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StarTopic Film Chat |ST| What's Your Favorite Acting Turn?

For Japan January me and my GF watched Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast (1986) dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi.
One of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. An extremely powerful film, might be Obayashi's best. Shot in some of the most stunning black and white cinematography I've ever seen, deep inky blacks and whites that seem to glow. Its a story about how war, nationalism, and fascism effect and warp childhood, how they destory everything beautiful and true. The war games and petty, half understood sexual confusion of youth is held in relief against the encroachment of WWII and the fascist goons and pseudointellectualism that upholds it. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, and never short of gorgeous. The ending will be with me forever. A generation up in flames.
I remember the Criterion release for House came with an essay that dismissed everything Obayashi made after House as not important, commercial junk. A crime honestly! This deserves to be in conversation for greatest movie ever made imo.
 
Just got out of a 35mm double feature screening of Godzilla vs Biolante and Godzilla vs Ghidorah. A transcendent experience seeing these 2 Heisei era films on celluloid. Biolante's mishmash of psychics, military action, corporate espionage, and giant monsters is intoxicating. Some of the best effects works in the series. Also, rat bastard Koichi Sugiyama did the music, and you better believe it just sounds like a Dragon Quest game.
Ghidorah is even more unhinged. Featuring some of the silliest time travel logic I've ever seen, plenty great nonprofessional white guy actors, Major Spielburg, and the coolest monster of all time, Mecha King Ghidorah.
The Heisei Godzilla films I think don't have a great reputation, and while they don't reach the heights of the Showa era, they're often deliriously entertaining.
 
Oscar Nominee Brendan Fraser.

Oscar Nominee Ke Huy Quan.

Oscar Nominee Michelle Yeoh.

yall I'm so damn giddy
 
finally saw Labyrinth of Cinema this weekend and wow! what a beautiful way to cap off a lifetime of work. it’s also so rare for contemporary movies to be okay with viewers getting a glimpse at the seams of their visual effects, but it wears its green screened backdrops so proudly

hey @Phosphorescent Skeleton have you seen any of Koki Mitani’s movies? I recommend ‘Welcome Back Mr. McDonald’ if you haven’t seen it and have some room in japan january—one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen and just generally one of the best pieces of media I’ve run into in the last year (I recommend it to everyone else, too)
 
slide's said:
finally saw Labyrinth of Cinema this weekend and wow! what a beautiful way to cap off a lifetime of work. it’s also so rare for contemporary movies to be okay with viewers getting a glimpse at the seams of their visual effects, but it wears its green screened backdrops so proudly

hey @Phosphorescent Skeleton have you seen any of Koki Mitani’s movies? I recommend ‘Welcome Back Mr. McDonald’ if you haven’t seen it and have some room in japan january—one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen and just generally one of the best pieces of media I’ve run into in the last year (I recommend it to everyone else, too)
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Labyrinth of Cinema is a full stop masterpiece. I recently watched Hanagatami which is just about as good. Obayashi even in his 70s was turning out some of his career best work.

Welcome Back Mr McDonald sounds interesting, putting it in the watch list.
 
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Tár is so fucking kino, I really wish I caught it at the kinoplex when I had the chance. The ending is great and all but I what I really loved was how many little things were eating away at Lydia and just unnerving her. Cate Blanchett is so good at that building unease. I'm gonna have to watch Todd Field's other movies.
 
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Just watched The Northman.

Enjoyed it, good cast, good acting, beautiful scenery and sound. The ending felt like it let it down a bit?
(a pretty average sword fight in front of a volcano)
the general unsettling vibe throughout was good, not a moment of comfort. Alexander Skarsgard is always a good watch.
 
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I am going through my yearly ritual of watching every Best Picture nominee.

I have watched six out of ten, and at this point I will go ahead and say that if Everything Everywhere All at Once doesn't win all awards it's nominated for, I am rioting.
 
Earthbounder said:
I am going through my yearly ritual of watching every Best Picture nominee.

