Film What did you watch last night???

[Nadam]

I never tire of the funny quips that come from Tony in this film. His sarcasm is the absolute best, and I am always here for it. 

 

My favorites are when there is a camera in the clock spying on him, and after the police tell him about it, he says, "Oh, that's pretty cute. Look at that". Also, I love when he is drunk in the restaurant, and he yells, "Make way for the bad guy. There's a BAD GUY coming through!". Slays me every time. 🤣

 

[hansreinhardt]

@Nadam Scarface is one I never got around to, I'll add that to my list!

 

Second and third films from last night as follows...

 

Trainspotting

I don't have much to say about this one, other than I really enjoy it. This was my second time seeing it, first time was probably 15+ years ago and I didn't remember much about it other than the toilet scene, and that the whole movie made me feel like taking a shower. It still made me feel like that on rewatch. I am terrible with accents so I had a tough time following some of the dialogue, but man, all the acting is so good in this, especially Robert Carlyle. 

 

 

Faces (1968)

Second John Cassavetes film of the evening. This was a fascinating watch right after Shadows, you can start to see his development as a filmmaker. I was still surprised to see that technical polish doesn't seem to matter much to Cassavetes, despite this being a little more put together than his first film. I'm curious to see if it ever advances after this. I think it's simultaneously a benefit and a curse to the actors, sometimes supplementing their performances, sometimes masking them. I did appreciate how it was mostly closeups throughout, that lens into expression is fascinating and I see where the film gets its title.

 

Certain things left me feeling perplexed and even a little bit irritable. I don't understand the propensity of the characters in this to change emotions at the flip of a switch. Is everyone in this bipolar? Suddenly, someone's upset, there's a spat, and then things are fine again. At times, it's almost as if the men are having a contest to see who can be the most obnoxious. I intensely disliked every male character in this, which I thought was interesting. As a viewer, was I supposed to? I'm not sure I guess. And how do these foul, annoying, sweaty grandfathers end up with these attractive women? That felt very strange to me, unless I missed a plot point somewhere. Maybe it was out of focus...

 

Criticisms aside, what I am left with, and what I appreciated about this film is how much it made me feel. I felt so much. I felt happy, I felt sad, I felt angry, I felt irritated, I felt elated, I felt humiliation... the list goes on. Not light emotions either—intense emotion. So much feeling in two hours. And for that, I think this film did its job beautifully. 

 

Edited February 12 by hansreinhardt

[Nadam]

4 minutes ago, hansreinhardt said:

@Nadam Scarface is one I never got around to, I'll add that to my list!

 

Second and third films from last night as follows...

 

Trainspotting

I don't have much to say about this one, other than I really enjoy it. This was my second time seeing it, first time was probably 15+ years ago and I didn't remember much about it other than the toilet scene, and that the whole movie made me feel like taking a shower. It still made me feel like that on rewatch. I am terrible with accents so I had a tough time following some of the dialogue, but man, all the acting is so good in this, especially Robert Carlyle. 

 

 

Faces (1968)

Second John Cassavetes film of the evening. This was a fascinating watch right after Shadows, you can start to see his development as a filmmaker. I was still surprised to see that technical polish doesn't seem to matter much to Cassavetes, despite this being a little more put together than his first film. I'm curious to see if it ever advances after this. I think it's simultaneously a benefit and a curse to the actors, sometimes supplementing their performances, sometimes masking them. I did appreciate how it was mostly closeups throughout, that lens into expression is fascinating and I see where the film gets its title.

 

Certain things left me feeling perplexed and even a little bit irritable. I don't understand the propensity of the characters in this to change emotions at the flip of a switch. Is everyone in this bipolar? Suddenly, someone's upset, and then there's a spat, and then things are fine again. At times, it's almost as if the men are having a contest to see who can be the most obnoxious. I intensely disliked every male character in this, which I thought was interesting. As a viewer, was I supposed to? I'm not sure I guess. And how do these foul, annoying, sweaty grandfathers end up with these attractive women? That felt very strange to me, unless I missed a plot point somewhere. Maybe it was out of focus...

