The way this works is that you post a review of the best film you watched this week. It doesn't have to be a new release, just any film you have seen over the last seven days that you feel is worth talking about. Here are some rules.
1. Check to see if your favourite film of last week has been posted already.
2. Please post your favourite film of last week.
3. NO TV SHOWS!
4. ALWAYS use spoiler tags. Report any comments that spoil recent / little-known films (e.g. Mission: Impossible - Fallout) without using the spoiler tag.
5. Comments that only contain the title of the film will be removed!
Here are some great comments from last week's thread:
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Sunset Boulevard (1950) – Dir. Billy Wilder. One will be quite surprised if you come in expecting a comedy, at least that’s my experience based on the only other Wilder picture that I had seen, Some Like It Hot. No no, in fact, despite its comedic and lighthearted moments, it’s quite a tragedy, a sad sad tragedy that is quite devastating. The downfall of the biggest silent era star(or so she thinks of herself) and the struggle of a screenwriter trying to make it, or at least survive. A very dark look into Hollywood and those involved with it, very fitting that Buster Keaton had a cameo in there(as much as it pains me to say it…). It's an example of great writing, funnily enough. Characters all fleshed out with their own needs and wants, and their trajectories coincidently aligning into what turns a very weird and uncomfortable 3/4 way relationship angle, with the main focus of the tragedy Norma Desmond. The best testament to its writing is the fact that after all Norma did, I felt bad for her, she needed help. Even knowing what’s to come at the end, I felt shocked and sad at what had happened. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I favor her over Joe, who was very opportunistic and manipulative, and instead of being a man and making a choice, he decided to tango between two worlds, until the very end. But at the same time, I can’t really blame him, he wasn’t horrible, just caught in a really awkward situation in an awkward time in his life that could never have had a happy ending. Billy Wilder doesn’t shy away from the darkness of Hollywood, it’s almost like he’s condemning them. Here’s that young girl that you build up until she got to the top of the world, gave her a taste and then abandon her to die, her along with many other great directors and actors. A great picture from when they were bigger(I say as I watch this on my computer screen…) 9/10
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I saw the new 4k restoration of 2001, which was my second time seeing it in a theater this year. The last time was the previous version (which still looked really great, there's never been a bad 2001), but this new 4k version is certainly a step up. Some shots look more or less the same, but any time there's a close or medium shot the uptick in clarity is very noticeable. The earth's oceans during the blue danube sequence had a much deeper, which felt like a more natural and less tinted look (several scenes during Dawn of Man also seemed more natural and less "tinted") and Dave's red spacesuit in the bedroom scene seemed more striking. The stargate sequence also seems to "glow" more. There were a lot of little random 2 or 3 second shots I'd never really noticed before but the clarity kind of made me go "oh, huh", like whenever there's a closeup of someone flipping a switch or picking something up. The sound mix also seems to have gotten a punchup, and I noticed several sounds and musical cues I hadn't before. I never noticed oldest Dave having the same deep breathing as when his pod first arrives in the bedroom, and that jumped out at me, as did the first low hum of the music when he reaches out toward the final monolith. Overall, they did a fantastic job on the restoration and anyone who's looking forward to the 4K Blu-Ray has some good stuff to expect. I was actually a little distracted from the movie itself because I was just so into picking out all the shots and sounds I hadn't noticed before, but Space Odyssey is always a fun time at the theater and I hope I can catch it again in this format over the years. I had been worried from this trailer: https://youtu.be/Kz4lCYPBD7E that they would try to modernize the look or mess with it, but every upgrade felt very true and thankfully it was just a janky trailer that didn't really represent the new version. They done good with it!
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The Rider (Chloe Zhao, 2017) - Inner Tempests. The opening shots of this film—of a horse shown in detail—suggests the raw, raging, strength of creatures so filled with vigor that they seem perpetually contained by walls, or even the very limitations of their own bodies. This film is an intimate character study of the lives of young cowboys and rodeo riders who draw strength from their riding, but ultimately know their time in the spotlight is limited. The main character is Brady Blackburn, who was a promising rodeo rider, but is forced to recuperate and take a serious look at his life and future after a traumatic brain injury. He lives with his younger sister, who has autism, and his father who gambles and drinks away most of their money. He often visits his friend Lane at the hospital, who is in a severely paralyzed state after a brain injury he himself suffered. Therein lies the contrast. These characters are so young and full of life, but are simply broken. Not mentally broken, as is usually portrayed in cinema, but physically, even though their vitality is still overflowing with the promise of youth. The winds of change are inevitable, and Brady realizes that he has to begin a new chapter of growing responsibility. Of course, he’s inherently reluctant, because the burning desire of riding still smolders inside him. The way each of these characters confront this change and interact each other, is where most of the drama takes place, but it never becomes predictable in where their journeys eventually lead. The film is gorgeously shot; often allowing for the endless vistas to help convey the inner emotion of the characters, and thus it has some of the most beautiful riding scenes I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen so many Westerns, and yet the tender way the characters are portrayed here, elevates the simple act of someone riding a horse into something extremely soulful and poetic. I was also stunned to learn that the actors were untrained. The way the director, Chloe Zhao, utilized them was not in a stylized manner that someone like Bresson would often use with untrained actors, but instead felt calm and naturalistic. In fact, the film as a whole had this incredibly serene quality to it, despite the swell of inner conflict coursing heavily through many of the characters. It seems simple in approach, yet the lyrical depths that it bares is immense. There’s a conversation two of the characters have of stepping back into a dream and riding into an unknown future--which they approach with both fear and excitement. This theme of an understated dual contrast; of freedom and containment; of the broken and spirited; is what ultimately elevates this movie beyond just a simple portraiture of a seemingly simple and lesser known way of life.
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Submitted September 03, 2018 at 02:59AM by GetFreeCash https://ift.tt/2Caa71v
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