Movie Talk (New Films, Old Films... doesn't matter) (43 Viewers)

[CrimsonianKing]

The list I posted about 6 weeks ago of what I thought were the best films of 2014... and the awards they won, or have been nominated for.

1) Black Coal, Thin Ice --- Won Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival, Liao Fan won Silver Bear as best actor
2) Leviathan ---- Won best screenplay at Cannes, Won best Foreign film at Golden Globes, Nominated for Best Foreign Film Academy Awards
3) Winter Sleep --- Won Palme d'Or and Fipresci at Cannes
4) A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence --- Won Golden Lion at Venice International Film Festival
5) Two Days, One Night --- Marion Cotillard nominated for Best Actress Academy Awards, Nominated for Palme d'Or Cannes
6) Force Majeure --- Won Un Certain Regard Jury Prize Cannes, Won Best Film at Guldbagge (Sweden) awards
7) Wild Tales --- Nominated for best foreign language film Academy Awards, Nominated for Palme d'Or Cannes
8) Field of Dogs --- Nominated for Golden Frog Camerimage (world's biggest cinematography film festival)
9) Birdman --- Nominated for Best Picture at Academy Awards + 8 other nominations
10) A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night --- Won best first feature or Directorial revelation at multiple major film festivals
11) Whiplash --- Nominated for Best Picture at Academy Awards + 4 other nominations
12) Corn Island ---Won Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Nominated for Best foreign language film Academy Awards
13) The Grand Budapest Hotel --- Nominated for best picture at Academy Awards + 8 other nominations
14) Tale of Princess Kaguya --- Nominated for best Animated feature film Academy Awards, Won best animated feature film at multiple festivals
15) In Order of Disappearance --- Nominated for Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival



Care to state that my preference is for unknown 500K budget films again?

I came back to this list because i've been very slow regarding new movies, lack of interest... I don't know. So i've been missing out on most new releases.

I only watched 3 of those movies and have another 3 on my computer. I'll try to check the rest little by little when i can.

Oh, all my friends rated Leviathan as high as it can be, so that should be my first pick in what to watch next. After Whiplash, of course.

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[Ocelot]

Haven't seen the movie, judging on her career in overall. She is action movies pinup girl or typical female lead girlfriend kinda A list actress. Very few movies worth remembering for her and her performance imo. Besides lost in translation, and a little for Vicky Barcelona (match point is ok by her too) . Haven't seen under the skin, heard good things, but in general she's a blockbuster star actress that occasionally does indie movies to try to get serious acting cred and failing Imo.

I don't know, in my eyes she gets a little bit too much criticism when doing independent, "serious" films due to her Hollywood-Blackbuster background. Gotta say that I'm in general rather weak at judging the value of actor's performanes, but I really think she did a decent job in Under the Skin. And even though it's just voice-acting, her part in Her was amazing imo.

A Pidgeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

I refuse to watch that movie based on the title alone

It's weird as fuck, and I can understand people finding it boring and dry.

But I like it

Well, clearly there can be a smug arrogance thing -- the "I watch art and you peasants watch trash" thing. That certainly can get tiresome.

But what some of you are missing is that who really gives a shit about promoting a mainstream movie? You can talk to any 13 year old and get an opinion, and you can't go to a nearby theater without having it slammed in your faces. Nobody really has honestly much to learn from others here about movies they already know about and have been covered 50 times over in the mainstream and social media.

So if you can put up with the annoying snobbery at times, where are you going to hear about some of the harder-to-find releases? You might actually have a chance at discovering something new you haven't already heard 50 times over by now.

 

[Osman]

I don't mind her, actually find her entertaining in her blockbuster roles, mainly marvel one. But she is generally not memorable performance wise, I had to look up her career films to remember which films I find her to be stand out in. Otherwise in general she is adequate more or less at best.

 

[radekas]

Not sure if it was discussed but Marvel and Sony came to an agreement and Spiderman is joining the MCU. This is huge news for Marvel and comic book fans. This will add shitloads to the universe.

 

[Osman]

Holy shit that's jackpot in terms comic superheroes goes. Spiderman is the most iconic marvel character, he has alot of crossover stories with x-men and avengers (as member of latter), very smart of Sony to finally join the Marvel cash cow. It's tiring to otherwise to just reboot spidey every time they need to milk it.


Now for the impossible to happen and Fox and Marvel make some deal regarding X - men

 

[radekas]

I think the X-Men series is doing great so I don't want it to get rebooted into the MCU. The ammount of mutant characters would make MCU a mess anyway.

 

[Dostoevsky]

Not sure if it was discussed but Marvel and Sony came to an agreement and Spiderman is joining the MCU. This is huge news for Marvel and comic book fans. This will add shitloads to the universe.

In what sense? Providing wider budget or?

 

[radekas]

In what sense? Providing wider budget or?

Stories. Spiderman is to Marvel what Superman and Batman are to DC. He is an integral part of most crossover plots.

 

[swag]

Well, there's more to it than promotion. To me it's interesting to read other people's opinion about mainstream movies to get an idea if they are worth watching or not, to navigate the landscape, so to speak. Or if they disagree with my opinion, to find out why that is. Surely there's something to learn that way.

I get that. Any movie before you invest the time in it is probably worth the research and recommendation beforehand.

But you don't have to go far to get opinions about mainstream movies. I can't get a haircut without getting an opinion about a mainstream movie: the stuff is everywhere.

So while I do appreciate some thoughts from those I'm like-minded about here re: mainstream movies, I tend to get more out of the stuff where I'm not hearing about the movie while getting a haircut. There's a lot of crap movies out there, but there are some gems too that you have to work for to get at.

