MUBI

fisgon

The Bigamist – Ida Lupino – 1952
The title of this film pretty much explains the plot, so there are no real surprises, but the journey is worth it, once you get over the strangeness of the way men and women related to one another in the fifties, seen from a modern perspective. The syrupy background music is distracting, but the story is a compelling one.
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The Dead and the Others - Salaviza - 2018
Set in rural Brazil between an indigenous community and a local small town. There are a number of key conflicts here, obviously between village and “civilisation”, but also between modernity and tradition, and within the indigenous village itself where the old ways of shamanism are resisted by the protagonist. Beautiful cinematography, fire and this chiaroscuro effect are used a lot, this is a docudrama in the local native language and in Portuguese that has a hypnotic, seductive quality that is difficult to resist.
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Nymphomaniac Vol 1 – Von Trier – 2014
Intriguing, clever, moving, more conventional than I was expecting. Some neat connections between fishing, classical music and sex. Shia Laboeuf in a very unusual role. A fascinating mixture.
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Summertime – Corsini – 2015
Has a lot in common with Portrait of a Lady on Fire, this film is set in an almost equally impossible time to be gay – in 1970s France, where Delphine, farmer’s daughter, falls for Parisian teacher Carole. The story is really strong, powerful; their relationship is believable and passionate. It comes to an inevitable conclusion, one that is hard to take but had to happen.
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Nymphomaniac Vol 2
This is a lot darker than volume 1, hard to watch at times. It gets deeper into Jo’s compulsion and goes to some troubling places. In fact, it seems like it is trying to shock and push the boundaries, just for its own sake. The ending, too, is totally out of place, it just feels wrong, in the context of the previous four hours. Fascinating, but at times difficult to take seriously.
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fisgon

Not a great week this week, for some reason, but here it is...


8 ½ - Fellini – 1954
This is just annoying. An aimless film about a film director who doesn’t know how to make his film – the meta-ness is not clever, it’s just self-indulgent. An avalanche of dream sequences, semi-memories, melodrama, disjointed scenes unconnected to anything else, random characters coming in and out of the story. Probably the most overrated film in cinema history. Thought it would never end. Just tedious.
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The Invincibles - Graf - 1994
A strange watch, this one. At times it looks like some B-movie with poor production values, though it does have moments of real tension and some impressive scenes. Basically an action movie with pretensions to some kind of political commentary that never really works. Feels like something half-finished. Also, the translations in the subtitles are, at times, weird and disjointed – a bit like the film as a whole.
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Transit - Petzold - 2018
Starting this story seems like dropping into a film that has already been going for 30 minutes or so; something is going on involving the French, the Germans and fascism, but none of it is ever really explained. We meet characters who soon die or drop out of the narrative, none of whom are really introduced. There is a great vagueness to everything that makes it hard to ever really engage with the film. The whole thing is dominated by stasis and blur. Frustrating.
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Tie me up, tie me down – Almodovar – 1990
The message of this film is a little troubling – if you are a good looking, slightly unbalanced orphan and fall in love with an actress, go ahead and kidnap her, beat her up, tie her to a bed and

she is bound to fall for you and everything will work out

. Not very MeToo, but it is done with such energy, colour and style that it is hard not to enjoy it. Antonio Banderas is suitably deranged and very young, and the script is sharp and funny. Very Almodovar.
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Girlhood – Sciamma – 2014
Pointless and aimless, this film drifts, like central character Vik, from one environment to another without really reaching any kind of conclusion. Apparently important characters disappear without explanation and Vik herself isn't exactly sympathetic. Disappointing.
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camz09

Has anybody got their mubi app updated? Mine did it automatically.

Anyway, I noticed with the new interface I can watch some films that have already 'expired' from the 30-day rule. Examples include Hoop Dreams, Bacurau, Ema (which I've seen already last May), etc. Just a heads up!

Fysh

camz09 wrote: »

Has anybody got their mubi app updated? Mine did it automatically.

