adidasss

Nomadland - Cloe Zhao (2020)

Best American film I've seen in years. Blown away by the naturalistic performances she got out of non-actors. Great soundtrack, great cinematography, totally controlled, precise and effective. Subdued yet very emotional.

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“Think of what a paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise.” - Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle.

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TheBig3

Don't look up. It was fine.

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Frownland

Salo or 120 Days of Sodom - Damn powerful people suck

Bestiaire - Tons of gorgeous shots that really put you into the mindset of an animal.

Beyond the Black Rainbow - Scifi dude and his daughter do hella drugs and attain upper consciousness n ****. Her not by choice. Pretty trippy and rad but defo had corny and unnecessarily slow points.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Guybrush

I liked it. The satire seemed accurate to me. I'm sure climate scientists and the like can relate.

I've been kinda wanting to watch this, but not really, for years. Still haven't seen it.

I did read the synopsis of the Marquis De Sade story that Salo is based on.. which seems even worse than the movie. He was a corny mofo.

Joints was mostly just hash (hand rolled with tobacco) where I grew up. I've smoked pot like.. once, I think. Compared to hash, it seemed rare to me.

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Something Completely Different

Plankton

Hash was all we could get in the late 80's in Germany. I had to go to Amsterdam for greens. I'd usually hit the Bulldog. It was amazing to see a full weed menu with a "Sensimillia of the Day" section back then. I have yet to set foot in a dispensary around here though. lol

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Frownland

It's probably better than you expect. Have you seen any other Pasolini? Maybe wet your feet with Oedipus Rex to see if you like his style enough to get something out of Salo.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

jadis

This was more or less the reception of Sade throughout the 19th century: people read bits and pieces here and there (little was widely available), giggling at the obscenity and not daring to take him seriously. All this changed in the 20th century, first with the Surrealists and then, more significantly, after WW2, when he became an icon for an era of French modernists, including Bataille, Blanchot, Klossowski, Lacan, Barthes, Foucault, Deleuze, Sollers. For them it was not so much about the obscenity and the libertinage as about the terrifying inner logic of his texts, the challenge he poses to Enlightenment humanism by "telling it like it is" about the violent power struggles undergirding all social relations.

Salo is a peculiar chapter in that history. It's a return to Adorno's "Sade as a harbinger of 20th century fascism" thesis and as such it's not a particularly interesting reading of the Sadean text imo. BUT it also happens to be a remarkable film in its own right and it will always have the poignant resonance of being the last film Pasolini completed before his horrifying murder by Italian fascists.

adidasss

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn - Radu June (Romania, 2021)

Won the Golden bear in Berlin last year, provocative in the sense that it shows uncensored sex, and also confronts what I think are a bunch of taboos for Romanian society, sex, the military past, the Church etc. It blends humour and drama, although I'm not sure how well the humour translates to western audiences. I thought the first part was quite interesting as it spends some time showing the every day life in Bucharest and how slowly the West is crawling its way into the East. The second part is quite dense and philosophical, and the third for me was the weakest as is devolves into a kind of silly high-school play. Overall an interesting experience but not something I'd go back to.

__________________
“Think of what a paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise.” - Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle.

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adidasss

A Place in the Sun - George Stevens (1951)

It's always great to discover some classic gems. This may be a familiar movie to a lot of people but it went under my radar until now. Apparently it was a huge hit at the time, and I can see why. Very engaging, very emotional, real and relatable. I have to say that I didn't really pay attention so much to Montgomery Clift as an actor so I had no idea he was one of the original method actors. His performance is on another level. Elisabeth Taylor is pretty good too. And of course, Shelley Winters is devastating in her role. What is also surprising is how good the direction is. Stevens' name isn't really familiar to me but he has directed some pretty familiar films, like Swing time, Shane and Giant. Lovely surprise.



All That Heaven Allows - Douglas Sirk (1955)

Some similarities with APITS (closeted main actors, dealing with social taboos) but very different experiences. The most obvious being the talent level of the actors which is nowhere near that of APITS. Everything is prim and proper, cookie-cutter, unrealistic, fake. The acting is theatrical, the direction standard and dull. The only thing that saves it is the topic it tackles (a widow falling in love with a slightly younger man outside of her class, gasp!) but even in that it's too didactic and obvious (although I guess it makes sense for the time it was made).

__________________
“Think of what a paradise this world would be if men were kind and wise.” - Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle.

Last.fm

ribbons

^ Montgomery Clift was an amazing actor - so vulnerable, natural and charismatic. A Place In The Sun is his finest performance, imho.

Saw Spencer last night and was taken aback by how borderline-ridiculous it was. Beautiful cinematography alone does not a great movie make. Stewart's performance was flat and wooden, sorry to say (and I usually quite like her) - I'm really surprised by the Oscar buzz surrounding her portrayal.