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miggymartinez
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Secret City: Pale Horse (2019)
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Woew things have really got going now! i am fully hooked...
Harriet is of course getting deeper into it and the plot thickens with friends are emerging as enemies.
It is full on governmental meltdown, with a hint that the toad face security creep who likes spying on people might be finally heading for trouble... and Thomas might actually pulling his finger out!
Lastly, no wonder the drone operator is feeling screwed up, her kill list is pretty darn high!
Kombinat 'Nadezhda' (2014)
Powerful film
Definitely one of my faves of the IFFR 2014.
(review written in 2014)
The story begins with a group of friends boozing and bounces around the different characters before settling on Sveta, the main protagonist.
It's set in Norilsk, a heavily polluted north Russian city which is inside the Arctic Circle and cut off from the rest of the country by impenetrable terrain.
The movie drifts along, tracking people's various attempts to leave the city and the messes that they create in consequence.
The ending is perfect, ambiguous but with a hit of hope in a movie which is pretty bleak. I wish things work out for Sveta but the options don't look too good. I think I dig endings where the sound and visuals tie together well, just like Half Nelson and Blue Valentine.
The Q&A was interesting, giving a bit more context on the place and the director's ideas. She denied making a feminist movie, which is fair enough, lots of directors aren't keen to label or box their productions, but for me this is a feminist movie in at least some aspects, using a strong young female protagonist to show what a patriarchal place Norilsk is and how little options for escape there are for anyone but particularly women. I'd like to get more into that but can't really do so without spoilers.
The director stated there were no metaphors in the film and that it was a specific story set in a specific place, but that argument is full of holes. The title is itself metaphorical, being detourned from an actual factory.
The film was finished just before the IFFR and unfortunately it didn't win a Tiger. I'm pretty sure it won't get distribution in Western Europe, especially the UK. Would love to be proved wrong though! The film will probably also cause controversy in Russia since it's made by a Moscow-based troupe who were lambasted in the local press for showing Norilsk in a bad light. I'm not sure how authentic it is, but it doesn't misrepresent I think. It must be a pretty crappy place to live in terms of the pollution and prospects. Then again, people make do wherever they are.
The Proposal (2018)
Great documentation of a wacky art project
So this is a true story about a Mexican architect whose public archive was bought by a Swiss furniture multinational which doesn't let anyone see it!
The architect's private archive is in Mexico and whilst staying there the film maker (Jill Magid) hatched an idea for an art project slash rampage to get the other archive back ...
Does the caper work out?
Watch the film and find out dude ... if it gets distributed ... which it won't yo 😦
Belmonte (2018)
Give this one a miss
This overly sympathetic portait of a male artist who (wants to but) cannot look after his amazing kid rubbed me up the wrong way.
It's really patriarchy at work to have the focus on the exhusband and his various flings. Although yes it is true he seems perhaps realising the error of his ways. I wanted more about the kid! She was supercool. The exwife was also underdeveloped.
Bangla (2019)
Cute movie!
Bangla is a quirky romcom variant set in rome. it is about an italian/bangladeshi boy who falls in love with an italian girl. it's that simple really but there are lots of jokes to be had.
phaim, the boy, works as a museum assistant (my best mate used to do that!) and is in a band ... which wants play ethno-trap (haha) yet ends up playing more traditional styles at weddings and the like.
the protagonist is also the writer/director (phaim bhuiyan). he is 23 and this is his first film... he seems like a real talent!
purely by chance ( having discussed the huge pantanelli occupation recently ) i was aware of the bangladeshi migrations to rome and it was interesting to see a film interrogating that particular hybrid identity. the character says he is a "cappucino" : 50% italian 50% bangladeshi, 100% torpigno.
what i liked a lot was the guy really had the same mannerisms and expressions as a friend of mine from rome.. hooded eyes, shifting shoulders after talking, little grin, saying "basta" and "eh" a lot. it was really cute! must be a rome thing.
torpignattara looks amazing! the cinematography and editing is topnotch. and the description of the three local gangs is hilarious. they are foreigners, hipsters and old people.
Wan mei xian zai shi (2019)
A new form of film
This won the Tiger at the filmfestival in Rotterdam (IFFR), deservedly in my opinion. The screening i attended had a QnA which unfortunately i had to walk out on since i needed to get home .. shame it would have been interesting to hear the director's thoughts.
I do know she made this two hour film from over 800 hours of livestreamed footage which she recorded, then edited down and reused with permission.
There's a rotating cast of characters and i don't want to say too much about them since it is fun to get to know them without any preconceptions.
Present Perfect was one of a few films at iFFR this year which engaged with internet culture, a fertile area from which i am sure more films will come.
