The Films of 2014

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
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Lemmy Caution
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 3:26 am
Location: East of Shanghai

Re: The Films of 2014

#76 Post by Lemmy Caution » Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:36 am

Rocks in My Pockets (2014) is a Latvian animation film about the unstable and suicidal females in the director's family, including herself. The titular rocks being a drowning aid, something her grandmother hadn't considered in a failed attempt. The film is intended to be rather frank including discussing and depicting excretion which may occur after hanging (Tip: do your own neck-stretching while wearing adult diapers).

There are some good moments and creative images, but overall it's sort of an ugly warts-and-all exercise. The film covers 5 disturbed females in her family, and I liked best the section about the pretty smart cousin, as that had interesting details.

One problem I had with the film was that my disc started with English narration -- the whole film is narrated, characters don't speak -- and the director has a rather strong accent laden with wacky intonations. She's lived in NYC for a significant period of time, so her English is good, but her intonations and vowel sounds are almost bizarre. After 15 mins or so, I finally switched to the Latvian track -- mislabeled on my disc as Spanish -- and not surprisingly the director has a rather strong accent in her native language as well. I started thinking she might have been okay as her own voice in the film, but could have hired voice actors (or family members) for the other characters. One of the odder parts of the film is when the director in her strong accent does a different voice to imitate a character who is speaking/thinking.

Anyway, it's a personal film, about her actual family and their secrets and psychological demons. Some of the animation is rather basic -- personal demons look like overgrown aqua Matt Groening rabbits -- with some creative bursts here and there. After moving to NY in 1995, director/animator Signe Baumane worked with Bill Plympton for a few years, and he gets thanked in the credits. Plympton and Groening are probably good reference points for the rawness and at times frankness (and occasional ugliness) of the film.

Have to say I'm not terribly comfortable pondering the suicidal thoughts of others. It certainly didn't help that last Tuesday afternoon my neighbor on the 1st floor hanged himself in the wake of some rather sudden bad medical news. Not that we were close, but I knew him for 10 years and liked him/his family best among my many neighbors.

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
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Re: The Films of 2014

#77 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:12 pm

Cold in July is a mess. It really skates by on the charm of watching actors the caliber of Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard and Don Johnson act together. But otherwise it's just a jumbled attempt at various times being a noir, an action movie, a comedy, and an 80's movie. But all done with a po-faced Hall (sadly this kind of thing is par for the course of his movie career) leading the way through.

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Antarctica
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:48 am
Location: United States

Tom at the Farm

#78 Post by Antarctica » Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:06 pm

Image

I enjoyed this film a lot. The cornfield scene reminded me of the wheat scene from Julian Donkey Boy. I loved the Alan Clarke walking shots. A lot of people compare it to Alfred Hitchcock. Originally, Xavier Dolan said he didn't want music. He just wanted ambient sounds, like floorboards creaking. I would have liked to hear that version. I wasn't sure about the violins.
SpoilerShow
"A Genet-like love story between a smart-ass hipster and his dead boyfriend’s domineering and dangerously closeted brother who once ripped the mouth off of a man who cruised his sibling. I thought it was sexy." - John Waters, in his Favorite Films of 2015 list (https://artforum.com/inprint/issue=201510&id=56221)

The mutilation went too far for me. It turned Francis into a monster, rather than a twisted person with serious problems. I think it would have been better if he had killed the guy accidentally in his rage, perhaps by punching him which causes him to fall and hit his head. This would have made him seem like he could be saved. I would have liked to have seen Tom drive back at the end and pick up Francis, deciding he would no longer be submissive and try to help Francis. Like John, I thought it was sexy. Maybe I'm nuts, though.

