Art Films and other pretentious Delights

[NutshellGulag]

I decided to put this movie here instead of in the bad movie thread because it isn't really bad, even with some dated special effects. I'm a big fan of movies that feel like weird dreams, and this fits the bill. The only way to see it right now that I know of is on YouTube, so here you go. It's worth a watch. A group of pioneers get kicked out of their village because of their preacher's dubious shenanigans. They try to settle somewhere they shouldn't and Things happen.

[FinchChunk]

Seriously Cormansinferno, you are the rock star of this thread.

I guess I'll make another contribution. I've heard a lot of good things about this director, Roy Andersson, but I known I loved his last film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.

Thank you for telling me this existed. I saw Du Levande in the theatres something like a decade ago and it's still one of my favourite movie going experience. I've watched it since and while it's still good I don't think it'll ever be as fresh and fun as that first time. This is my second chance.

Certainly a more mainstream taste but shout out to Le Samourai. A film I will never ever get sick of, I think it is the coolest thing ever made.

[eldritchhat]

I decided to put this movie here instead of in the bad movie thread because it isn't really bad, even with some dated special effects. I'm a big fan of movies that feel like weird dreams, and this fits the bill. The only way to see it right now that I know of is on YouTube, so here you go. It's worth a watch. A group of pioneers get kicked out of their village because of their preacher's dubious shenanigans. They try to settle somewhere they shouldn't and Things happen.

Since I haven't posted anything in this thread for awhile, I will also provide an experimental film that can be viewed in its entirety on (and only on) YouTube.

It's called We Are The Strange, a collage of different forms of animation, from clay to CGI. It is very much inspired by anime and video games, and takes place in an arcade machine, but don't let that sour it. While it isn't my favorite, I think this film does have a lot of interesting ideas.

[CormansInferno]

The LA nonprofit I always rep for on here, the Cinefamily, is going to have their first official film restoration released next month.

NSFW content. Click to show.

Belladonna of Sadness is a gothi-psychedelic psychosexual fantasy that was the last animated film from Osamu Tezuka's 70's animation  studio before it went bust. After being violated by a castle full of hideous rich people in masks on her wedding night, a young bride becomes a vengeful sorceress after striking a deal with her own demons. It's equal parts feminist narrative, 70s Japanspliotation sleaze, experimental animation, and watercolor mural. It's never been officially released in the US and, as far as they can tell, never played in the US when it came out in the 70s. 

[eldritchhat]

I'm a huge stop motion fan (not despite of its uncanny valley feeling, because of it), and today I was shown an interesting short film from Robert Morgan, one which takes full advantage of the creepy aspect of stop motion. It circulated around various film festivals in 2011, and I'm glad to have been introduced to it:

Bobby Yeah

It's more than a little bit NSFW, so please be aware.

NSFW content. Click to show.

[Cheapskate]

I'm a huge stop motion fan (not despite of its uncanny valley feeling, because of it)

Speaking of which, Jan Svankmajer, the Czech stop-motion director responsible for the most terrifying adaptation of Alice in Wonderland ever, wants to make one more film before he dies, and he’s crowdfunding it.

[NutshellGulag]

I'm a huge stop motion fan (not despite of its uncanny valley feeling, because of it)

Speaking of which, Jan Svankmajer, the Czech stop-motion director responsible for the most terrifying adaptation of Alice in Wonderland ever, wants to make one more film before he dies, and he’s crowdfunding it.

Oh man,  Něco z Alenky is my FAVORITE adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

[eldritchhat]

I'm a huge stop motion fan (not despite of its uncanny valley feeling, because of it)

Speaking of which, Jan Svankmajer, the Czech stop-motion director responsible for the most terrifying adaptation of Alice in Wonderland ever, wants to make one more film before he dies, and he’s crowdfunding it.

Oh man,  Něco z Alenky is my FAVORITE adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

Oh yeah, my favorite man in stop motion animation is Jan, and I totally agree Nutshell.

I'd say the his version of Alice is the most accurate to the feelings I had while reading the book, as in much of it, Alice finds herself in often hostile and surprisingly adult situations, and she responds to them as a child would. Both Disney's and Tim Burton's version of it do not make Alice seem like the young, naive, and curious child she is, sort of prone to making dumb and unplanned decisions. This movie, however, literally takes things in Alice's surrounding environment, and brings them to life.

Despite how disturbing Svankmayer's work is, I find that it always has a childish element to it (a very harsh childish element, but outside of Disney, children are quite harsh) that reminds a bit of the Brothers Grimm.

[CormansInferno]

One more reason to love Sion Sono: One of his latest movies (he made 5 last year and is starting production on 7[!!!] this year), TAG, is a metaphysical horror movie about the misogyny of GamerGate and male fantasies in general.

[Muffinator]

I just got done watching The Neon Demon and I have no idea how to feel. It's so convinced of its own importance that it had me second-guessing myself as to whether I was missing something: 'The fashion industry is shallow and predatory' 'LA is sleazy' 'the relationship between sex and death is closer than we like to admit' aaaand that's about it?

A lot of critics felt the same way I do, but a lot of them also loved it and they're talking about Nicholas Refn as the next big auteur.

[chai tea latte]

I really loved it and it's probably my 4th favourite movie this year (The Witch, The Lobster, 10 Cloverfield Lane). You're not wrong about the movie but I felt like there was something transcendent about it which is such a bullshit defense, but I really, really enjoyed it.

[Muffinator]

Yeah, I get that. It's intense, shocking and gorgeously shot: I just felt it was in the service of really facile ideas. I was toying with the idea that the beautiful/hollow thing is intentional but I'm not sure that's better.

[Nikaer Drekin]

I thought it had a lot of interesting things to say about the nature of beauty. Yes, the fashion industry is exploitative of women and that's not an exceptionally bold thing to say, but I think the movie did a great job of stripping away the pretense of cold professionalism in the fashion industry and connecting the underlying motives with animal savagery. To me, at least, the movie was saying that so many of our natural, human desires (having sex and personal advancement especially) are built on brutal competition and are a thinly veiled struggle to kill or be killed. As a theme, I found this both interesting and genuinely scary, even more so because this movie is fucking terrifying.

The only scene that didn't quite ring true for me and verged on shock-for-shock's-sake or art film pretension was the corpse-fucking scene, but it was such a brief moment in an otherwise really well-constructed and smart film that I don't detract too many points for that.