 

Heavy criticisms aside, what I am left with, and what I appreciated about this film is how much it made me feel. I felt so much. I felt happy, I felt sad, I felt angry, I felt irritated, I felt elated... the list goes on. Not light emotions either. Intense emotion. So much feeling in two hours. And for that, I think this film did its job beautifully. 

 

 

It is one of the great mobster/gangster films. You are going to have fun with Pacino's work here, as he is quite the character. 

 

I definitely need to watch Trainspotting and Faces, as your reviews make them seem really interesting, so I will put them on my watchlist. I appreciate you sharing!

[BreakBeatDJ]

1 hour ago, hansreinhardt said:

Wasn't interested in the Super Bowl last night, so I watched three films. The first of which was...

 

 

Shadows (1959)

Alright here we go, first John Cassavetes film in the books. Took about 20 minutes for things to start clicking for me. I felt like I was watching a document of a time, world, and civilization long past. It felt so foreign, it's incredible how much the times have changed. The story eventually became interesting, and things made a lot more sense at the very end with the title card "The film you have just watched was an improvisation." And from that standpoint, it's pretty incredible. But I often felt like people went from happy to angry at the snap of a finger, with no motivation, and it was frequent—that was odd to me. Why is everyone shouting all the time? 

 

Leila Goldoni stole the show every time she was on screen. 

 

The lack of technical polish was pretty jarring at first. Poor ADR, scenes shot MOS that shouldn't have been, constant 180 breaks... I lost the geography of scenes so many times I can't even count. But maybe that's part of the charm? I understand this was a low-budget, first-time-film for the director, and once I got used to it, the story began to fall into place. 

 

 

 

So glad you watched this film @hansreinhardt !!!  My avatar thanks you.

This is the most important film in Independent cinema history.  It is literally the first American "New Wave" independent movie ever.  This movie changed everything.  A generation of filmmakers, including Scorsese, Coppola, et al, credit this film as being the one that set them free (Scorsese noted -  ". . . after Shadows there were no more excuses.").  The 60s cinema, and Irving Penn's true masterpiece Bonnie and Clyde, don't happen unless Cassavetes makes this movie.  It was a colossal moment in film history that is almost impossible for us to imagine now.  With a 16mm camera, an ensemble of young hungry actors, and 2 years, he literally lit the fuse that would eventually bring down old Hollywood, with this one little movie.  

 

Here is what I wrote for Challenge 12 about Cassavetes, mentioning Shadows.

______

JOHN CASSAVETES  (probably not a surprise to those of you who looked closely at my vague avatar)

 

The beginning of the end of old Hollywood began with one director and one film: John Cassavetes' 1959 Shadows.  Scorsese noted -  after Shadows there were no more excuses.  Cassavetes inspired a landslide of filmmakers to challenge studio system control and fight for creative freedom, both in style and content.  

 

We take it for granted that studios want to hear what Fincher, Lynch, Nolan, and others mentioned here, have to say.  When Cassavetes made Shadows, a movie about the adventures of three black siblings in New York, with his stolen shots and 16mm verite loose camera, no one was interested.  He made it anyway.  And he kept making them.

 

Over the next two decades Cassavetes funded his independent films (Husbands, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, etc.) by appearing as an actor in movies like The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary's Baby.  Cassavetes took great joy in using Hollywood money to undermine Hollywood itself.

 

His avant garde filmmaking style is disarming to many.  His camera is never judgmental.  It doesn't guide the eye to where you should look, it forces you to open your eyes. He doesn't tell you what you should think, the action plays out in front of you and you are forced to participate.  It's the cinema of embracing the complexity of being authentically human, not by pointing it out, but by experiencing it.

 

My favorite Cassavetes' film is Husbands.  But, I love his wife and collaborator Gena Rowland's brave and shocking performance in A Woman Under the Influence.

 

By the time Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde becomes a counter culture darling of individualism and self-expression in 1967, old Hollywood was diminished.  And the independent film wave of the 90s (Soderbergh, PTA, Linklater, Ferrara, Egoyan, Haynes, Leigh, Jarmusch, Sofia C., Tarantino) blew up what was left.

