Film Discussion / Now Watching

[Scream & Writhe]

Aenigma, 1987, Dir. Lucio Fulci

I have a soft spot for later Fulci (The Devil's Honey, Cat in the Brain, Voices from Beyond), but Aenigma remains a gap in my watchlist that I need to remedy.

[murmur]

I watched Bell, Book and Candle the other night. It came out the same year as Vertigo, and also features Kim Novak enchanting Jimmy Stewart. Jack Lemmon is in it, who’s great as well. Fun one!

[PetiteSoles]

Dark Waters, 1993, Dir. Mariano Baino

Another horror blu ray I bought a few years ago, watched, and decided to return to.

The tone, atmosphere, visual style, and content of this film are all perfect for me. I've been in a folk horror mood lately and this one is especially Lovecrafty, which I love. Horror movies that are very wet seem to boost the feeling of dread. Like being constantly damp could be a horror all it's own, let alone the fact that you're an outsider in a convent full of murderous, secretive nuns, attempting to raise some kind of elder god. At least that's what I got from the story, certain aspects are kinda muddy to me.

[Scream & Writhe]

Dark Waters, 1993, Dir. Mariano Baino

And, speaking of Fulci, lots of nods to The Beyond in this one.

[PetiteSoles]

Hitcher in the Dark, 1989, Dir. Umberto Lenzi

A nasty little film. A young, attractive, man with family money drives an RV around kidnapping and killing girls.
He stalks a young lady he's particularly fond of for a day or so, kidnaps her, and basically attempts to use her to fill the space in his heart that his mom running off has left. It doesn't go so well and he becomes violent during almost every interaction.

.

Taylor, yes, I was thinking the same thing about Dark Waters as well. I don't think specifically The Beyond but just that era of Fulci. I watched all that stuff a little too rapidly and get them kinda mixed up in my dumb brain. I do like all the later stuff I've seen as well but I don't think anything tops his giallo films. The New York Ripper (my favorite for sure), Don't Torture a Duckling, and Lizard in a Woman's Skin are all way too good.

[PetiteSoles]

A Field in England, 2013, Dir. Ben Wheatley

Ok, this is definitely one of the best looking movies I've seen in a long time. I loved it. I loved it so much.
To sum it up, a coward runs from a battle, meets up with a few people and unearth a devil. They do his bidding until they try to escape.
It's a lot more than that. I've heard some people dislike it, while I can understand that I also really can't understand that. Visually, it's perfect.
It's so cinematic. I just finished it and am kinda still in awe. I don't know what else to say.

It also sounded so good.

That's all.

[Scream & Writhe]

Taylor, yes, I was thinking the same thing about Dark Waters as well. I don't think specifically The Beyond but just that era of Fulci. I watched all that stuff a little too rapidly and get them kinda mixed up in my dumb brain. I do like all the later stuff I've seen as well but I don't think anything tops his giallo films. The New York Ripper (my favorite for sure), Don't Torture a Duckling, and Lizard in a Woman's Skin are all way too good.

I am well overdue for a rewatch, but my favourite of his might be Conspiracy of Torture (1969), which I later found out was Fulci's own favourite of his works. Otherwise, yes, absolutely, Ripper, Duckling and Lizard are all Fulci at his best. I'll also throw Four of the Apocalypse into the mix as a wild card rounding out my top five (or perhaps at least in a close call with The Devil's Honey).


November highlights:

December 12th (Pasolini et al, 1972)
Face to Face (Sollima, 1967)
Bad Timing (Roeg, 1980)
Elegy (Güney, 1972)
Blood in the Face (Rafferty et al, 1991)
Eureka (Roeg, 1983)
Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper (Carter, 1984)
Farewell, My Lovely (Richards, 1975)


Paganini (Kinski, 1989)

A chaotic collage of a horny mess.

Aside from the moments of sentimentality it settles into in the last third, this is at times almost (almost) like a non-linear fever dream of an early 70s Jess Franco film with the gothic aesthetics and the sex (albeit featuring a soundtrack of blasting violins instead of midnight jazz). If jazz existed in the 1800s and there was a sadistic and horny incendiary virtuoso, Franco might have made a film about him with Kinski in the lead. Still, Kinski very much had his own feverish vision and approach to making this, channeling Paganini and conflating the violinist with himself in a script that Herzog deemed “unfilmable”.

At one point Kinski’s Paganini (with thick hair dyed black and insane sideburns) takes a violin from a kid in the street and plays Haydn’s Das Lied der Deutschen.

It’s worth sticking with it for the final melancholic ten minutes, when Kinski’s editing (which he did in addition to writing, starring and directing) is at its best.