I have watched six out of ten, and at this point I will go ahead and say that if Everything Everywhere All at Once doesn't win all awards it's nominated for, I am rioting.
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Subtract Jamie Lee Curtis, Score, and Song, and I'd be mostly okay with this lol. I'd be happy to see Banshees get screenplay as well, but EEAAO would be a good pick too.
 
Dragoncaine said:
Subtract Jamie Lee Curtis, Score, and Song, and I'd be mostly okay with this lol. I'd be happy to see Banshees get screenplay as well, but EEAAO would be a good pick too.
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Luckily Jamie alee Curtis is gonna lose to the other EEAAO nominee in that category, Stephanie Hsu. 😉
 
Another Best Picture nominee down, as I watched The Fabelmans today.

It's one of those easy-to-like Spielberg movies, but I thought it was really touching. I can't help but wonder how emotional it must have been for him to revisit all those memories and see them play out in front of his eyes.
 
For my birthday we watched Godzilla vs Hedorah, Legend of the Stardust Brothers, and Drunken Master. Just a dangerous amount of pure cinematic joy.
 
Gonna try to post here more about good/interesting movies I've seen recently.

This Is Cinerama (1952) - This is basically a tech demo for one of the earliest color wide screen formats. The Cinerama process worked by projecting three 35mm images on three adjacent screens. We see various shots of Europe, opera, Everglades boat races, first person roller coaster rides, and birds eye cross country views of America. Looks unreal, but the limitations of the technology are very apparent. Its clear that the cameras were too complicated to move unless they were strapped to a vehicle, most of the movie is maddeningly static. The travelog nature of the film is also excruciatingly boring across a 2 hour run time. Worth seeing out of historical curiosity, but lacked to spectacle I was hoping for.

Carmen Comes Home (1951) - The first feature length color film made in Japan, and another one watched mainly out of historical curiosity. A charming little movie about an erotic dancer coming back to her countryside home after making it big in Tokyo. So many post war Japanese films were about the tension between westernization and traditional culture, and this is no exception. The titular Carmen is adament that her burlesque routine is art, and the film seems to agree. The movie doesn't posit that Carmen's western, city ways or the more traditional farmers as being better or worse then each other. The only real villian in the movie is a greedy, heartless capitalist. Not a masterpiece, but there are some good songs and rich and strange colors. Worth a watch.
 
Dragoncaine said:
Subtract Jamie Lee Curtis, Score, and Song, and I'd be mostly okay with this lol. I'd be happy to see Banshees get screenplay as well, but EEAAO would be a good pick too.
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Me and my partner watched Banshees the other evening.

I enjoyed it, but now I've had a chance to let it mull around in my brain, I'm not sure I entirely get what all the hype was about.

It's a good film, with good performances and good writing, but I'm not sure there's anything in it to push it above "good" for me.

Spoilers below:

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are good, but it's the same sort of camaraderie that we saw in In Bruges, where Gleeson is the cultured, sophisticated one weary with the world, and Farrell is the younger, more naive one less curious about the world. The only major difference is Gleeson is more of a knob about it this time.

The setting mostly just feels like backdrop rather than a core part of the story: the mainland exists as a place for other characters to go to if they need to be out of the story for a bit, and the civil war seems tangential at best. The supporting cast all have the potential for interesting arcs of their own, but for the most part they just feel tacked on. The policeman in particular feels like a slight story about dark subject matter that deserved a fuller telling with bigger repurcussions. Likewise the sister, who is trying to make it as a female librarian in a setting rife with sexism

Overall, I'm a bit nonplussed by the conflict between Farrell and Gleeson. It's obvious from the get go that Gleesons creative tendencies coupled with his self harm point towards some form of manic depression, and the film resolves it by going "Yeah, he's depressed... Or something." There's really no further analysis than that, at least that I can see, and it feels like the writing is more preoccupied with having snappy back and forths between him and Farrell.

So yeah... It's not a bad film by any means, but I'd be lying of I said I understand what all the fuss is about.
 