 

John Cassavetes lit the fuse for all of them.

______

 

[LeadFarmer]

1 hour ago, Nadam said:

I never tire of the funny quips that come from Tony in this film. His sarcasm is the absolute best, and I am always here for it. 

 

My favorites are when there is a camera in the clock spying on him, and after the police tell him about it, he says, "Oh, that's pretty cute. Look at that". Also, I love when he is drunk in the restaurant, and he yells, "Make way for the bad guy. There's a BAD GUY coming through!". Slays me every time. 🤣

 

 

one of my favorites. I still have the vhs double pack my mom got for me. the chainsaw scene from earlier in the film kind of messed with me a bit when first seeing it because I was like yo this guy is getting chainsawed next to him in the shower and montana is cool as a cucumber 

[hansreinhardt]

21 minutes ago, BreakBeatDJ said:

 

 

So glad you watched this film @hansreinhardt !!!  My avatar thanks you.

This is the most important film in Independent cinema history.  It is literally the first American "New Wave" independent movie ever.  This movie changed everything.  A generation of filmmakers, including Scorsese, Coppola, et al, credit this film as being the one that set them free (Scorsese noted -  ". . . after Shadows there were no more excuses.").  The 60s cinema, and Irving Penn's true masterpiece Bonnie and Clyde, don't happen unless Cassavetes makes this movie.  It was a colossal moment in film history that is almost impossible for us to imagine now.  With a 16mm camera, an ensemble of young hungry actors, and 2 years, he literally lit the fuse that would eventually bring down old Hollywood, with this one little movie.  

 

Here is what I wrote for Challenge 12 about Cassavetes, mentioning Shadows.

______

JOHN CASSAVETES  (probably not a surprise to those of you who looked closely at my vague avatar)

 

The beginning of the end of old Hollywood began with one director and one film: John Cassavetes' 1959 Shadows.  Scorsese noted -  after Shadows there were no more excuses.  Cassavetes inspired a landslide of filmmakers to challenge studio system control and fight for creative freedom, both in style and content.  

 

We take it for granted that studios want to hear what Fincher, Lynch, Nolan, and others mentioned here, have to say.  When Cassavetes made Shadows, a movie about the adventures of three black siblings in New York, with his stolen shots and 16mm verite loose camera, no one was interested.  He made it anyway.  And he kept making them.

 

Over the next two decades Cassavetes funded his independent films (Husbands, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, etc.) by appearing as an actor in movies like The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary's Baby.  Cassavetes took great joy in using Hollywood money to undermine Hollywood itself.

 

His avant garde filmmaking style is disarming to many.  His camera is never judgmental.  It doesn't guide the eye to where you should look, it forces you to open your eyes. He doesn't tell you what you should think, the action plays out in front of you and you are forced to participate.  It's the cinema of embracing the complexity of being authentically human, not by pointing it out, but by experiencing it.

 

My favorite Cassavetes' film is Husbands.  But, I love his wife and collaborator Gena Rowland's brave and shocking performance in A Woman Under the Influence.

 

By the time Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde becomes a counter culture darling of individualism and self-expression in 1967, old Hollywood was diminished.  And the independent film wave of the 90s (Soderbergh, PTA, Linklater, Ferrara, Egoyan, Haynes, Leigh, Jarmusch, Sofia C., Tarantino) blew up what was left.

 

John Cassavetes lit the fuse for all of them.

______

 

 

Honestly I didn't necessarily realize just how influential the film was—I always thought the challenge to the studio system back then was moreso Lucas, Coppola, DePalma, etc. So thank you for this, it was a great read and I loved hearing your perspective on his work. Where do you land on Faces? 

 

I used to get frustrated when I'd hear filmmakers give the advice, "just pick up a camera and start shooting." But over time it's made more and more sense, and sounds like Cassavetes really personified (invented?) that advice.

 

[BreakBeatDJ]

6 minutes ago, hansreinhardt said:

 

Honestly I didn't necessarily realize just how influential the film was—I always thought the challenge to the studio system back then was moreso Lucas, Coppola, DePalma, etc. So thank you for this, it was a great read and I loved hearing your perspective on his work. Where do you land on Faces? 

