Movies/Shows you're watching.

[Bosco]

Hey Wolkenkrabber, thanks for bringing that 'Everybody In The Place' video. I don't usually stick around for an hour long youtube video, but that won me over.

I love how Deller describes that one photo of Ralf Hütter reaching out to the (presumably) Detroit  audience with his keyboard as a "contemporary history painting".

This reminded me of when I had a dedicated period of learning about the 1960's in middle school. We not only explored the history but culture too (and yes, drugs were mentioned, but not focalized.)

And on a regional note, fun to see old Jay Levine footage. He's a former long time Chicago news reporter.

[Bosco]

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Has anyone watched this? I enjoyed this film, but I find this hard to recommend even to the seasoned movie goer. 

There is very thick deadpan style to this movie which might become horribly boring for some, and so distracting where it annoys and detracts from the story.

It was disturbing, yet funny, in the most complex way.

It probably has the best performance of someone that would be diagnosed with Aspergers.

and a Random thought that kept bothering me throughout the film, I think this movie might have benefited from being shot in black and white.

[Wolkenkrabber]

The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Has anyone watched this?

Yes.

[Bosco]

awesome.

It should be noted that it was intriguing enough for you to write up an extended thought. I think I feel the same as you towards the film, just with a more positive opinion on it.

Spoiler

To answer the question about why the police didn't factor. I'm guessing the director wanted to distance himself from lawful morality. This isn't about right or wrong, it seems it's about offending a "higher power", and doing what is necessary to justify the offense. Much like the myth many people suggest this movie is based on.

Does that make Martin the higher power? I don't know. Or maybe, he is just streamlined in greek myth philosophy, and we are just experiencing his belief system in parallel with morality.

Now my brain hurts, and I'm not totally sure what I'm saying.

There also seems to be other thematic approach which I can't quite put my finger on.

Hey Wolkenkrabber,

how you feel about this?:

[Mrdmus]

Dark.

It's brilliant but fairly confusing, not least because it's in German with subtitles.

[Csar]

It's even confusing at times for me Especially keeping track of who's connected with whom and why. I'm sort of glad next season will conclude the series and hopefully give us a satisfying pay-off ending.

[ThePumisher]

Peaky Blinders

[Wolkenkrabber]

The Killing of a Sacred Deer
There is very thick deadpan style to this movie which might become horribly boring for some, and so distracting where it annoys and detracts from the story.

I think it's worth noting that the director's next film, The Favourite eschewed the deadpan style, and hired the talents of Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman. The latter winning the 2019 best actress Oscar (although really it was a three-hander, and I think Emma Stone would have been an equally worthy winner). It's probably easier to recommend The Favorite, although the ending is rather abrupt, so you end up sitting there thinking about it all during the end credits.

Hey Wolkenkrabber,

how you feel about this?:

Early "buzz" seems good for this. Looks like it may come under the "difficult but rewarding" category. I was looking through A24's list of films since they started releasing in 2013, and I think they're doing interesting things for a small company. These ones all jumped out at me as films that I've watched and that have made an impression on me:  Spring Breakers, Under The Skin, A Most Violent Year, Ex Machina, Slow West, Mississippi Grind, Room, Green Room, The Lobster (which I've seen since my comments on Sacred Deer), Trespass Against Us, Free Fire, Good Time, The Disaster Artist, Under The Silver Lake  *EDIT* oh and Lady Bird and Gaspar Noe's Climax with the dance sequence that was used for an unofficial Chems video.  Not bad, maybe they'll become the Junior Boys Own of independent film companies or something - worth investigating whatever they release.

[Bosco]

Early "buzz" seems good for this. Looks like it may come under the "difficult but rewarding" category. I was looking through A24's list of films since they started releasing in 2013, and I think they're doing interesting things for a small company.- worth investigating whatever they release.

Agree. And I've still yet to catch several of the ones you've seen but more importantly, 'Trespass Against Us'!

Also, to add some which I've seen which weren't on your list but thought were notable:

Room and Moonlight, are a bit Oscar bait-y (Moonlight won). Both were good, with the latter having some really great acting and beautiful cinematography. Subject matter might not be for everyone though.

