Movies We've Seen Recently

[A Meat]

This might be a pointless thing I'm about to write, but I saw a movie that might not be available in any country but Israel, so I guess, Ambious, this is for you?

I watched a movie called את לי לילה (At Li Lailah), or in English, Next to Her. It's an Israeli drama about a woman who is the sole caretaker of her slightly younger mentally challenged sister, and how her life starts falling apart when she has to get a job to make a living, but as a consequence has to begrudgingly hand over her sister to a day-care facility. Which one of the sisters needs the other one more?
It's a difficult and heart-wrenching movie, the acting is superb, and almost painfully realistic, and at times uncomfortable in the awkwardness of reality.

I thought the movie was really great, but I don't think it's out anywhere but in Israel, and I don't want to really say anything more about the plot, to not spoil anything.

[Ambious]

This might be a pointless thing I'm about to write, but I saw a movie that might not be available in any country but Israel, so I guess, Ambious, this is for you?

I watched a movie called את לי לילה (At Li Lailah), or in English, Next to Her. It's an Israeli drama about a woman who is the sole caretaker of her slightly younger mentally challenged sister, and how her life starts falling apart when she has to get a job to make a living, but as a consequence has to begrudgingly hand over her sister to a day-care facility. Which one of the sisters needs the other one more?
It's a difficult and heart-wrenching movie, the acting is superb, and almost painfully realistic, and at times uncomfortable in the awkwardness of reality.

I thought the movie was really great, but I don't think it's out anywhere but in Israel, and I don't want to really say anything more about the plot, to not spoil anything.

There are very few Israeli movies I can bare. Call me a snob, but I just don't think any of them are tolerable when it comes to acting, writing, directing... Any shred of realism or immersion is completely destroyed once anyone opens their mouth.
The very few I did suffer were comedies (where over the top acting is more tolerable and sometimes desirable) and some of the older more bizarre movies like "קלרה הקדושה" (which I recognize in retrospect is probably as bad as the others but I liked the narrative enough to ignore it) or, well... Yeah, mostly comedies.
The only newer Israeli movies I did like were Waltz with Bashir (that's technically a documentary) and קירות ("The Assassin Next Door").

[A Meat]

There are very few Israeli movies I can bare. Call me a snob, but I just don't think any of them are tolerable when it comes to acting, writing, directing... Any shred of realism or immersion is completely destroyed once anyone opens their mouth.
The very few I did suffer were comedies (where over the top acting is more tolerable and sometimes desirable) and some of the older more bizarre movies like "קלרה הקדושה" (which I recognize in retrospect is probably as bad as the others but I liked the narrative enough to ignore it) or, well... Yeah, mostly comedies.
The only newer Israeli movies I did like were Waltz with Bashir (that's technically a documentary) and קירות ("The Assassin Next Door").

"Next to Her" has very low key acting most of the time from the main actors, Dana Ivgi playing the mentally handicapped sister I think does an incredible job. Some of the side characters are less realistic, but still within the realm of reality. I very rarely watch Israel movies as well, due to some of the same reasons you probably have, but I feel like Next to her did a better job that even the previous Israeli movie I enjoyed, "Footnote". 

But hey, different strokes for different folks.

[Navigator]

I found a little indie theater in my city and saw Ida (the movie that won Best Foreign Language) a couple of weeks ago. It was interesting to watch, mostly because the film had visual and audio effects that both made it look and sound like it was made 40 years ago and followed the mood and story with just enough symbolism not to be obnoxious. (Well, there is a part where it gets really heavy-handed, but it only does it once.)

For anyone who doesn't know, it's set in Poland in 1962 and centers around a girl named Anna who was raised in a convent. Two weeks before she takes her vows to become a nun, her last living relative, an aunt who works for the Polish government. Her aunt tells her that she's really a Jewish girl named Ida, and the two set out to find out what really happened to her parents. At this point, everyone's thinking "holocaust movie", which isn't entirely wrong, but it's also didn't take the most obvious route. Without spoiling too much, it does do the annoying non-ending I've seen a lot in European cinema, but it's deeply emotional in a way that feels a little too real. It's definitely a movie that'll make you think.

The next week, I saw the Duke of Burgundy. It focuses on the dominant/submissive relationship between two women named Cynthia and Evelyn, specifically what happens when Evelyn's fantasies start getting more and more intense faster than Cynthia can keep up. Since Evelyn takes the submissive role in the relationship, it's fascinating to watch Cynthia try to put on a self-assured, domineering role, even when she's clearly distressed and afraid of losing her.

It does get annoyingly pretentious at a couple of points (there's one extended dream sequence that you could cut out of the movie without losing anything), and it has a weird sort of Makeup Company Retro aesthetic. (Think of those perfumes that are packaged in atomizer bottles with labels made to look like they've been handwritten. Now pour one of those onto a film strip.) It also lists the seven actresses in the credits, immediately followed by the common and scientific names of the twenty-something species of butterfly that appear in the film.  Thing is, it's also refreshingly sincere, sexual without being gratuitous, and it showcases a relationship that's actually loving, healthy, and (at the end, anyway) supported by clear communication.