Anyway, I noticed with the new interface I can watch some films that have already 'expired' from the 30-day rule. Examples include Hoop Dreams, Bacurau, Ema (which I've seen already last May), etc. Just a heads up!

I think that's the Library function - they always did rentals separately to the 30-film curated selection, but now they're keeping some films available for longer. I somehow missed Virus Tropical while it was in the curated list but it is still in the library, for instance.

stockshares

I've noticed a lot of the films have a nasty undertone or are very heavy. I think its necessary to research a lot of the films before viewing with family.

Fysh

stockshares wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of the films have a nasty undertone or are very heavy. I think its necessary to research a lot of the films before viewing with family.

Can you give some examples of what you mean by this?

I don't think I'd agree with what you're saying, in that most streaming platforms make no overt statement about having content that is uniformly "family-friendly" (barring maybe Disney+), but I might not be understanding what you mean.

Fysh

There are a couple of horror films worth checking out at the moment: Good Manners is a pretty interesting (and unusual in its narrative) Brazilian creature feature, and House is a demented Japanese horror-comedy thing that I can only really put in context by comparison with Happiness of the Katakuris (also high praise since HotK is fantastic).

stockshares

Fysh wrote: »

Can you give some examples of what you mean by this?

I don't think I'd agree with what you're saying, in that most streaming platforms make no overt statement about having content that is uniformly "family-friendly" (barring maybe Disney+), but I might not be understanding what you mean.

Meant to get back to you sooner. I had clicked on the post in my notifications but it then went out of my mind

The Nymphomaniac series is one example. There was another film about a young underground couple in Berlin who were being destroyed by drugs etc.

I'm not saying these films aren't good or well made but that they are heavy and not really suitable for family viewing

I haven't looked at this week's offerings yet. The Thread is great and I like the reviews by the way . I'm not complaining, just making an observation

Fysh

stockshares wrote: »

Meant to get back to you sooner. I had clicked on the post in my notifications but it then went out of my mind

The Nymphomaniac series is one example. There was another film about a young underground couple in Berlin who were being destroyed by drugs etc.

I'm not saying these films aren't good or well made but that they are heavy and not really suitable for family viewing

I haven't looked at this week's offerings yet. The Thread us great and I like the reviews by the way . I'm not complaining, just making an observation

I can certainly see that as being true of Nymphomaniac

What do you mean by "family viewing", though? Are you talking about content, tone, approaches to storytelling & character, or something else?

stockshares

Fysh wrote: »

I can certainly see that as being true of Nymphomaniac

What do you mean by "family viewing", though? Are you talking about content, tone, approaches to storytelling & character, or something else?

When you sit down with the family to watch a movie you don't want to be screening for Adult content, explicit drug use, sexual violence etc. I find a lot of the film's edgy and uncomfortable at times.

pm1977x

I think it's very much the 'arthouse' streaming service for adults, don't think it's targeting itself at families at all.

fisgon

The Wild Blue yonder – Herzog – 2005
Fantastically weird with a lot of tedious longueurs. As sci-fi it makes no sense at all, and is more a meditation or an attempt at visual poetry. If it has a message, it is hard to figure out what it is. In fact, the film does not really give up much in the way of meaning at all. Some funny moments, but mostly bleh.
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Gumnaan - Nawathe - 1965
Weird plot points, terrible acting, B-movie production values, cartoonish scenes (someone holds up a jar marked, in large letters “POISON”), a servant with a Hitler moustache; it is hard to take this seriously, even as a farce. The first musical number is great, the rest are ropey. Didn’t have the patience for this.
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The Truth – Kore-Eda - 2019
Mothers and daughters; this film is drowning in them. And another film about filmmaking, with actors playing actors. Juliette Binoche is a Hollywood scriptwriter who returns to France with her daughter to visit her horrible but famous actress mother, Catherine Deneuve, who is acting in a film about a mother and daughter. Also about memory, how unreliable it is, how selective. Subtly complex, though a little slight.
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Timbuktu - Sissako - 2014
Based around an Islamic State style group in Mali who impose forced marriages, give 40 lashes for playing music and stone people to death. The message of the film is that this is clearly horrific and barbaric, though we probably know this already. There is human drama here too, but it is all quite dispiriting. The IS fighters are self-righteous and hypocritical, but we also know that too. Some beautiful scenes and moments of humour, but it ultimately tells us nothing new.
2.5 stars