Swiss Army Man Farting corpse and boner movie. Loved it. Score is wonderful (Manchester Orchestra). Really an easy sell, since I love the cast (Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe)

The Florida Project fantastic film. Might be a little painful dose of reality rather than entertaining, so tread carefully if you're only looking for escapism. 

The VVitch and Hereditary, Hard to win me over in the horror genre but these do it pretty well. Toni Collette pretty great in the latter.

And I see you watched Under the Silver Lake, and I just want to mention again, that's my favorite movie this year.

[whirlygirl]

Because I need all the laughs I can get these days, I've been re-watching the first season of Baskets (this time with my son). Has anyone else seen this show? There are a lot of ridiculously wtf damn near non-sensical Chemical Brothers references in that show. Enough to rival the Chems references that are in Peepshow.

[Enjoyed]

The VVitch and Hereditary, Hard to win me over in the horror genre but these do it pretty well. Toni Collette pretty great in the latter.

Just watched The VVitch the other day. I thought it was fantastic. I don't get to watch a lot of (/any) horror these days - wife isn't a fan - but this instilled my love of the genre (when it's done well) and still has me thinking about moments in it.
Hereditary has also been recommended by friends of mine that do watch horrors more often. They say it's on a similar level of quality so I'm definitely looking forward to finding a time to sit and watch that one too.

[Bosco]

The last time I came across a Chemical Brothers reference that was non-musical in a film, was the movie that stared 3 generations of the Douglas family (Kirk, Michael, and the troubled son/grandson that I can't remember his name). I saw a 'Surrender' poster in the grandson's bedroom, and I went from this movie is stupid, to this movie is great!

Never heard of those shows Whirly, I'll have to check them out.




To add to my list A24 list. I finally sat down and caught the Jonah Hill 'Mid 90's' film. I thought it was really good, and was quite surprised Jonah was able to convey some strong heartfelt feelings from me. The film is not bullet proof, but the story felt very natural for that time period. Not sure this film will work as well outside of an American audience.


On a fun note, 'Turbo Kid' is fucking awesome. If you don't get bog down by low budget, this  apocalyptic, comedic, gore-fest is fantastic. It's got a full 80's synth score on par and if not better than SURVIVE's 'Stranger Things'. I would post the trailer, but it would spoil some of the best moments in the film. I highly recommend this film for this forum, and think its worth your time seeking it out. (It's on Amazon Prime!)

[Conn6orsuper117]

Any thoughts on Joker?
(spoiler free for those who havent seen it)
Saw twice, 1 week ago with the Boys, and saturday with the family. To me I think its oscar worthy (at least for best leading actor, Joaquine phoenix killed it)
there wasn't any slow moments (although there was a plotpoint does seem a little unnecessary), it doesn't feel like 2 hours gone. there are even some stuff that you might not notice upon 1st watching the movie, like nods to other characters.
The soundtrack always gives me goosebumps, ive listened to it about 7 times already and I still get the feeling I got when I first heard it.

great movie, definetly suggest watching in theaters while its still here.

[Bosco]

^Trying to catch it in 70mm before the limited run ends on Thursday!

[MIKL]

Because I need all the laughs I can get these days, I've been re-watching the first season of Baskets (this time with my son). Has anyone else seen this show? There are a lot of ridiculously wtf damn near non-sensical Chemical Brothers references in that show. Enough to rival the Chems references that are in Peepshow.

I actually finally discovered this while going through a deep dive of between two ferns for a laugh as well. His type of humour is perfect when you're a bit over and fed up the 'life' situations. Unfortunately and with horror its not available anywhere in Australia. I only managed to watch unofficial previews on youtube.

And to compliment my paranoia and anxiety of the world I'm watching the final season of Mr. Robot as it comes out. Apparently a good conclusion is promised, we'll see. the 1st episode of this season was a good starter and the second one has just slowly continued on from that.

[Bosco]

Any thoughts on Joker?
(spoiler free for those who havent seen it)
Saw twice, 1 week ago with the Boys, and saturday with the family. To me I think its oscar worthy (at least for best leading actor, Joaquine phoenix killed it)
there wasn't any slow moments (although there was a plotpoint does seem a little unnecessary), it doesn't feel like 2 hours gone. there are even some stuff that you might not notice upon 1st watching the movie, like nods to other characters.
The soundtrack always gives me goosebumps, ive listened to it about 7 times already and I still get the feeling I got when I first heard it.

great movie, definetly suggest watching in theaters while its still here.