Dolan said originally in this scene, Francis was jacking off Tom. He decided the scene didn't need it, and I agree. Just having the choking is so strange. It's sexual without being sex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6PMOLkttSk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That scene where Francis says, "I know you like me" while ironing is kind of haunting and sexy. This movie is so strange, and great for it.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: The Films of 2014

#79 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:06 am

Saihate nite / The Furthest End Await (CHIANG Hsiu-chiung, 2014)

A movie by a Taiwanese director (who started as an actress in Brighter Summer Day, and was a protege of Edward Yang and HOU Hsiao-hsien). It is set in Japan (Noto Peninsula, the scene of Maborosi and Zero Focus). Hiromi Nagasaku (one of Japan's best comic actresses) is excellent in a strictly dramatic role as a Tokyo woman returning to her home town for the first time in decades, after her (long-estranged) father has been declared legally dead (due to being missing for 8 years). She develops a complicated relationship with her nearest neighbor (a young bar hostess) and her seemingly neglected young children. Sweet, sentimental (in a good way) and very scenic. Indeed the film makes full use of its seaside setting, and does repeat set-ups, showing the location under many different circumstances (a la Monet's haystack series).

Screen captures on FB: https://www.facebook.com/michael.e.kerp ... nref=story" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Red Screamer
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:34 pm
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Re: The Films of 2014

#80 Post by Red Screamer » Tue Oct 18, 2016 12:19 pm

Camera falls from airplane and lands in pig pen--MUST WATCH END!!
A YouTube video resembling an experimental short, authored by an anonymous cameraperson and a pig. I must have watched this at least a dozen times.

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dadaistnun
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:31 am

Re: The Films of 2014

#81 Post by dadaistnun » Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:24 am

Feels kind of weird bumping a thread this old - apologies if this should be a new thread.

==
La Chambre bleue/The Blue Room (d. Amalric)

I'm surprised to see so little discussion of this on the board (a couple of minor mentions in Cannes and NYFF threads and some wishful thinking in the CC speculation thread is pretty much it) - I thought this was pretty outstanding. Having not read Simenon's novel (though I'm about to rectify that) I can't speak to the adaptation's fidelity. I'm guessing it's pretty faithful plotwise, but the fractured nature of the the narrative in the film brings to mind Robbe-Grillet. It reminds me a bit of La Jalousie in its air of psychological claustrophobia. Almaric's decision to shoot this in 1.33 helps with that aspect, and doesn't feel gimmicky at all. I also appreciated the unexpectedly lush score. I would have expected something more chamber-like, or or even minimalist, but Grégoire Hetzel's music brings out the turbulent, heated emotions while the excellent performances keep things in a more reserved register for the most part.

Really keen on checking out Barbara now.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: The Films of 2014

#82 Post by knives » Wed Aug 21, 2019 1:31 pm

The Captive by Egoyan
I'm going to ignore critical receptions to Egoyan's films from now on because despite this being given such a toxic reception I was expecting Captivity levels bad. Instead, as should have been expected, I got a quiet procedural reflecting on the meaning of purpose. That's a pretty daring theme to place on a kidnapping/ pedophilia story. That's really perverse way to tell a story as disgusting as this and it only succeeds for how overwhelmingly sad the setup is told. That sadness just so subtly shifts the tale from finding purpose after growing out of being this captor's dream into the idea of purpose being a villain. There's this powerful idea within Cassandra's story that purpose is a rationalization for painful circumstances beyond our ability to remove ourselves from them.

That leaves a mysterious purpose for the parent's story, but that on two levels is managed to fit in. Purpose in this case seems good. Saving your daughter is a noble cause, but nevertheless it is a cause that has emotion tied to it meaning that it is a killing sickness. Both the police and the parents, unfortunately along gendered grounds in the film's sole misstep, have this sickness with the women having cures to prevent the killing though there's no way to remove the infection.

This thematic way of dealing with story allows Egoyan to go into some very bizarre places with the story. Places I don't think any other filmmaker except maybe DePalma would ever dare to go to that keep this shocking and deepens this idea that humans need clear eyes on how they deal with duty. The big scene that recalls DePalma in particular ends in a small act of irony so sad in its cruel humour and making so literal these themes with the character who was supposed to be the hero that it left me a mess for the remainder of the film.

Also the best and most perverse use of Der hölle Rache ever.

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