Good Manners - Rojas/Dutra - 2017
Eerie Brazilian werewolf tale, complete with torch wielding villagers. Unusual in that in centres on a child werewolf with pretty convincing special effects. Great performance by the child actor in the main role. Clara, the adoptive mother, is a picture of pained anxiety almost throughout the film, and is a bit hard to watch at times. Builds tension nicely.
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johnny_ultimate

King Hu double bill, starting with Dragon Inn and then A Touch of Zen in 10 days: https://mubi.com/specials/king-hu

Hu is probably in my five favourite directors of all time: his films are masterfully crafted, but also light on their feet and full of humour, action and trampolines (yes, trampolines). He elegantly weaves spiritual and Buddhist themes into thrilling wuxia rollercoasters. I’d say there’s a good case for A Touch of Zen being the greatest action movie ever made, even if genre isn’t quite sufficient to capture the sheer sprawling ambition of the thing.

If you’ve dug films like Hero or Crouching Tiger in the past, I’d encourage checking these two films out without hesitation - I for one much prefer Hu’s films to more modern wuxia efforts (excluding the wonderful The Assassin). King Hu might not always be mentioned in the same breath as the giants of classic cinema, but he deserves to be.

fisgon

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

King Hu double bill, starting with Dragon Inn and then A Touch of Zen in 10 days: https://mubi.com/specials/king-hu

Hu is probably in my five favourite directors of all time: his films are masterfully crafted, but also light on their feet and full of humour, action and trampolines (yes, trampolines). He elegantly weaves spiritual and Buddhist themes into thrilling wuxia rollercoasters. I’d say there’s a good case for A Touch of Zen being the greatest action movie ever made, even if genre isn’t quite sufficient to capture the sheer sprawling ambition of the thing.

Looking forward to that - I'm in the middle of Showgirls at the moment - supposedly one of the worst movies of all time, though I am completely entertained so far....

fisgon

stockshares wrote: »

Meant to get back to you sooner. I had clicked on the post in my notifications but it then went out of my mind

The Nymphomaniac series is one example. There was another film about a young underground couple in Berlin who were being destroyed by drugs etc.

I'm not saying these films aren't good or well made but that they are heavy and not really suitable for family viewing

I haven't looked at this week's offerings yet. The Thread is great and I like the reviews by the way . I'm not complaining, just making an observation

In fairness, you're probably not sitting down with the kids to watch a film called "Nymphomaniac".

Fysh

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

King Hu double bill, starting with Dragon Inn and then A Touch of Zen in 10 days: https://mubi.com/specials/king-hu

Hu is probably in my five favourite directors of all time: his films are masterfully crafted, but also light on their feet and full of humour, action and trampolines (yes, trampolines). He elegantly weaves spiritual and Buddhist themes into thrilling wuxia rollercoasters. I’d say there’s a good case for A Touch of Zen being the greatest action movie ever made, even if genre isn’t quite sufficient to capture the sheer sprawling ambition of the thing.

If you’ve dug films like Hero or Crouching Tiger in the past, I’d encourage checking these two films out without hesitation - I for one much prefer Hu’s films to more modern wuxia efforts (excluding the wonderful The Assassin). King Hu might not always be mentioned in the same breath as the giants of classic cinema, but he deserves to be.

Interesting, I tried to watch A Touch Of Zen a few years back but couldn't get into it, will check out Dragon Inn and give Zen another go when it is added.

