Movies!

[Bramblethorn]

I finally saw Everything Everywhere All at Once and it was so good! I wish I could erase it from my head and watch it again for the first time.

Lots of laughs, but also lots of significance. And so many butt plugs!

I want to see that one again. So good.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Saw "Operation Mincemeat" last night, a film about a WWII deception operation where the Allies arranged for a body in military uniform to wash up on a Spanish beach with fake documents purporting to describe a plan to invade Greece, as a trick to distract the Germans from the real plan to invade Sicily.

The first half or so was decent, going through all the complications involved with finding a body and creating a fake life for this non-existent soldier. After that though, it got a bit chaotic. I'm not a WWII buff so I could have missed stuff but it felt like they were trying to pad out a one-hour story to two hours by throwing in a whole bunch of things, some maybe historical and some definitely fictional. IMHO would've worked better if they'd taken one or two of those aspects of the story and developed them fully rather than "here's a five-minute side plot that we pulled out of our arse, and here's another one."

One thing that exasperated me no end was how the people working on this ultra-secret deception operation with tens of thousands of lives at stake kept on discussing the details around people who didn't need to know. In front of their driver ... in a club ... walking through the streets of London ... at one point having a raised-voices argument out in the street late at night. I just wanted to whack them with a rolled-up newspaper until they learned some basic opsec.

This is why I'm no fun at movies ;-)

 

[seela]

Saw "Operation Mincemeat" last night, a film about a WWII deception operation where the Allies arranged for a body in military uniform to wash up on a Spanish beach with fake documents purporting to describe a plan to invade Greece, as a trick to distract the Germans from the real plan to invade Sicily.

The first half or so was decent, going through all the complications involved with finding a body and creating a fake life for this non-existent soldier. After that though, it got a bit chaotic. I'm not a WWII buff so I could have missed stuff but it felt like they were trying to pad out a one-hour story to two hours by throwing in a whole bunch of things, some maybe historical and some definitely fictional. IMHO would've worked better if they'd taken one or two of those aspects of the story and developed them fully rather than "here's a five-minute side plot that we pulled out of our arse, and here's another one."

One thing that exasperated me no end was how the people working on this ultra-secret deception operation with tens of thousands of lives at stake kept on discussing the details around people who didn't need to know. In front of their driver ... in a club ... walking through the streets of London ... at one point having a raised-voices argument out in the street late at night. I just wanted to whack them with a rolled-up newspaper until they learned some basic opsec.

This is why I'm no fun at movies ;-)

I can relate! I really liked The Bureau (the French spy series) but kept facepalming on the security of their actually office. Or rather the lack of security.

 

[Bramblethorn]

"Preaching to the Perverted": 1990s UK film about a religious young man who infiltrates a BDSM club at the behest of a crusading MP who wants to get evidence to bring a prosecution against them. And then he falls for the domme...

Surprisingly good, aside from the usual film thing of "what does she see in him?" Made by people who were obviously familiar with RL BDSM and aware of the politics around it, obviously influenced by the Spanner case not long before, where several men were jailed for consensual SM. Several of the cast were BDSM pros in real life.

I giggled at the end when they credited nipple doubles, tongue doubles, and bottom doubles.

 

[seela]

"Preaching to the Perverted": 1990s UK film about a religious young man who infiltrates a BDSM club at the behest of a crusading MP who wants to get evidence to bring a prosecution against them. And then he falls for the domme...

Surprisingly good, aside from the usual film thing of "what does she see in him?" Made by people who were obviously familiar with RL BDSM and aware of the politics around it, obviously influenced by the Spanner case not long before, where several men were jailed for consensual SM. Several of the cast were BDSM pros in real life.

I giggled at the end when they credited nipple doubles, tongue doubles, and bottom doubles.

It’s one of the better BDSM themed movies for sure.


I watched Golden Land, a documentary about a Finnish-Somali family that moves to Somaliland to start a mining business after it turns out the lands their family owns is worth a lot more than a Chinese mining company wants to buy it for.

It was really interesting because of what it showed about Finland, finnishness and the problems non-white people encounter here, as well as what it showed about Somalia. I’d love to know how the family is doing now.

 

[seela]

Sirens (2022) is a great documentary about a Lebanese all female thrash metal band called Slave to Siren. Or rather the band’s two guitarists and the music are the vehicle that allows the documentary to explore friendship, love, identity building and so on. It tells a lot about Lebanon, something about the Middle East too. Excellent viewing.

