The Movies I Liked

Still Walking (2008) - (Japanese) - Hirokazu Kore-eda


1578299332169.pngThis was the first movie I've watched from director Hirokazu Kore-eda, thanks to recommendation from @esanthosh, this is a real gem!
The story happens over a 24 hour period when the children (who are now adults) meets their parents in a family gathering commemorating the death anniversary of the eldest son (and the family favorite) who passed away 12 years ago, trying to save the life of a child from drowning. The tension and resentment that simmer beneath the cool and polite facade of the family members are subtly shown with careful composition, by the director (who also wrote the story). It started with me being an outsider looking into, then slowly started becoming part of that family. The pacing of the story, attention to details, composition and acting were very good. In one remarkable shot (my favorite), he shows the three generations (the grandfather, his son and the stepson) in one frame, highlighting the different values each hold and the cyclical nature of family relations, hopes and disappointments.

As with the sparse background score, the use of unrelated elements like branch of tree, flowers, train etc to show the passing of time, was nice. Olivier Assayas uses fade outs to achieve this (Krzysztof Kieślowski uses fade outs in Three Colors: Blue in a different way, to show time standing still). Kore-eda is a real humanist, and never looks down upon any of the characters, which too was a plus. I felt that the family story had a distinctive art-house french drama ethos, like Assayas' "Summer hours"(more focus on subtlety than going overboard with the drama)

From the interview with Criterion, Hirokazu Kore-eda says that this is his most autobiographical of movies, yet when he completed it, he felt like an outsider watching it. He had included many of his quirks in the younger son character Ryota (estranged with his father and having a softer stance to his mother), while the father character was mostly fictional.
The character representing the mother was his own (mannerisms, dialogues and values), and she had passed away in 2005, following a long phase of illness. Initially, he thought of covering the last 3-4 years of her life in the script, then decided to show only 24 hours (to keep the theme less gloomy) when she was healthy and in her element (and also spiteful), preparing food for her children. When he was a child he never used to like her bickering and complaining about others including her husband, now that he is an adult, he says it feels nice to do so as it releases the complex emotions welled up inside (again indicating the cyclical nature)
 
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Sophomore efforts

Three horror movie directors, three sophomore films... and a long post.

Warning: Links contain Spoilers

The success of "The Conjuring" led to a flood of jump-scare laden horror movies with more bad than good. Among this flood, these directors stood out because they put in some effort to differentiate their debut films. I liked all of them enough to wait eagerly for their next movies.

Jennifer Kent: Then - Babadook (2014), Now - The Nightingale (2018)

I liked "The Babadook" because you could see it as a horror film or as a film that shows the struggles of a single mother maintaining a difficult kid using horror elements. I was reading a book about sleep at that time. Much of what the mother goes through seemed to mirror those who suffer from severe lack of sleep.

"The Nightingale" is set during the British colonization of Australia, specifically Tasmania in 1825. A lot of background research went into the film to make sure it is authentic. They even use an aboriginal language recreated from the documents of the lost languages. As Jennifer Kent puts it,

Nothing that happened in this film is fictional. The story itself is fictional, but the events are all factual, and worse. I mean, I couldn’t put some of the things in the film that happened, because people wouldn’t be able to bear it.

The plot reads like a rape-revenge story. But, like 'Babadook', it has multiple layers. Unlike "Green Book", which I hated for its feather touch treatment of racism, the racism in this film feels real and visceral. There is a lot of onscreen violence, especially against women. I appreciated the rape scene from the female director's point of view because it didn't objectify, but showed the powerlessness of the victim.. It is also worth noting that while the Irish prisoner hates the British, they are in turn racist towards the aboriginals. So, in a way, no character in the film is a clear cut good or bad one. Until a key turning point, the film was excellent - Aisling Franciosi as the rage-filled Clare was easy to get behind (with able support from Baykali Ganambarr) in her journey through the jungles to find and kill those who wronged her. However, it sort of meanders to the finish during the last 45 minutes or so. It still had a few scenes of graphic violence, but I wasn't as satisfied overall as I was with the first hour and a half.


Ari Aster: Then - Hereditary (2018), Now - Midsommar (2019)

Ari Aster creates what we can call as 'art-horror' films. Not only are they slow-paced, slow-burn films, they are also not entirely horror films. I agree very much with Ari Aster when he says

Ultimately, horror movies are art movies. Not all of them are, I don’t think art is an elastic term, but I do get annoyed by the way genre films are separated from the so-called ‘highbrow’. Like drama is a thing that’s to be respected and revered. It’s like, ‘We’re going to go to a drama tonight! We’re going to pay our dues!’ but a horror movie, unless someone makes the exception, it’s almost considered trash. I find that to be very annoying but it comes from so many bad films saturating the market. But ultimately, a good horror film can employ all of the cinematic tools in a way that almost no other film can. There are three genres that are especially designed to be shared among an audience and those are comedy, horror, and action. There’s nothing like watching a really good horror film with a full audience.