 

I used to get frustrated when I'd hear filmmakers give the advice, "just pick up a camera and start shooting." But over time it's made more and more sense, and sounds like Cassavetes really personified (invented?) that advice.

 

 

I don't want to bog down this thread with a history of cinema rant . . . but, Cassavetes also invented Kickstarter.  The dude was a force.

-------
 

The story goes like this: it’s 1956, and John Cassavetes is an ambitious young actor teaching workshops in New York City. One night, Cassavetes appears on Jean Shepard’s late night talk show, Night People, to promote some of his upcoming projects. On the show, Cassavetes starts griping about the artificiality of Hollywood and his disdain for the repetitive and formulaic drivel the studio system churns out. In a general sense, he insults the very project he was supposed to be there promoting. Cassavetes then tells listeners that if they want to see something authentic, unpolished, and intimate, that they should send him money and he’ll make it happen.

Shockingly enough, money started rolling in. Cassavetes amassed about $2,000 from the appearance. So he made good on his promise, and his directorial debut Shadows was born. Along with the crowdfunding and financing from friends, as well as his paychecks from acting jobs, he secured $40,000 for the film. Compared to the amount studios usually spent on films at the time, this was nothing. (For some perspective: Paramount spent around $1.75 million on Sunset Boulevard in 1950.)
_____

 

I'll stop now.  Enjoy your adventure through 60s/70s independent cinema!

[hansreinhardt]

2 minutes ago, BreakBeatDJ said:

 

I don't want to bog down this thread with a history of cinema rant . . . but, Cassavetes also invented Kickstarter.  The dude was a force.

-------
 

The story goes like this: it’s 1956, and John Cassavetes is an ambitious young actor teaching workshops in New York City. One night, Cassavetes appears on Jean Shepard’s late night talk show, Night People, to promote some of his upcoming projects. On the show, Cassavetes starts griping about the artificiality of Hollywood and his disdain for the repetitive and formulaic drivel the studio system churns out. In a general sense, he insults the very project he was supposed to be there promoting. Cassavetes then tells listeners that if they want to see something authentic, unpolished, and intimate, that they should send him money and he’ll make it happen.

Shockingly enough, money started rolling in. Cassavetes amassed about $2,000 from the appearance. So he made good on his promise, and his directorial debut Shadows was born. Along with the crowdfunding and financing from friends, as well as his paychecks from acting jobs, he secured $40,000 for the film. Compared to the amount studios usually spent on films at the time, this was nothing. (For some perspective: Paramount spent around $1.75 million on Sunset Boulevard in 1950.)
_____

 

I'll stop now.  Enjoy your adventure through 60s/70s independent cinema!

 

Eh I don't think you're bogging down anything, we're discussing movies on a movie forum 😁

Thanks for the Kickstarter origin story, that's absolutely incredible. The making of Shadows should almost be a film in itself. 

[hansreinhardt]

1 hour ago, Nadam said:

You are going to have fun with Pacino's work here, as he is quite the character. 

1 hour ago, LeadFarmer said:

yo this guy is getting chainsawed next to him in the shower and montana is cool as a cucumber 

 

@Nadam's post already had me interested, but chainsawed in the shower? Sold. 

 

[Nadam]

2 minutes ago, hansreinhardt said:

 

@Nadam's post already had me interested, but chainsawed in the shower? Sold. 

 

 

Haha, it's a pretty crazy movie. You are going to have a lot of fun with it. Pacino does such a great job. 

[hansreinhardt]

 

Breathless only gets better every time I watch it. First time I saw it was required viewing in college and I was too stupid and too hungover to appreciate it at the time. I love the editing—the jump cuts to move the pace along are really interesting and feel modern in a way.

 

Le Samouraï was a first time view. Thoroughly enjoyed it. First, the score was fantastic. The opening push pull following the credits broke my brain. Adored the way this film was shot, and Alain Delon gave a captivating performance. (He reminded me of the T1000 at times, oddly enough!) I loved seeing how the suspense was handled slowly and methodically, it really allows it to build while allowing the viewer to panic for the character. The ring of car keys is such a cool element. 