(I'm not gonna compare it to 50 Shades, mostly because I haven't seen 50 Shades and don't plan to.)

[CormansInferno]

Ida may have won the Oscar, but the winner of the movie war is undoubtably Wild Tales.  This is only Damian Szifron's 3rd movie, but he's already found his directorial voice. It's an anthology about revenge that has six stories that vary wildly in tone and subject matter, and the only thing that connects them together is his directorial style. I don't want to reveal to much about the segments, because watching the twists unfold is half the fun, but at the screening I was at Hitchcock vet Norman Lloyd stood up, told the director it was one of the most original movies he'd seen in years, and then literally doffed his cap.

[Goose Goose Honk At Me Now]

Last night I saw Blade Runner for the first time in my life. (The Final Cut, for any of you who were wondering.)

Holy shit. Just, holy shit, what an amazing movie.

[chai tea latte]

Ida may have won the Oscar, but the winner of the movie war is undoubtably Wild Tales.  This is only Damian Szifron's 3rd movie, but he's already found his directorial voice. It's an anthology about revenge that has six stories that vary wildly in tone and subject matter, and the only thing that connects them together is his directorial style. I don't want to reveal to much about the segments, because watching the twists unfold is half the fun, but at the screening I was at Hitchcock vet Norman Lloyd stood up, told the director it was one of the most original movies he'd seen in years, and then literally doffed his cap.

Saw this last night, it was phenomenal.

also cuddles go watch Nashville, i think you might really like it

[chai tea latte]

Snow on tha Bluff is the best found footage movie I've ever seen. it's def. not perfect or probably even really good but since the only other found footage movie I liked was The Blair Witch Project that's a pretty rarefied category. Both thread the documentary/narrative film line really closely and there's a lot going on in Snow regardless of how you might feel about the found footage format.

Curtis Snow steals some cokeheads' camera, and films a bunch of his life as a crack-dealing single father, then Damon Snow, the director, meets him and they work to make a movie. I don't know shit about the atlanta slums crack gangster life but Damon Snow basically dropped everything he was working on to make this movie based on the strength of the footage Curtis brought him and it's a hell of a ride. it's on netflix, add it to your List and then forget about it for six months

also I posted about it earlier but A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is on Netflix now too, and I'm really excited about that! I saw it at my local indie theatre and it's one of the best movies I've seen so far in 2015, even though it's agonizingly slow and barely has a plot. I'm okay with that, you might not be. Sheila Vand is absolutely incredible as the Girl and the cinematography is very Jim Jarmusch. I wish I spoke Farsi so i could understand the score but even without that it was also fantastic.

[goombapolice]

If you like found footage movies, I recommend Noroi: The Curse. It's kind of slow, but it's one of those that sucks you in.

[Agent (gobble, gobble) Coop]

If you like found footage movies, I recommend Noroi: The Curse. It's kind of slow, but it's one of those that sucks you in.

It also benefits from not having a lead that's super obnoxious like a lot of other found footage movies

[Nikaer Drekin]

Recently, after a few beers, me and a few friends watched High Plains Invaders, a shitty rip-off of Cowboys and Aliens that I found in the used DVD section of my local comic store. It was super boring and terrible, nobody watch it. I played Crossy Road on my phone for the last half hour or so and feel like I didn't miss much.

If you like found footage movies, I recommend Noroi: The Curse. It's kind of slow, but it's one of those that sucks you in.

Another one I remember being pretty enjoyable is Trollhunter. Not a masterpiece by any means, but come on - it's about a grizzled old man who hunts trolls. It's good fun, and it may still be on Netflix Instant.

[cyclopeantrash]

Mad Max: Fury Road is as excellent as the reviews suggest. The best action movie since Dredd. It is a lot better than Dredd. There is a guy who's thing, the entire movie is to stand on an amp rack with wheels with backing drummers and play a flamethrowing guitar whilst attached to the vehicle with bungie cords.

[Ambious]

Mad Max: Fury Road is as excellent as the reviews suggest. The best action movie since Dredd. It is a lot better than Dredd. There is a guy who's thing, the entire movie is to stand on an amp rack with wheels with backing drummers and play a flamethrowing guitar whilst attached to the vehicle with bungie cords.

I really wanna watch it, especially since it seems to annoy the fuck out of MRA's.

[Blandest]

It's a good film. I mean there's little to no plot, and American sounding Max has what seems like two lines the whole film, but it embraces the fact that it is just an action film and works with it. While I liked it a fair bit I feel like I was slightly annoyed about a few things. Firstly why does Max sound American? Secondly why are most of the cars left hand drive with speedos in mph? If you can look past those things, and really the fact that they annoy me maybe says more about me than the film itself, then it's definitely worth the time.

[chai tea latte]

While I liked it a fair bit I feel like I was slightly annoyed about a few things. Firstly why does Max sound American? Secondly why are most of the cars left hand drive with speedos in mph? If you can look past those things, and really the fact that they annoy me maybe says more about me than the film itself, then it's definitely worth the time.

the electric guitar/flamethrower prop was built for the movie and is fully functional