Couldn't make the 70mm presentation, but I did finally see the movie!

Admittedly, I did not have a strong desire to see this film. I thought it would cheeseball its way into a "dark character" film. Well, it exceeded my expectations by a lot. It was extremely loaded for a comic book/ anti-hero film. There is a lot of very serious and difficult to tackle social commentary, and it was pretty awesome how they molded it with Joker's origin.

That being said, I wish it wasn't based around a comic book character. The film would have been fantastic (albeit, not as profitable) without them clinging to the DC universe and the raw telling of a broken man. As a matter of fact, many say it probably was an adapted script, and I choose to believe that too.

It's absolutely shocking a film like this is the highest grossing rated R film ever. So while I applaud it's success, don't you dare try to make a sequel Warner Bros.

[sandelic]

I can't wait to see Joker, especially because everyone I know heaps praise on it.

HBO Watchmen, anyone?
I like it so far, I hope they will do better job than movie did, decade ago.
Series are, I feel, much closer to comics, from what I can gather watching YT videos.
Also, Regina King is in it.

[Wolkenkrabber]

Any thoughts on Joker?

There is a lot of very serious and difficult to tackle social commentary, and it was pretty awesome how they molded it with Joker's origin.

.... As a matter of fact, many say it probably was an adapted script, and I choose to believe that too.

Spoiler

It almost felt like an indie director decided to make an unoffical film with the premise: "what if we explore the mental illness side of a character similar to the joker?" Perhaps take our lead from Birdman (which starred Michael Keaton, a former Batman), but go darker. And then somehow they managed to convince DC to make it "official".
I'm actually surprised by the high IMDB and RT audience scores - both higher than the critics scores on RT. It almost feels too far removed from comic books to appeal to a mass audience. Am I underestimating people?

I also wouldn't have imagined that Todd Phillips was the director behind this. He's probably best known for The Hangover (not just the first one but the bad sequels) and rebooting Starsky & Hutch as a full-on comedy. Who knew he would/could go so dark?

Phillips does a short interview on IMDB's page for Joker. The interviewer suggests the film feels like it's part of the "Scorsese-verse". Phillips says, not just Scorsese films but other films circa 1973-1981. Certainly it was obvious early on from the cars, TVs and street signage that it wasn't set in the present day. I thought it was around '80/81. Phillips suggests 1979. The run-down "New York" look of Gotham would fit with that sort of period too, I guess.

I would probably agree with the Scorsese stuff insofar as King of Comedy and Taxi Driver both appear to be obvious influences here. As soon as I saw De Niro as the talk show host I thought: "Ah it's King Of Comedy", except this time he's the establishment host. In KoC, De Niro plays a quirky loner and aspiring talk show host who plays out imaginary talk show scenarios at home. We see aspiring comedian Arthur/Joker acting similarly here.
Taxi Driver comes in due to the vigilante violence. Is he a hero or a villain? It's complicated!

One of the Rotten Tomatoes reviewers said "Heath Ledger's maniacal agent of destruction would have kicked this sorry-ass loser off Gotham's tallest building."
On the one hand this seems like a harsh critique of a portrayal of mental ilness. A portrayal that at one point almost brought tears to my eyes. On the other hand I had hoped for some Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson type mischiveousness where I could sit back and just enjoy the Joker being a deranged, clever badass.
But I never really could because Arthur was constantly saddened and haunted by his demons. It was uncomfortable.  It was too dark to be fun but perhaps too "DC comics" to be a serious film about mental illness and abuse.

When we find out that Arthur's neighbour Sophie (Zazie Beets who seems to have jumped "universes" from Deadpool to DC) wasn't really by his side, I was reminded of Phoenix's other recent film, You Were Never Really Here and also a recent netlflix exclusive, Fractured (starring Sam Worthington, remember him?), neither of which I ever want to watch again, but both had their merits.
I presume Arthur also imagined the scene where he gets plucked from the audience by De Niro who says he would be proud to have a son like him. Were there any other (non-Sophie) imagined scenes that I didn't notice?

Well judging by how much I've written, it must have been an engaging film. But I guess I had the idea that a stand-alone Joker movie might be more of a kickass ride; something where the fun would outweigh the tragedy. But I guess if you accept it for what it is, a complex character piece in a "1973 to 1981- verse" then there's plenty to enjoy, or at least experience here.