[LeadFarmer]

finally got around to watching this. I'm going to watch it a second time but yeah I'm interested in seeing what's next.

[LeadFarmer]

27 minutes ago, hansreinhardt said:

 

Breathless only gets better every time I watch it. First time I saw it was required viewing in college and I was too stupid and too hungover to appreciate it at the time. I love the editing—the jump cuts to move the pace along are really interesting and feel modern in a way.

 

Le Samouraï was a first time view. Thoroughly enjoyed it. First, the score was fantastic. The opening push pull following the credits broke my brain. Adored the way this film was shot, and Alain Delon gave a captivating performance. (He reminded me of the T1000 at times, oddly enough!) I loved seeing how the suspense was handled slowly and methodically, it really allows it to build while allowing the viewer to panic for the character. The ring of car keys is such a cool element. 

 Props on watching Le Samourai it really is a gem. Man I lost it when he pulled out the janitor xl sized key ring with all the keys for different vehicles. where can I get one of those lol.

[LeadFarmer]

truly a gem of a film. one of my favorites since the first time I saw it in my teenage years. 

[hansreinhardt]

44 minutes ago, LeadFarmer said:

truly a gem of a film. one of my favorites since the first time I saw it in my teenage years. 

 

Been meaning to revisit this one. Gary Oldman's performance is just incredible. 

 

[ukade2327]

2 minutes ago, hansreinhardt said:

 

Been meaning to revisit this one. Gary Oldman's performance is just incredible. 

 

His performance in Apple TVs Slow Horses is brilliant too if you get to catch it … 

[hansreinhardt]

1 minute ago, ukade2327 said:

His performance in Apple TVs Slow Horses is brilliant too if you get to catch it … 

 

I keep seeing that one pop up on the carousel, wife and I need a new show, thanks for the tip! 

[Nadam]

Now that the Mrs. & I are caught-up on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and have finished Seinfeld a second time, we are now watching Veep for the first time, and my god this show is so great. 

[hansreinhardt]

20 minutes ago, Nadam said:

Now that the Mrs. & I are caught-up on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and have finished Seinfeld a second time, we are now watching Veep for the first time, and my god this show is so great. 

 

Veep is so good!

 

Hey btw I started watching Kindergarten Cop last night, on Netflix though not the awesome 4K disc you have. Hadn't seen it since probably I myself was in kindergarten. Man that movie is hilarious. Watching Schwarzenegger scream at small children is just gold. 

[LeadFarmer]

well my fellow psychos now that I am currently not watching any series and after having heard so much about this show I suppose it's time to take the next plunge 

 

[LeadFarmer]

loved the original 1976. the follow up 2014 isn't bad either especially how they tie it into the first movie. 

[Veum]

 

 

 

🥤📺🎬💽  🍿🧋watched 

 

 

 

Fri Feb 16 ‘24

 

*Hypnotic (2023) ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

 

 

A detective investigates a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.
 

 

[Heywoodmoutaw]

11 hours ago, LeadFarmer said:

loved the original 1976. the follow up 2014 isn't bad either especially how they tie it into the first movie. 

Now that you’ve said that, I would go back and rewatch the first one if I get to the new one. I watched and really liked the first one but it’s been a long, long time ago.  Mid 90s I think.

[Nadam]

Truly amazing work of art! A rich storyline with deep characters within a truly horrifying situation.
 

Korean cinema continues to impress me with all of their TV shows and films.
 

[Heywoodmoutaw]

 

So, Baz Luhrmann.  I don’t know why after all these movies, but I almost always go into his movies thinking I won’t like them (thought modern songs in Moulin Rouge were a bad idea, disliked The Great Gatsby book and the previous movie, thought his musical tastes would run counter to using the music around Elvis well), always end up liking them.

 

Enjoyed this one.  As beautifully shot and edited as the rest of his work, great use of music that I’m not even a huge fan of.