in particular):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grum93DyLdc

Edit: Full movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvvW10IfXok

And while I'm at it, my annual repetition of Noroi. Watch it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilHmpETJgZ0

[Nordic]

It's a new favourite of mine, Nordic. A hate letter to Hollywood from Cronenberg in some ways... how evil, madness and absolute dysfunction can flourish amidst the money and sunshine of LA.

Yeah I can see that. It definitely embodies every ugly thing there is about Hollywood.

When I first moved here, I ran into this right away, this "I don't want to have to be one of these people" thing. I couldn't deal with it and eventually moved away. Not everybody is like that but far, far too many people are.

[Jerky]

Agree 100%.

Greàt film by a master.

Just watched Croneberg's "Maps to the Stars" last night.

I was expecting dark, but this was darker in a way I wasn't expecting. Although I'm not sure what I was e petting honestly.

Hell of a quality film. It'll stick with you. But DARK. Horrible people in this movie.