[GLAKO-FAHN]

HBO Watchmen, anyone?
I like it so far, I hope they will do better job than movie did, decade ago.
Series are, I feel, much closer to comics, from what I can gather watching YT videos.
Also, Regina King is in it.

yes, this.

[Bosco]

Spoiler

It almost felt like an indie director decided to make an unoffical film with the premise: "what if we explore the mental illness side of a character similar to the joker?" Perhaps take our lead from Birdman (which starred Michael Keaton, a former Batman), but go darker. And then somehow they managed to convince DC to make it "official".
I'm actually surprised by the high IMDB and RT audience scores - both higher than the critics scores on RT. It almost feels too far removed from comic books to appeal to a mass audience. Am I underestimating people?

I also wouldn't have imagined that Todd Phillips was the director behind this. He's probably best known for The Hangover (not just the first one but the bad sequels) and rebooting Starsky & Hutch as a full-on comedy. Who knew he would/could go so dark?

Phillips does a short interview on IMDB's page for Joker. The interviewer suggests the film feels like it's part of the "Scorsese-verse". Phillips says, not just Scorsese films but other films circa 1973-1981. Certainly it was obvious early on from the cars, TVs and street signage that it wasn't set in the present day. I thought it was around '80/81. Phillips suggests 1979. The run-down "New York" look of Gotham would fit with that sort of period too, I guess.

I would probably agree with the Scorsese stuff insofar as King of Comedy and Taxi Driver both appear to be obvious influences here. As soon as I saw De Niro as the talk show host I thought: "Ah it's King Of Comedy", except this time he's the establishment host. In KoC, De Niro plays a quirky loner and aspiring talk show host who plays out imaginary talk show scenarios at home. We see aspiring comedian Arthur/Joker acting similarly here.
Taxi Driver comes in due to the vigilante violence. Is he a hero or a villain? It's complicated!

One of the Rotten Tomatoes reviewers said "Heath Ledger's maniacal agent of destruction would have kicked this sorry-ass loser off Gotham's tallest building."
On the one hand this seems like a harsh critique of a portrayal of mental ilness. A portrayal that at one point almost brought tears to my eyes. On the other hand I had hoped for some Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson type mischiveousness where I could sit back and just enjoy the Joker being a deranged, clever badass.
But I never really could because Arthur was constantly saddened and haunted by his demons. It was uncomfortable.  It was too dark to be fun but perhaps too "DC comics" to be a serious film about mental illness and abuse.

When we find out that Arthur's neighbour Sophie (Zazie Beets who seems to have jumped "universes" from Deadpool to DC) wasn't really by his side, I was reminded of Phoenix's other recent film, You Were Never Really Here and also a recent netlflix exclusive, Fractured (starring Sam Worthington, remember him?), neither of which I ever want to watch again, but both had their merits.
I presume Arthur also imagined the scene where he gets plucked from the audience by De Niro who says he would be proud to have a son like him. Were there any other (non-Sophie) imagined scenes that I didn't notice?

Well judging by how much I've written, it must have been an engaging film. But I guess I had the idea that a stand-alone Joker movie might be more of a kickass ride; something where the fun would outweigh the tragedy. But I guess if you accept it for what it is, a complex character piece in a "1973 to 1981- verse" then there's plenty to enjoy, or at least experience here.

Thanks for your lengthy thoughts, I'm glad you got out to see it.

To add to your gritty list of 70's dramas, I thought there was a little 'Dog Day Afternoon' with the angry mob siding against authority. Maybe a little 'V for Vendetta' too, with the protesters wearing the clown mask.

And lastly, if this Movie really interest you, and your looking for potentially deeper influences take a look into Harvey Pekar and watch his appearances on David Letterman, and tell me it doesn't remind you of something.



Anyway, what we watching next, boys?

I saw the preview for 'JoJo Rabit' before Joker, and that looks hilarious. I'm a big Sam Rockwell fan to boot.

'Doctor Sleep'. Kinda reluctant to see this one, but Ewan McGregor is my guy as well. The Shining doesn't need a sequel. Might need to be nudged on this one.

I'm definitely seeing 'The Lighthouse', it's just a matter of when.