[soa]

It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)

Fisrt time watching this one, here in Brazil it does not have the same trajectory as in the USA with the public domain stuff, etc. so it's not a TV classic (cinema snobs still love it nevertheless).
It's so funny to think people see this very cynical view of an impossible good guy trapped in a hell of his own as something other than terrifying. Capra is great at everything technical and narrative-wise and the cast is very good even with the paper thin material their characters are made of and the first two thirds of the movie are quite enjoyable populist escapism but the whole ending is just too much for a bitter man like me. Still pretty good because Capra and Stewart (Bugs Bunny made flesh) are so enjoyable when they are just living the moment and not trying to say something deep.

[PetiteSoles]

Sweet Relief, 2023, Dir. Nick Verdi.

An odd film. Hasn't played around much yet but I'm writing around seeing if I can get a screening in Pittsburgh somewhere. It stars author B. R. Yeager as an obnoxious, loud, killer, of sorts. Centers around three high school-aged girls participating in a viral challenge that sounds like it was born in a creepypasta story. You record yourself talking to a character called Sweet Angel. Explaining who you would like to see dead and why. If Sweet Angel chooses you, well things get a little crazy.

Low budget and took me a minute to get into the feel of the film but once I did it was pretty cool. Entertaining for sure and worth a watch if it makes it into the world.

[PetiteSoles]

The Godfather, 1972, Francis Ford Coppola

It holds up. I haven't seen it in probably over a decade. Classic mafia film with an emphasis on the family. Looking forward to watching Part II tonight. Unless I get in a Succession mood.

But yeah, you've all seen this one right?

[SS1535]

The Godfather, 1972, Francis Ford Coppola
But yeah, you've all seen this one right?

Yes.

[moozz]

The Godfather, 1972, Francis Ford Coppola
But yeah, you've all seen this one right?

Yes.

Yes. Am I the only one who finds these movies boring? If I want a mafia film I go for Goodfellas.

[SS1535]

The Godfather, 1972, Francis Ford Coppola
But yeah, you've all seen this one right?

Yes.

Yes. Am I the only one who finds these movies boring? If I want a mafia film I go for Goodfellas.

I just don't like mafia movies in general...

[PetiteSoles]

The Godfather, 1972, Francis Ford Coppola
But yeah, you've all seen this one right?

Yes.

Yes. Am I the only one who finds these movies boring? If I want a mafia film I go for Goodfellas.

I can see why people find it boring. Especially compared to Goodfellas, which I've seen about a million times. I love em both.

[Scream & Writhe]

Yes.

Yes. Am I the only one who finds these movies boring? If I want a mafia film I go for Goodfellas.

I can see why people find it boring. Especially compared to Goodfellas, which I've seen about a million times. I love em both.

I'm fully the opposite here. Never been huge on Goodfellas, and while it's also been years since I last watched The Godfather, I am much more into that style of filmmaking (the 70s might be my favourite era of cinema in general).

There are some good Italian crime/mafia films like Fernando di Leo's Caliber 9 (1972), The Italian Connection (1972), and The Boss (1973), as well as Andrea Bianchi's Cry of a Prostitute (1974) (all but Caliber 9 starring the late great Henry Silva).

Some half decent French ones: Henri Verneuil's The Sicilian Clan (1969) and Duccio Tessari's Big Guns (1973).

John Flynn's The Outfit (1973) is another good American one, starring Robert Duvall.

[Scream & Writhe]

December highlights:

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder, 1974)
Call Me Jess Redux (Prats, Mayol, 2014)
Dead Man's Letters (Lopushansky, 1986)
Die Hard (McTiernan, 1988)
Dog Day Afternoon (Lumet, 1975)
Fox and His Friends (Fassbinder, 1975)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jarmusch, 1999)
Hail, Sarajevo (Godard, 1993)
My Best Fiend (Herzog, 1999)
The Long Good Friday (Mackenzie, 1980)
Love Is Colder Than Death (Fassbinder, 1969)
The Other Side of the Wind (Welles, 2018)

[lovelife]

I watched Bell, Book and Candle the other night. It came out the same year as Vertigo, and also features Kim Novak enchanting Jimmy Stewart. Jack Lemmon is in it, who’s great as well. Fun one!

Bell Book and Candle is my all time favorite movie! So many great personalities! And the story of a bachelorette witch living a semi secret life...who can't love... falling for a total sillypants really resonates. It's definitely a movie with a big sense of humor. Also has Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein) as the ditsy aunt witch.

I could listen to Kim Novak talk in that movie forever. So dreamy.

And bonus- it's a low key Christmas movie like Die Hard.

[holy ghost]

Riders of Justice - my brother suggested this as an "action/comedy" and while it is in fact both those things it's also not? It was great. I really enjoyed it. Extremely absurd. Mads Mikkelson is very funny in it without making a single joke.

Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny - not great. Better than the last one with Shire Laboof. But still not great. Three was more than enough fellas!!

Saltburn - pretty good. Not great. Not terrible. I've seen a lot of gross movies and the bathtub scene was still very gross.