Smegging hell

Nothing like a Showgirls/Hausu double bill to remind you of the magic of cinema.

fisgon

The good girls – Marquez Abella - 2018
Set in 1970s Mexico, the story of the disintegration of an upper class family because of an economic crisis. There is a certain schadenfreude in seeing their collapse, as they are spoilt, arrogant, snobbish and mean. Well done, but lacks any kind of sympathetic character to engage. Social satire is a little unsubtle.
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Live Flesh – Almodovar – 1997
Always stylish, the story doesn’t really come together, and kind of peters out even though there is some drama near the end. A love-pentagon – a weird five-way love story that swings one way and then the other, set in 1990s Madrid. Unconvincing but fun.
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Something in the air – Assayas – 2012
Everyone in this film takes themselves so seriously – set around the counter culture in 1960s France, a prelude to the woke generation of now. Similar to Hazanavicius’ Redoubtable, it shows the dogma and humourlessness of the revolutionary left, focusing on a bunch of intense high school students. Hard to sympathise with the characters, they are so self obsessed, but it is a colourful portrait of the time. A stylish journey but without any real destination.
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Clouds of Sils Maria – Assayas – 2014
Intriguing story that hangs on the chemistry between Binoche and Stewart. Role swapping, aging, female friendship are all themes, as well as the creative process and celebrity culture. There is a lot in this, some story threads are too short or left unfinished, but it is a fascinating mix.
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The Portuguese woman – Azevedo Gomes – 2018
Each scene is composed like a painting and looks beautiful, and the dialogue, such as it is, is poetic, so this is highbrow stuff. It is also devoid of plot, painfully boring at times, and way, way too long. Hard work.
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House - Obayashi - 1976
At times it has the feeling of a Scooby Doo episode, a bizarre mix of unscary horror, high jinks, kung fu and absurdity. Fun at times, at others drawn out, it generally makes no sense but is entertainingly bonkers.
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johnny_ultimate

Got around to Good Manners, which is certainly interesting although was a tad underwhelmed after being seriously impressed by the directors' earlier effort Hard Labor (which was on Mubi early last year I believe). Still, they do a fine job twisting genre ideas into something stranger and more socially conscious.

Although couldn't help but think

the CG werewolf kid was unusually reminiscent of the movie Sonic the Hedgehog

padjocollins

The icelandic film Echo was very good. various different short stories. each interesting in itself.

fisgon

Showgirls – Verhoeven – 1995
“Must be weird not having anyone come on ya”, says Nomi’s ex boss to her after she gets out of the stripping business.
Not sure I understand the flack this movie got back in the day: Elizabeth Berkley is a terrible actress, and there is a sense of the B movie about it, but it is fast, busy, colourful and entertaining – and a lot more erotic than it is given credit for. There is an attempt at commentary on the treatment of women in showbiz – way before MeToo – but it is mostly just trashy fun, like a sleazy soap opera.
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Rescue Dawn – Werner Herzog – 2006
Tremendous film. Tension, drama, maggots, in the tradition of the Great Escape or Le Grand Ilusion. Difficult to watch at times, but powerful and thrilling. Great performances from Christian Bale and Steve Zahn. An epic story of survival.
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Under the Silver lake – Mitchell – 2017
“You’re not going to kill me?” “I don’t think so, we might, I’m not sure yet.”
David Lynchian weirdness, reminiscent of Mulholland Drive. Codes, secret messages, mysteries, conspiracies, it takes place in a Los Angeles where it seems like 50 people live who are always bumping into one another. Inventive, loopy, stylish, curious. Great soundtrack – a pleasure.
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A Woman’s revenge – Azevedo Gomes – 20
More a play or opera than a film, the painted backdrops give it the feel of unreality. Slow, mannered, at times beautiful to look at, there is intensity here, and subdued passion. Veers into melodrama, in an absurd scene with a human heart. A bit ponderous at times.
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Dragon inn – King Hu - 1967
Great fun this, basically a Chinese Western. Seems to have influenced Tarantino’s Hateful Eight. A bit lacking in information on why people are doing what they are doing, and who exactly they are, but the details get left behind in all of the action. The fight scenes are a little hard to take seriously – the heroes routinely defeat twenty bad guys single-handedly, but disbelief needs to be suspended. Bizarre, abrupt ending. Wild stuff.
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Echo - Runarsson - 2019
Not really one narrative, but a series of unconnected scenes that end up portraying a snapshot of modern Iceland in the days leading up to Christmas and through New Year. In the most successful of the vignettes, there is a whole world contained in sixty seconds – an example of that is one scene with two stepsisters and a piano that suggests a whole universe of rivalry, conflict and possibilities. Fascinating idea, beautifully executed.
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fisgon

padjocollins wrote: »

The icelandic film Echo was very good. various different short stories. each interesting in itself.