The Quiet Girl is an Irish movie about a girl who is sent to live with relatives in the 80s. It’s one of the first full length feature films made in the Irish language. I loved, loved, loved listening to the language and spotting the familiarities through what little Welsh I know. But it was also a beautifully shot film with lush Irish scenery. The movie was okay to me, not a particularly memorable or unique story, but well told and beautifully shot with the extra layer of the language. The child actor was really, really good. I’m very glad I saw it.

 

[seela]

Vesper is a biopunk movie set in a dystopic world where the plants have taken on strange qualities and food is scarce. Vesper is a teenager living in a cottage with a dad who's been severly injured in a war. Citadels, ruling cities with the technology and the commodities, rule the world. There was a lot to like about it, but there were also bits that felt very underdeveloped, plot wise. Visually it was beautiful and I loved the soundtrack as well. I wonder if there's going to be a sequel. That would explain some things about the partially very abrupt ending.

Once Upon a Time in Uganda is a documentary about Isaac Nabwana, a self-taught movie maker in Uganda, who makes 80s action inspired comedy-action-splatter movies in a very poor neighborhood of Kampala. It was a great story, the movies he makes with the community are just so whacky and cool. VJ = video joker. I laughed a lot watching this. It was also interesting to see the dynamics between Isaac Nabwana and Alan Hofmanis, who's an American guy who went to Uganda because he loved the bits of Wakaliwood productions he had seen on YouTube. Funny, feelgood, but also touches meatier topics.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom is a Bhutanese movie about a very remote village in the Himalayas and a teacher who's sent there from the capital city. The school of the village is dubbed the most remote school in the world - to reach it they have to trek uphill for a week, because no roads go there. The Lunana village is real and many of the actors in the movie are from the village, and the story is in large part based on the stories by the actual teachers who go to the village to teach (according to the guy who presented the movie). It's a slow paced film that shows a way of life that's likely going to wane sooner or later. Something about it is very quaint and appealing, even if the story has few surprises, and of course to me the Dzhonkha language was a huge bonus.

Holy Spider is an Iranian movie inspired by real events. In 2000-2001, a serial killer murdered 16 prostitutes to clean the streets, according to himself. In the movie a female journalist looks into the murders and helps(?) the police crack the case. I enjoyed it a lot, it was sleek and stylish, loved listening to Farsi. Some really sad moments there that made the social inequality very palpable. It was interesting to see the killer's own headspace evolve throughout the movie, so I thought it was a very good thing it wasn't completely centered around the chase for the murderer like serial killer movies often are. I heard people say opposite things as well, though.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Vesper is a biopunk movie set in a dystopic world where the plants have taken on strange qualities and food is scarce. Vesper is a teenager living in a cottage with a dad who's been severly injured in a war. Citadels, ruling cities with the technology and the commodities, rule the world. There was a lot to like about it, but there were also bits that felt very underdeveloped, plot wise. Visually it was beautiful and I loved the soundtrack as well. I wonder if there's going to be a sequel. That would explain some things about the partially very abrupt ending.

Once Upon a Time in Uganda is a documentary about Isaac Nabwana, a self-taught movie maker in Uganda, who makes 80s action inspired comedy-action-splatter movies in a very poor neighborhood of Kampala. It was a great story, the movies he makes with the community are just so whacky and cool. VJ = video joker. I laughed a lot watching this. It was also interesting to see the dynamics between Isaac Nabwana and Alan Hofmanis, who's an American guy who went to Uganda because he loved the bits of Wakaliwood productions he had seen on YouTube. Funny, feelgood, but also touches meatier topics.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom is a Bhutanese movie about a very remote village in the Himalayas and a teacher who's sent there from the capital city. The school of the village is dubbed the most remote school in the world - to reach it they have to trek uphill for a week, because no roads go there. The Lunana village is real and many of the actors in the movie are from the village, and the story is in large part based on the stories by the actual teachers who go to the village to teach (according to the guy who presented the movie). It's a slow paced film that shows a way of life that's likely going to wane sooner or later. Something about it is very quaint and appealing, even if the story has few surprises, and of course to me the Dzhonkha language was a huge bonus.

Holy Spider is an Iranian movie inspired by real events. In 2000-2001, a serial killer murdered 16 prostitutes to clean the streets, according to himself. In the movie a female journalist looks into the murders and helps(?) the police crack the case. I enjoyed it a lot, it was sleek and stylish, loved listening to Farsi. Some really sad moments there that made the social inequality very palpable. It was interesting to see the killer's own headspace evolve throughout the movie, so I thought it was a very good thing it wasn't completely centered around the chase for the murderer like serial killer movies often are. I heard people say opposite things as well, though.

They all sound interesting. Especially the first and the last sound like they’d be my kind of movies.
Did you go to a film festival or do they air/stream?