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Killers from Space (1954)- Nothing great, but fun nonsense with crazy eyes and eyebrows aliens. At a certain point in the life of a cinephile you come to love when a movie has something like 15 minutes of stock footage. I will always be angry, however, at rear projected animals made to look like giant animals. Give me model or guy in a rubber suit! At the very least put some fins on the lizards! Cheap 50s sf movies are like a warm blanket to me though, so I can't get too mad.
MST3K fans need to chill out about movies like this. Directed by Billy Wilder's brother, much better than his brothers movie from the same year, Sabrina. Watched as research for an adventure game I'm writing.
 
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The Alligator People (1959) - Really enjoyed this. One of the better 50s sf films. People get upset when the science in these movies don't make sense. I'm sorry they didn't have a more logical explanation for people turning into alligator people. Maybe the people who made this knew it was a bit silly and the joke is on you. The alligator man looks amazing in all steps of his transformation. All the talk about hormones creating a monster really makes me reflect in my owe life. Has some questionable moments that you might expect from a 1959 movie set in Louisiana, but they're pretty brief.
 
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For some reason it's been very difficult to find tickets for the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon rerelease, the movie's site, the Google listings, and the Regal app all show different things. It looks like there's one Friday night about 30 minutes from me, don't know why my local theater isn't playing it when it's one of the biggest theaters in the country, but regardless looking forward to seeing this.
 
Mekanos said:
For some reason it's been very difficult to find tickets for the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon rerelease, the movie's site, the Google listings, and the Regal app all show different things. It looks like there's one Friday night about 30 minutes from me, don't know why my local theater isn't playing it when it's one of the biggest theaters in the country, but regardless looking forward to seeing this.
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Yeah I can't find it anywhere near me, either.
 
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Flash Gordon (1936) -
The eagle eyed viewer might be able to spot a young Alan Moore as Thun, prince of the Lionmen.

Lots of barrel chested, ham and egg types in this.

Watched this serial over the course of a week. Filled with funny beast creatures, cool matte paintings, rockets, terrible acting, extremely problematic villian. Interesting from a historical perspective. Rightly credited as the progenitor of Star Wars (including racially coded villians), but it can also be seen as in the same lineage of the Marvel films with their endless serialized plot andcheap effects.
 
Finally got my ticket for Crouching Tiger on Friday, looking forward to that.
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
Flash Gordon (1936) -
The eagle eyed viewer might be able to spot a young Alan Moore as Thun, prince of the Lionmen.

Lots of barrel chested, ham and egg types in this.

Watched this serial over the course of a week. Filled with funny beast creatures, cool matte paintings, rockets, terrible acting, extremely problematic villian. Interesting from a historical perspective. Rightly credited as the progenitor of Star Wars (including racially coded villians), but it can also be seen as in the same lineage of the Marvel films with their endless serialized plot andcheap effects.
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I remember watching this in film school and being amazed how much you could trace its lineage in basically every American superhero movie and Star Wars.

Where's the FGCU (Flash Gordon Cinematic Universe)
 
Mekanos said:
Finally got my ticket for Crouching Tiger on Friday, looking forward to that.

I remember watching this in film school and being amazed how much you could trace its lineage in basically every American superhero movie and Star Wars.

Where's the FGCU (Flash Gordon Cinematic Universe)
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The biggest difference with the MCU is that the old serials are dead earnest, even if its very obvious the people making it knew it was silly.

For people who want to see what serials were like, I would highly recommend The Adventures of Captain Marvel, the firsr ever super hero film and still one of the best.
 
Bride of the Monster (1955) dir. Ed Wood

This mfer has no home.
If you think this is one of the worst movies ever made, might I suggest getting a personality? Lugosi is as committed here as he was in Dracula. Never once phoned it in. Tor Jonson is a miracle, a living piece of pop art. People make fun of the giant octopus in this, most of these kinds of movies wouldn't even bother with providing a giant rubbery octopus! It rules. 4/5
 
Winter Light (1963) Dir. Ingmar Bergman

Yup, it's winter and there's a whole lotta light. A movie about a man wrestling with faith, with the silence of God, with the horrors and stuggles of everyday existence and tragedy. Probably a lot of people find Bergman intimidating, but his movies are often direct and immediately rewarding, not to mention visually stunning. Can't recommend this highly enough. If you have any interest in expanding your cinematic horizons, this is a great place to start.
 