I liked "Hereditary", but it had two flaws - one in the middle and one in the end - which brought down my rating. Nonetheless, I am still peeved that Toni Collette was not considered for any major acting awards just because it happened to be in a 'horror' film.

If "Hereditary" was about family and relationships, "Midsommar" is about breakups. It is certainly not for everybody. The theatrical cut is 148 minutes and the even better Director's Cut is 171 minutes. It sort of feels like an Eraserhead child born between a relationship drama and "The Wicker Man". I felt the DC is better because it adds only one scene (which only enhances our understanding of the relationship) and extends several scenes, which gives the feeling that you are watching the same movie, just with one more scene rather than something 23 minutes longer. This Trakt user review is closer to how I think of the movie.


Robert Eggers: Then - The Witch (2015), Now - The Lighthouse (2019)

"The Lighthouse" is easily the weirdest of the three and also the best (my subjective opinion). Like "The Witch" before it, Eggers manages to create a unique feel via the language and atmosphere. But, "The Lighthouse" goes a step further. The Eggers brothers not only chose to film the black and white film in a silent film aspect ratio (1.19:1.0) but they even used a camera lens from 1912 and a Double-X film. Then, they built the lighthouse tower set to accommodate filming with a 50mm camera lens. The scenes and the language were developed from nautical dictionaries, real lighthouse keeper logs, and novels.

I expected Willem Dafoe to give the performance he did. But, I certainly did not expect Robert Pattinson to match him (Before this, my only exposure to Pattinson was a couple of 'Twilight' movies and 'Goblet of Fire'). The film creates a strange brooding atmosphere and a strong sense of isolation with seemingly no escape from it. It kind of loops between mundane work (like a Bela Tarr movie, just faster), long Dafoe monologues, a drunk buddy comedy and pagan horror with effortless ease. The film is purposefully ambiguous. So, if you are someone who likes a clean-cut resolution, this is not the film for you :)
 
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Very dark comedy, Joaquin Phoenix's performance in this is best I've seen by any actor in a long while. He really deserves to win the Oscar for this role.
 
Tanhaji Movie.
<snip>
I think I am incompatible and wrong in accessing the movies. And am little out of touch. Sorry about that.
The movie with dance and songs is Super Hit. In some Theaters viewers showered money on some Movie Scenes. Well atleast people in other parts came to know about the Tanahji character.
Best regards.
 
I think I am incompatible and wrong in accessing the movies. And am little out of touch. Sorry about that.
The movie with dance and songs is Super Hit. In some Theaters viewers showered money on some Movie Scenes. Well atleast people in other parts came to know about the Tanahji character.
Best regards.

didn't get you here.
anyway, I am yet to watch it, certainly not with bated breath (have learnt it with Indian movies; they've a tendency to surprisingly exhilarate or disappoint you...I now watch very, very few of them). brother who's abroad watched it and said it was decent, underwhelming. he said that 'farzand' infact was quite better than this! :D to each, his own, i guess then.
 
The Mule (2019)

finished watching this movie today; had been pending since long (I watch movies in parts usually, unless if watching in company of someone).
found it a little atypical of clint's movies, the manner in which they tend to hit you at the end. this was underwhelming in that regard I felt. still, a decent-to-good watch, esp for those who like clint's movies as well as like to watch stuff on the narco-cartels & ops. wouldn't want to reveal any thing from the plot; but it was good to see clint carrying on with work even at this age (which's telling, ofcourse)! hats off, respect!
 
Wajib
Language: Arabic
Director: Annemarie Jacir

Nicely done movie which explores father son relationship, has humor, politics.

Capernaum
Director: Nadine Labaki

The lead character in the movie who is around 12 years old left a lasting impression. This movie does hit hard and will keep one thinking for sometime.

The Lighthouse.
Director: Robert Eggers

a strong performance by William Dafoe. The movie at times felt abstract and lacking(could not see the point, maybe needs a 2nd watch) Nevertheless a must watch to see the performance of Dafoe and Pattinson.