 

[seela]

They all sound interesting. Especially the first and the last sound like they’d be my kind of movies.
Did you go to a film festival or do they air/stream?

The last two posts of mine are about movies I saw at a film festival which ends today.

 

[IrisAlthea]

The last two posts of mine are about movies I saw at a film festival which ends today.

That sounds so great!
Sigh! *currently watching the dryer, waiting for it to be done*

 

[seela]

Crimes of the Future is everything you’d expect from a Cronenberg movie. Very beautiful cinematography.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night from 2014 is one of the best movies I’ve watched this year. An Iranian spaghetti western with some vampiric action. So incredibly beautifully shot, wonderful soundtrack, too.

 

[Bramblethorn]

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night from 2014 is one of the best movies I’ve watched this year. An Iranian spaghetti western with some vampiric action. So incredibly beautifully shot, wonderful soundtrack, too.

Oh yes, I remember that one. Weird and good.

We saw Glass Onion tonight. Extremely enjoyable and also weirdly timely - most of the story must have been written around two years ago, but it feels like a riff on things that have been going on this month.

Also I think the first feature film I've seen to be set during the pandemic.

 

[Acktion]

https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-061c03150eb860bc550ac382d4c6faa2-lq

 

[IrisAlthea]

The Pale Blue Eye on Netflix
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14138650/

Beautifully shot, a decent enough story and I have a thing for Christian Bale.

Some interesting names in the cast list. I think Gillian Anderson gave a great performance for example.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Oh yes, I remember that one. Weird and good.

We saw Glass Onion tonight. Extremely enjoyable and also weirdly timely - most of the story must have been written around two years ago, but it feels like a riff on things that have been going on this month.

Also I think the first feature film I've seen to be set during the pandemic.

Saw this when I posted yesterday and decided to bump Glass Onion to the top of the list last night.
Thanks for the tip! We both liked it a lot.

Also, I want Janelle Monae’s/Andi Brand’s wardrobe!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Also, I want Janelle Monae’s/Andi Brand’s wardrobe!

I mean who doesn't?

One of my friends is a baby bi and it was SUCH fun showing her that movie and seeing her melt down into a quivering heap whenever Andi was around.

 

[IrisAlthea]

We went to the cinema(!) to see C’é ancora domani by Paola Cortellesi.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21800162/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Highly recommend it.
The story, the acting, the cinematography and scenography, the use of music, are all excellent and the way she blends comedy and musical with a feeling of noir realism and even horror is very interesting.

 

[seela]

We went to the cinema(!) to see C’é ancora domani by Paola Cortellesi.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21800162/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Highly recommend it.
The story, the acting, the cinematography and scenography, the use of music, are all excellent and the way she blends comedy and musical with a feeling of noir realism and even horror is very interesting.

This looks really good! I’ll put this on my list.

I saw Poor Things yesterday which was very good as well. Different than I expected, but good. Visually excellent, funny, thinky-thoughty, a little bit too long though. Could have benefited from a little editing imo. But I definitely recommend it.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I actually read a review of that one at the cinema, while we were waiting to be let in.
It does sound interesting and I really liked The Favourite.

 

[seela]

I went to see Wicked Little Letters with people from work. I think my boss was a little too bashful for some of the language used there. She had expected it to be a lot more, say, quaint.

 

[Tallcajun]

I went to see Wicked Little Letters with people from work. I think my boss was a little too bashful for some of the language used there. She had expected it to be a lot more, say, quaint.

Looks interesting. I watched The Lost Daughter that stared both Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley too.
A bit slow, but it worked.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9100054/

 

[seela]

I’m working my way through the movie challenge set by my library. I watched Men Can’t Be Raped for “a movie based on a book”. It’s based on a book by Märta Tikkanen, I wrote about it in the book thread a few years ago.

A woman gets raped and wants to rape the man to get even. I quite enjoyed the movie version as well.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0077968/

 

[seela]

Gondola is a Georgian-German movie set in a rural Georgia. A no-dialogue rom com about two gondola lift operators. The operators go quite the extra mile to surprise and make each other smile as their gondolas pass.

It was very sweet and fun. The scenery is gorgeous. Some really funny bits too. Having no dialogue was an interesting choice. Made on a small budget by a small team, it shows a little. But all in all I enjoyed it.

 

[Dreamliner]

I am looking forward to "Baby girl", Nicole Kidman, Antonio Banderas, directed by Halina Reijn. Nicole has history in this type of movie. SM included.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Nicole has history in this type of movie.

Banderas too.

Sounds interesting.