Films you've seen recently and would unreservedly recommend:

[rubberdingyrapids]

DV i think is a great craftsman, sicario was so well put together, but he has nothing to say, or add to existing sci-fi, or in the case of sicario, The War on Drugs/drug cartels in south america, the fbi's war on drug cartels in south america, etc etc. hes technically excellent, but thats about it. imagine blade runner to be more of the same. unless perhaps he is allowed to make it in french....

 

[Corpsey]

Couldn't the same be said of Ridley Scott, though? A brilliant technician who needs a good script and (in the case of Alien, say) superior art direction to really shine. Prometheus would have been great if the script hadn't been a pile of dogshit.

I actually don't rate Blade Runner as highly as I probably should. I love the opening helicopter shot of the city, from there on its downhill as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe Villeneuve directing with Alex Garland writing the script would be a good combo. Like Sorkin writing for Fincher.

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

well yeah, but i feel like theres something just a tad bland about his hollywood stuff. they have good ideas, but somehow sicario ends up in a sort of going-nowhere shruggy fog (though it sort of made sense wrt the characters), and in arrival, he seems to succumb to the current trend for taking big ideas and making them more or less vague to the point of inoffensiveness, drilling them down to a basic plea for something simple and a tad facile (though quite nice and touching and relevant post trump etc). the film version of a big coldplay arena anthem. a sci fi cup of cocoa etc.

 

[Mr. Tea]

The original Blade Runner deserves its rep as a classic of the genre, I think. Can't say I'm eager to see the new one. In fact I'm sick to death of all these remakes and 'reboots' of cult classics. Is there ever going to be a backlash, do you think, or are people just going to keep going to see them forever?

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

The original Blade Runner deserves its rep as a classic of the genre, I think. Can't say I'm eager to see the new one. In fact I'm sick to death of all these remakes and 'reboots' of cult classics. Is there ever going to be a backlash, do you think, or are people just going to keep going to see them forever?

as long as people like me, who are lukewarm on the original too, are just interested in the idea of what the next one might be like. i dont even know why at this point.

sticking with amy adams, i saw nocturnal animals at the weekend. wasnt a fan of tom fords first film but this one actually really did it for me. its a very straw dogs-ish revenge thriller set against a more tom fordian story of a sensitive, rich (naturally), detached, unhappy woman working in the art world. but beyond that, it says some interesting things about parents (rejection and absorption of), youthful naivity/idealism, growing older, and also masculinity (what is 'strong' and 'weak' etc etc), and careers/ambition. i was expecting something quite superficial so was surprised by it. jake gylenhall is in it too and hes brilliant.

im quite enjoying talking about the newer, bigger film releases on dissensus.

 

[Corpsey]

I love gyllenhaal

I wish I was him

I would wear his skin

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

greatest modern male american actor?

his recent run - nightcrawler/demolition/nocturnal animals/enemy - was pretty excellent.

hes always good, even when the films are okay.

 

[Mr. Tea]

His sister's great too.

 

[you]

greatest modern male american actor?

his recent run - nightcrawler/demolition/nocturnal animals/enemy - was pretty excellent.

hes always good, even when the films are okay.

'Zodiac', by Fincher, is a great film he is excellent in too. Fantastic cast generally.

 

[you]

was there ever a 'TV' thread? Is anyone watching Westworld? I've quite enjoyed it.

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

theres a rolling tv thread.

 

[Corpsey]

'Zodiac', by Fincher, is a great film he is excellent in too. Fantastic cast generally.

Zodiac is so good but I am hesitant to rewatch it cos i watched it stoned once and it traumatised me (Cos those murders really happened).

Probably the best Fincher movie for my money

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

not sure if i recommend it per se but chi raq is good. a total mess, its like lee overloaded it with everything, style in abundance, so he didnt have to think about what the subject is supposed to be - the gang wars in chicago. tbh, if it was about a fictional situation, it would be amazing. as its meant to be about a real place, with real problems, i cant help think its a failure. artistically, its incredible. in every other way, its a wreck. just lazy on his part. ego centric filmmaking. as if he couldnt be bothered to engage and learn about the place. so you get his outdated somewhat politics stuck in there, rather than actually telling you about chicago. the women are basically all sass. the bangers, who youre meant to be learning about a bit, dont even get to tell their story properly. looks great though. shame about everything else.

 

[you]

Zodiac is so good but I am hesitant to rewatch it cos i watched it stoned once and it traumatised me (Cos those murders really happened).

Probably the best Fincher movie for my money

Yes. My favourite too. I like the absolute lack of climax. There is no big ending, no comeuppance. Instead there is a just the slow death of the case, the career and personal casualties of those involved and embroiled. The most chilling part is the shift from 60s to 70s california. Serial killers were big, scary news in the 60s but by the 70s they wouldn't even make the front page. This aspect is most intriguing. How serial killing became normalized in culture.

Gyllenhaal is perfect in Zodiac. Just a dash of autistic obsession, but innocent with it (unlike Nightcrawler, his performance there is touch overdone). His scenes with with RDJ character (played convincingly by... RDJ) are really funny. Great duo.

Has anyone seen Tickled?

 

[Corpsey]

Gyllenhaal's great gift is his big globular eyes, which can look haunted or haunting. In Zodiac he is perfect as the potential prey, in Nightcrawler he's perfect as a predator.

I guess this is what enables him to carry off the double act in 'Enemy', come to think of it.

 

[droid]

Has anyone seen 'Son of Saul'? Its absolutely incredible.

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

its no. 2 in the guardian's best films of the year list. anomalisa is number one. which is funny cos i would put that probably as one of the worser films of 2016.

 

[Corpsey]

Guess I'll watch Anomalisa tonight (it's on Netflix). I thought it sounded a bit adolescent but then so am I.

Should watch Son of Saul but it's one of those 'I need to gird myself' films which I never get around to watching.

 

[craner]

The Seven Year Itch.

Couldn't be made today, would be crucified, but is a fundamentally true diagnosis of middle aged male psychology: booze, fags and easy women are lingering like volcanos beneath the veneer of maturity.

 

[craner]

And, Marilyn was a very good comic actress, by the way. Could make that male psychology look silly, absurd, while simultaneously arousing and playing up to it. An ambigious art.