Mile 22 (2018)
Yawn
This was just rubbish, but it is pleasing that the Russians are back as the baddies in Hollywood films, that feels somehow reassuring. Marky Mark is awful of course and the overwhelming patriotism is banal.
Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (2006)
Uncomfortably sexist adaptation
Now i love Bohumil Hrabal's books but this film is obscenely sexist for an adaptation released in 2006. I saw the 6star review made this point very well and got many dislikes,well hey that is patriarchy for you, unfortunately we no longer have the imdb boards to argue about it. Anyway i am not writing this for upvotes.
Come on though, this film has a wet tshirt scene, gratuitous nudity and a woman presented as food for lascivious old men. It is disgusting. Menzel should have known better.
If you don't see the problem then ask a woman what she thinks.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
great movie
A lovely movie which i can watch again and again.
with this and fantastic mr fox and life aquatic, wes anderson really hits the sweet spot
Soy tóxico (2018)
not great
I cannot say i liked this very much. the movie is clearly low budget and they do a lot with it, so fairplay for that at least
the makers were at the screening and were introduced as oldskool film-makers which was probably meant as a compliment but unfortunately also captures my problem with the film...
it's rather sexist and patriarchal. ah but they will say, it is the woman who triumphs.. yes she escapes, but only in a male fantasy ..
Werk ohne Autor (2018)
destined for a boxing day afternoon slot on tv
This is bigtime schmaltzy film-making that will end up showing on tv at xmastime. the acting is top notch across the board for this epic story yet i really missed something.
with this much budget and talent it is a shame the film does not have more soul.
Det norske hus (2017)
Unexpected gem
This superb film seems to have sunk without a trace and that is such a shame since it is supremely relevant in these times.
The story tracks a well-meaning and friendly migrant as he tries to find his path through the vagaries of the Norwegian asylum system.
There are some beautiful comic moments but the overall message is of course a heavy one.
I thought this film was very wellmade. Unfortunately the pan-European distributors were not of the same mind. I saw this film at a film festival hosted by he lovely Lucerna cinema in Prague but unfortunately i never heard anything about it again..
Ptaki spiewaja w Kigali (2017)
Take a box of tissues with you?
This is a very powerful film about the Rwandan genocide and PTSD.
I saw it at a film festival and it blew me away. So much so that i feel i would need to see it again to really review it properly.
The background about how the film got made is quite sad as well.
Tichý týden v dome (1969)
Simply breathtaking short film
Luckily for me the first time i saw this was in Brighton's duke of york cinema during a Svankmajer festival. Svankmajer's use of sound is always incredible.
Like the other reviewers i would struggle to interpret this one, what it makes me feel and think i cannot put into words.
Alhambeura Goongjeonui Chooeok: Episode #1.15 (2019)
nearly there now
The way this story is being told is crazy! There are various flash forwards and flash backwards, which are sometimes nested. Normally it works very well but this episode it felt abit overdone. Nevertheless we are getting close to the end!
Alhambeura Goongjeonui Chooeok: Episode #1.14 (2019)
An amazing episode that really cranks up the pressure!
This show is becoming quite addictive.
I am fully invested now in the quest. Overall, it was an amazing episode that really cranked up the pressure!
Secret City: Run Little Rabbit (2019)
a misfiring start that has still hooked me in
And we are back! With an explosive start and a real bombshell at the end. I would expect nothing else after last season's shenanigans.
Harriet has served her time and seems about to be dropping into a whole new world of problems.
Somehow though the various strands are not really hanging together yet, even if i do give credit to the writers for not handing everything to us on a plate. Also i gotta love all the new strong female roles popping up!
Could this have started better? Yes.
Will i watch the next episode? Also yes.
Isn't It Romantic (2019)
Not meta enough for me
Well Rebel Wilson is good but ultimately this movie billed as a meta commentary on romcoms fails to be so ... if you want that check out 'Romantic Comedy' from Elizabeth Sankey.
I couldn't make it through the singing to the end.
Russian Doll (2019)
enjoyable binge romp
A good story, well acted ... overall pretty good
but not outstanding .. i mean the cat disappeared for 6 episodes, horse was underdeveloped, the ending doesn't really wrap much up
nevertheless plus point were: ruth's amazing hair, lizzie being lizzie, the cigarette red herring.. i could go on
for the love of all that is holy please no season two
Alhambeura Goongjeonui Chooeok: Episode #1.1 (2018)
nice to see sants on film but
I had to laugh at the guy taking a pee while our "hero" swipes aroung an imaginary sword!!
but i got bored with the iterations, especially having just about made it through russian doll
i think i'll stop here at midway episode one
[edit: ah the series gets good, it is definitrly worth sticking with!]