Maybe getting info about those gems seems weighted as if it dismisses more mainstream movies as pablum, but there really isn't much of a better way to find them through word-of-mouth, recommendations, or the rare review.

In fact, one of the things I most appreciate about the Tuz is that it has exposed me to a lot of culture, art, ideas, etc., from around the world that I would have otherwise been blissfully ignorant of.

 

[Ramin]

Black Coal, Thin Ice just popped up on torrent sites, finally without hardcoded Chinese subs. I think there are English subs available for it on Subscene. https://kickass.to/black-coal-thin-ice-2014-nordic-brrip-x264-aac-5-1-devil-mkv-t10176397.html There's also BluRay versions up but they are 12 and 5.5 gigs respectively, which is a little crazy. I think the version I linked has a link to English Subtitles on that page.

Chinese Realism meets Neo-Noir. Atmospheric film, that's relentlessly bleak and nihilistic. Plot and character development are ignored to some extent, or at least not focused upon so much as the atmosphere and feel of the film. It's quite interesting.


In Order of Disappearance https://kickass.to/kraftidioten-in-order-of-disappearance-hans-petter-moland-2014-t10196572.html#main

I really like Stellan Skarsgård, but I confess that this film may not be for everyone. Myself, I thought it was excellent. Darkly comic, with witty dialogue. It walks a fine line between grim and silly, but seems to do quite an excellent job of not falling to either side.

I think A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Wild Tales, Field of Dogs, and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Corn Island are all yet to show up on torrents.

- - - Updated - - -

A couple other really excellent 2014 films are:

Stations of The Cross
Haemoo
Goodnight Mommy
Coming Home
Tom At the Farm
The Boy and The World
The Way He Looks
The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq
THe Dark Valley

Thanks for the links.

I've only seen two movies from your other list. Haemoo which I really loved, and The Dark Valley, which was kinda boring to me. Western movies does not work on me.

 

[Völler]

I get that. Any movie before you invest the time in it is probably worth the research and recommendation beforehand.

But you don't have to go far to get opinions about mainstream movies. I can't get a haircut without getting an opinion about a mainstream movie: the stuff is everywhere.

So while I do appreciate some thoughts from those I'm like-minded about here re: mainstream movies, I tend to get more out of the stuff where I'm not hearing about the movie while getting a haircut. There's a lot of crap movies out there, but there are some gems too that you have to work for to get at.

Maybe getting info about those gems seems weighted as if it dismisses more mainstream movies as pablum, but there really isn't much of a better way to find them through word-of-mouth, recommendations, or the rare review.

In fact, one of the things I most appreciate about the Tuz is that it has exposed me to a lot of culture, art, ideas, etc., from around the world that I would have otherwise been blissfully ignorant of.

I think we're on the same page. Low-budget definitely needs exposure through word-of-mouth more than the mainstream ones.

 

[Post Ironic]

Thanks for the links.

I've only seen two movies from your other list. Haemoo which I really loved, and The Dark Valley, which was kinda boring to me. Western movies does not work on me.

You're welcome. Haemoo was really great. You're right about The Dark Valley, it wouldn't really suit anyone who isn't a fan of westerns. I give it some weight because I really like Sam Riley as an actor, and thought Tobias Moretti did quite a good turn as well. The most irritating part for me was the voice-over narration. It was really unnecessary in this film and made it feel far more leaden than it needed to be. Oh well.

 

[Ocelot]

You're welcome. Haemoo was really great. You're right about The Dark Valley, it wouldn't really suit anyone who isn't a fan of westerns. I give it some weight because I really like Sam Riley as an actor, and thought Tobias Moretti did quite a good turn as well. The most irritating part for me was the voice-over narration. It was really unnecessary in this film and made it feel far more leaden than it needed to be. Oh well.

Oh, you're talking about Das Finstere Tal

Yeah it's really good, best Austrian movie since Das Weiße Band (The White Ribbon?) imo.

 

[Post Ironic]

Oh, you're talking about Das Finstere Tal

Yeah it's really good, best Austrian movie since Das Weiße Band (The White Ribbon?) imo.

Did you like it? Or are you making fun of me for liking it?

- - - Updated - - -

PS. Haneke is a top 5 director working today. Brilliant auteur.

 

[Ocelot]

Did you like it? Or are you making fun of me for liking it?

- - - Updated - - -

PS. Haneke is a top 5 director working today. Brilliant auteur.

I like it, just found it funny because I didn't recognise it due to the English title until I saw Tobias Moretti

About Haneke, I only know The White Ribbon and Die Klavierspielerin (The...female Pianist?) to be honest, but both are great. Especially the former.

 

[Nzoric]

You're missing out...

Imma watch it either way. The title is just shameful tho

 

[Ramin]

The White Ribbon was painfully boring. Didn't like it at all.

My favorite Haneke movie is Caché (Hidden). I also liked The Piano Teacher.

 

[Völler]

My favorite Haneke movie is Caché (Hidden).

 

[da_ledgeaun]

Under The Skin good?

Scarlett Johansson is the most overrated actress in Hollywood. Total $#@! actress.

No body says bad shit about Scarjo!!! she is the most complete actress there is!!!

Ohh Scarjo, brb

 

[swag]

Saw A Most Violent Year. Kind of a daring movie in its understatement... covering the corruption and graft in 1981 New York City, and yet it runs understated and simmering rather than the expected blow-em-up gangster-style films that have become routine and what you'd expect with that kind of set up.

I recommend it, unless you would be disappointed about a criminal enterprise movie with a low body count.

I even forgot that I just saw Isaac as Llewyn Davis...