[James Thompson]

Riders of Justice - my brother suggested this as an "action/comedy" and while it is in fact both those things it's also not? It was great. I really enjoyed it. Extremely absurd. Mads Mikkelson is very funny in it without making a single joke.

this movie kicks ass. great fusing of two different types of weird isolated angry guys. love it.

my most recent watch is May December which I completely adored, a horrid, funny, very profound movie.

[Scream & Writhe]

A Fistful of Dollars - First night of the spaghetti western cycle at the Cinematheque. Stoked that they had the volume cranked for this and hope they keep it up, Morricone at ear-piercing levels is a real treat. Though it is the weakest film of the trilogy, score included—there are only a few notions of what’s to come, and it’s interesting hearing Morricone develop it over the course of the next film, with recognizable motifs and a guitar line that stops just short of being the main title theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, before he unleashes glory with the score to that film.

[housepig]

rewatched "Testament" for the first time in nearly 40 years, streaming now on Criterion as part of their postapocalyptic sci-fi collection. Still one of the bleakest, crushing films I've ever seen. A mother in suburban California tries to take care of her family in the aftermath of a nuclear war. No mutants, no mohawk bikers, no motorcycle gangs, just the day-to-day collapse of everything in life. Absolutely worth the watch, but have a palate cleanser cued up.

[holy ghost]

Bottom - I hadn’t heard of this until recently, it was VERY funny. Plot was ridiculously predictable but overall the film itself was very weird and enjoyable.

[Helvitis]

Bottom - I hadn’t heard of this until recently, it was VERY funny. Plot was ridiculously predictable but overall the film itself was very weird and enjoyable.

Just watched this a couple of days ago and thought it was very funny as well.

Watched Demoni, or rather re-watched it, and it’s always good fun. Very funny and some great over the top characters. Visually it’s great as well of course, love how over the top and colourful the goo and blood is. Have watched it many times before and will undoubtedly watch it many times again.

Last night we watched Cocaine Bear. Also very over the top and very silly and fun. Been a pretty decent movie week so far.

[moozz]

Last weekend I got a pile of DVDRs from a friend and they seem to be mostly '70s smut. So far I have watched

Babyface
'70s porn about a guy who becomes a male prostitute after an incident with a minor. Plenty of sex but not too exciting. At least it has Joey Silvera who is always good.

Hardgore
Kind of what the name implies. Contains a lot (A LOT) of sex and is pretty trippy and psychedelic. IMDB says: "A nymphomaniac goes to a sanitarium in hopes of being cured; it turns out the sanitarium is a front for a Satanic cult luring young women into a web of madness, torture, and sex... But mostly just sex." It is exactly that. Poor acting, some decent gore and a soundtrack that has some excellent "Goblin goes Ennio Morricone" vibes.

Emanuelle In America
A higher profile '70s porn film starring Laura Gemser as the black Emanuelle. For the first half or so I was surprised that this was softcore only but then came the first penis of the film... and it was an erect horse cock being massaged by a lady. A lot of human male nudity and hardcore followed. The plot kinda didn't make much sense, Emanuelle just traveled from one situation to the next. There was also some "snuff" footage they were watching in one scene and it was actually pretty gruesome sexual violation. That should have been the main film! Laura Gemser has a pretty face and everything but a physique of a corpse, not my cup of tea.

Wet Wilderness
More '70s porn. A family wanders in the woods and a machete-wielding skimasked bad guy makes them have sex with each other (and with him) and then starts killing them off. Pretty crappy but luckily also very short (under 1 hour I think). Plenty of speech samples that would find a home on a Filth & Violence release. The soundtrack also has the most hilarious ripoff ever (ok, second most hilarious, right after the Indiana Jones theme in the Turkish Star Wars). The theme of Psycho plays during a scene with oral sex and hardcore penetration, what a WTF moment!

[Scream & Writhe]

Emanuelle In America

I went to a midnight screening of this during the Fantasia film festival last summer. Kier-La Janisse introduced the film and screened her short documentary on Laura Gemser, The Reluctant Icon, beforehand. The only other Emanuelle film I've seen is Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, from the same year, and while I enjoyed it more than in America, I don't imagine I'd be able to make it through the 15 discs (21 films) of the massive Black Emanuelle box set that Severin released last year. I'd maybe be curious to check out some of Sylvia Kristel's Emanuelle films, but suspect on the whole it's not something for me.

There was also some "snuff" footage they were watching in one scene and it was actually pretty gruesome

I agree that this was also the best part, and surprisingly graphic. It was like proto-Videodrome.


I likely posted this here before, but a couple days after the Emanuelle screening, we went to Cinema L'Amour, the last operating adult cinema in Canada, for a midnight screening of the Jamie Gillis flick The Ecstasy Girls (evidently a quite edited/censored version) as part of their "L'Amour à Minuit" (Love at Midnight) series. L'Amour has since screened Vampyros Lesbos as part of the same series, and in a couple weeks will be showing another Jamie Gillis vehicle, Dracula Sucks, which I've been meaning to see for ages.