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
Winter Light (1963) Dir. Ingmar Bergman

Yup, it's winter and there's a whole lotta light. A movie about a man wrestling with faith, with the silence of God, with the horrors and stuggles of everyday existence and tragedy. Probably a lot of people find Bergman intimidating, but his movies are often direct and immediately rewarding, not to mention visually stunning. Can't recommend this highly enough. If you have any interest in expanding your cinematic horizons, this is a great place to start.
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I’ve got a few Bergmans on my physical backlog; I should really get around to them. I’m a pretty vanilla Movie Guy so naturally I loved The Seventh Seal, but I was more mixed on The Magician. Still have Smiles on a Summer’s Night, Wild Strawberries, and Cries and Whispers.

But ‘hard to approach’ he is not.

For my part:

It Happened One Night (1934) Dir. Frank Capra

I somehow missed the fact that Capra invented the modern romantic comedy?
 
kvetcha said:
I’ve got a few Bergmans on my physical backlog; I should really get around to them. I’m a pretty vanilla Movie Guy so naturally I loved The Seventh Seal, but I was more mixed on The Magician. Still have Smiles on a Summer’s Night, Wild Strawberries, and Cries and Whispers.

But ‘hard to approach’ he is not.
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No shame in loving Seventh Seal, its a fantastic film well deserving of its reputation. I was personally surprised at how funny it was. Lots of jokes and gags.
 
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
One of the all time faces in cinema.
Laughed out loud when a guy climbed a tree to escape death and death pulled out a big saw like a god damn Looney Tunes character.
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Belly laughed. Also the portrayal of the actor as just this absolute horny craven is borderline screwball. I love it.
 
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
Bride of the Monster (1955) dir. Ed Wood

This mfer has no home.
If you think this is one of the worst movies ever made, might I suggest getting a personality? Lugosi is as committed here as he was in Dracula. Never once phoned it in. Tor Jonson is a miracle, a living piece of pop art. People make fun of the giant octopus in this, most of these kinds of movies wouldn't even bother with providing a giant rubbery octopus! It rules. 4/5
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Definitely Ed Woods best movie, it was nice to see Lugosi get a significant role again at the end of his career.

The MST3k version is really fun as well, made for an enjoyable episode. Also need to namedrop the film Ed Wood. They even depict part of yhe filming of this movie in it, also just an excellent film all around and from Tim Burton when he was firing on all cylinders back in the 80s and 90s.
 
Thinking of reviving my attempt to do a Famiboards Cinema Club. Basically a new movie to watch and discuss every other week. Would anyone be interested?
 
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Creed 3: God I love the Rocky/Creed series so much. This doesn’t quite hit the level of the first Creed which is one of my favourite movies, but it’s still a great time. Majors is excellent, and for a first time director I thought Jordan’s work was really good. You can definitely tell that there’s an anime influence, quite a few visual references to Ippo in particular in the fight scenes. All we were missing is some canon ball sound effects to go with the punches.

Honestly I’m actually really pumped up and ready to go for a run after that even though it’s like 11 at night here.
 
Getting some serious FOMO regarding Creed III but I'm gonna suck it up and go watch Operation Fortune instead tonight before my local theater realizes it isn't a AAA blockbuster and dumps it in a week. 😁
 
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Just saw Creed III. So glad to see someone finally managed to make a good live-action anime ffs
 
I'm kinda bugged that they showed a VFX breakdown of a cockpit shot from Top Gun when the whole damn push behind that movie was that the cockpit scenes were filmed for real with the actors actually flying the jets 😐
 
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I think it’s the first time since the 89th Academy Awards that I go to bed happy about the winners. What a night! See you next year for a third Miyazaki Oscar
 
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