Gone Kesh
Amazon Prime
Director: Qasim Khallow

Quite a few movies are being made about baldness and getting released around the same time. I did enjoy Ayushman's Bala , however felt this one was better. It seems more close to reality.
 
didn't get you here.
anyway, I am yet to watch it, certainly not with bated breath (have learnt it with Indian movies; they've a tendency to surprisingly exhilarate or disappoint you...I now watch very, very few of them). brother who's abroad watched it and said it was decent, underwhelming. he said that 'farzand' infact was quite better than this! :D to each, his own, i guess then.
It was about mild complaint in my earlier post about portrayal of historical figures. I am slowly learning to be indifferent about these things.
Have heard about farzand. Deool and Rege are the only two recent movies which I enjoyed.
Regards.
 
Marriage Story ... The acting was the best part of this movie. top-notch and certainly Oscar-worthy. And Scarlett Johansson did receive the nomination. The plot is simple, two people in love, fight for what they believe is best for them in the given circumstances, and decide to get a divorce. But frankly speaking, I didn't enjoy how the plot unfoldes eventually. This was more of a divorce story than marriage. Don't get me wrong the writing is to the highest standards, but I strongly believe, the journey of pain and suffering and trial and tribulations should have made them realise the importance of love, life, sacrifice. The characters or the couple, in this case, didn't grow as the movie/life progresses. Its clearly shown that both of them loved each other truly and passionately, but neither of them actually tries to "sort" or "learn" from anything they shared on-screen which eventually was turning out to be the end of their story. The ideal ending would have been if the couple would have worked their way out from commitment and compromise and self-sacrifice for their love for each other and more importantly love for their family. My rating would be 6.5/10
 
That is not how I saw "Marriage Story" :)

I think what you felt is what you are supposed to feel. It is about two people, who could have worked out their differences if they had just sat down and had a heart-to-heart. But, once she files for divorce, the legal system brings in animosity and throws the rift wide open despite the fact that they still care for each other. This is why the ending worked very well for me and I gave it a much higher rating.

Further, Laura Dern's award-winning performance was realistic according to a divorce lawyer. I really liked her performance, especially scenes like the one where she complements Adam Driver when she is on a short break and gets back to work as soon as she sits down.

This is based on Noah Baumbach's own divorce with Jennifer Jason Leigh.

From here

"Of course, I have a real connection to the material. But I was also at a time in my life where many of my friends were getting divorced. I saw it as an opportunity to do something more expansive, so I did a lot of research. I interviewed a lot of my friends, and friends of friends, and then also lawyers, judges, mediators."

All that research allowed Baumbach to get truly, deeply honest about everything that happens around the breakup of a marriage. “You have a legal system that brings in lawyers, judges, evaluators, and mediators. There are all these [professionals] that suddenly become part of your professional experience,” Baumbach explained to Awards Daily. “Then family gets brought into it because it’s a rewriting of your marriage. So everyone who was involved in your marriage in some ways becomes a part of the divorce narrative.

In approaching that cavalcade of characters, it was important to Baumbach, who's known for his meticulous details, that divorce lawyers weren't depicted as money-obsessed villains, as they are sometimes portrayed in television shows or movies. Instead, Baumbach says there are no good or bad guys in Marriage Story, there are just the realities of divorce. “Another part of the story is that these people lose control of their own narrative, and they lose their voice at a certain point because the lawyers take over for them,” he told Awards Daily.

But at the film's core, Baumbach wanted to make sure his Marriage Story was ultimately about the love that still exists, even as many marriages are ending. That's what drew the eye of the film's producer, David Heyman, who told The Hollywood Reporter, "It's a beautiful piece of writing ... What I loved about it was that it was a love story. No matter how hard they went at it, you still never question the love that they have for one another."


Also,

There are moments in the film that feel very evocative of Baumbach and Leigh’s relationship, or at the very least the dynamic they presented as a couple to the public. Leigh behaved childishly, much like Johansson's character, and both were born and raised in California (Leigh's family were involved in the acting business - her father, Vic Morrow, famously died during the making of Twilight Zone: The Movie.) For most of their marriage, Leigh was the more famous one, like Nicole in the film, before the dynamic of prestige and attention shifted to Baumbach. In an interview with Deadline, Baumbach did acknowledge the obvious, saying:
....
Baumbach argues the film is not autobiographical, however, telling The New York Times:

"I think when people say autobiographical, they’re assuming it’s one-to-one, which none of my movies are in the slightest. I might use autobiographical details at times, but any extrapolation beyond that has no meaning to the work or to me or anything else."
 
Wating for
Greyhound
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The film story is based on the days of World War II and Tom Hanks plays the role of a ship captain. The ship is operating under the code name Greyhound and the team under captain destroys a Nazi sub, setting off a celebration.
 
Recently watched a hindi web series - Asur, and I would highly recommend it to everyone. It's a psychological crime thriller which is very gripping and with smart writing which is very rare in India.
 
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