Possebon

Possebon wrote

Reply to by !deleted8205

This week I watched Peterloo. I've been wanting to watch this for a long time as I come from Manchester so this has extra importance to me. It drags for the first half an hour as Mike Leigh sets up all the history that is needed to understand what the massacre was, why it happened and why it was so important. By the end I really enjoyed it and the scene of the Peterloo massacre itself is quite harrowing. It's a shame so many people don't know about this event.

The Red Turtle was on a TV channel where I live now (not Manchester anymore) this week and whilst an absolutely a beautiful film to look at the ending made me wonder what the message of the film really was. If anyone has their own interpretations I'd be very interested to read them.

Then there was Y Tu Mamá También in which a Spanish woman has a lot of sex with some 13-year old boys. I don't think they're 13 in the film but mentally they are. I hated every character in this film and I was tempted to give up after an hour. However, I really enjoyed everything else that was going on around them and technically it was so well done. I will give Roma a go in the upcoming weeks.

I also watched Ip Man 2, Parasite Eve, and Stir Crazy but I don't have too many thoughts about those.

On my agenda this week is I, Daniel Blake, then maybe Karamazovi, and also Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. That Yukio Mishima was a crazy fascist but his life story (and grizzly ending) intrigues me.

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Possebon wrote

Another busy film week for me...

I watched Departures, which I really enjoyed but it felt it was a little too sentimental but those moments were broken up with a bit humour and a great soundtrack. That didn't put me off watching another Yojiro Takita film, When the Last Sword Is Drawn, which was slightly less sentimental and had a lot more samurai so I probably preferred that.

I realised that I had never actually watched a Hitchcock film in my life so I started with North by Northwest. There were a few fun set pieces (like the obvious one) and technically it was really good for the time but it didn't click with me. I will give Hitchcock another chance but I'm not sure which one next.

La Haine was amazing. I can't believe I hadn't seen it until now. Brilliantly shot, fantastically acted, Vincent Cassel has a face you just want to punch, and a shocking ending. The difference in Vinz and Hubert's relationships with the police and society were fascinating (then with Sayid seemingly just following one of the two). I loved it, very highly recommended.

Finally, I watched the documentary Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager. Bobby Robson was always so likeable when he was around it really shows in this. It focuses mostly on his year in Barcelona and then switches to his work with Ipswich and England. Great to hear from Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho, and Pep Guardiola about him but the interviews with Gazza were really heartbreaking and showed what an amazing influence Robson had on him.

Phew, next week I will finally get around to Peterloo, and then maybe Y Tu Mamá También and whatever else.

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Possebon wrote

Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Labyrinth of Spirits, I actually started this last year in Spanish but my Spanish is so shit I gave up after about 100 pages.

Also, José Saramago's The History of the Siege of Lisbon which isn't my favourite Saramago I've read so far but still really great. It seems much more personal than say, Blindness or Death at Intervals.

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Possebon wrote

I wasn't too sure what to think of it, especially the bit with the Japanese sex doll thing? I read a few theories online but I still have no idea. I think I might need to rewatch it without getting distracted by the animation. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to relate to Michael or not. Is it just that something is "very, very wrong" with him?

Yeah, I didn't like it nearly as much as Synecdoche, New York (which is one of my favourite ever films) but it had some really interesting ideas.

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Possebon wrote

I've been on a bit of a film binge recently, which is weird because I barely watched any last year.

So I watched Takashi Miike's Audition. I've read some of Ryu Murakami's books and seen a few Miike's films so I should have known how uncomfortable it was going to end up but it still managed to get me. Urgh, that wire.

Then it was Anomalisa. I really like Charlie Kaufman's work so I really enjoyed this one. Since I come from North West England it's always nice to hear a familiar accent as a lead role for an American film.

The Long Goodbye was Little White Lies' podcast Film Club and this is the first time I bothered to actually watch the film before listening to it. This was really fun.

Finally, I also watched Network. I probably quoted this film countless times without actually ever having seen it. It does feel like Sorkin-before-Sorkin but without the smarminess and the speech is obviously timeless.

Phew, sorry for so many words. Next week I'm planning to watch Peterloo, La Haine, Departures and who knows what else.

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Possebon wrote (edited )

Reply to by !deleted8205

I finally started la Casa de Papel / Money Heist but I accidentally watched episode 5 instead of episode 2. After watching Westworld I gladly accepted the massive skip in time until I realised starting episode 3 that I had gone massively wrong. I'm really enjoying it, however.

And next I will be watching this week's Alan Partridge.

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Possebon wrote

Bus 174, a documentary about a young guy taking hostages on a bus in Rio.

The documentary goes into a lot about life for the street kids in Brazil and their conditions. It's interesting watching this and then to find out the director (José Padilha) did both Elite Squad movies too.

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