Agree, in fact 56 separate stories in one film, many fascinating.

Review above.....:)

padjocollins

Watched giraffe the other night. decent film https://mubi.com/films/giraffe-2019

padjocollins

Timbuktu definately worth a watch. Stunning scenery. https://mubi.com/films/timbuktu-2014 . Second time i've watched it.

stockshares

Revolut banking app is now giving 3 months free movies as part of their rewards program.

McGrath5

stockshares wrote: »

Revolut banking app is now giving 3 months free movies as part of their rewards program.

Thanks for the heads up, subscribed for the free 90 days. Looking forward to checking this out.

fisgon

Giraffe - Hartmann - 2019
Bland and slow-moving – a mix of documentary and fiction that doesn’t really work on any level. Nothing is explored in any depth, we just get the surface of characters, stories, issues. People appear and are never introduced, scenes take place, seemingly at random. No resolution and no conclusion. …and the title is as random as everything else. Totally unengaging.
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Non-fiction – Assayas – 2018
Possibly the most French film ever made. A film of ideas, philosophising, adultery, people having long conversations about the nature of truth. The talk of algorithms controlling our lives is a little dated now, even just two years later. Also, the scene where “Juliette Binoche” is mentioned in the film, while she is sitting there playing one of the characters, is just silly, and not as clever as they think; a sign of self-indulgence that is typical of the film as a whole. Goes nowhere.
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All about my Mother – Almodovar - 1999
“Who was that woman with the baby in the bar?” “That woman was his father.”
Descends into melodrama a bit too often, but retains a lot of emotional power too. A story about parents and children, memory, the past and regret, and a little bit of redemption. The story is intertwined with that of A Streetcar named Desire and All About Eve.
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The I and the we – Gondry – 2012
Really really horrible kids on this bus at the beginning, and this seems like it is going to be a cliched bullies-and-bullied type of movie. And then it gets deeper, and more interesting and complex, moving from group to group, getting into the psychology and past and families of the characters. Almost 100% set on a NY city bus among a group of mainly black and Latino high-school kids. Ends up being quite hypnotic and brilliant.
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Swimming pool - Ozon - 2003
What is real and what is fiction, is the question in this novelesque film about an uptight English novelist who goes to France to write her book. We weave in and out of the fiction until we are not clear what really happens and what is invention. A subtle, intriguing journey.
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Peig Sayers

Mubi Go gives you one free cinema ticket each week once you have a subscription to Mubi. It stopped for the last few months but it's just returned. You can get a ticket for either Vue or IFI in Dublin. This week's movie is 'Tenet' which is showing in Vue. When I click on each day it's showing it says 'there are no more showings in cinemas near you today'.

I contacted them about it and this was their reply:

'Could you please try to delete and reinstall the app and check if you still get no results? Another reason this could still be happening is if you have the battery or location settings set to Battery Saving; in order for the app to have access to your GPS, these settings need to be set to High Accuracy. Please check both Battery and Location settings on your phone, set them to the highest possible accuracy and let us know if this works!'

I've done all this and still no joy. Anyone else having this problem?

Irish Aris

padjocollins wrote: »

The icelandic film Echo was very good. various different short stories. each interesting in itself.

fisgon wrote: »

Echo - Runarsson - 2019
Not really one narrative, but a series of unconnected scenes that end up portraying a snapshot of modern Iceland in the days leading up to Christmas and through New Year. In the most successful of the vignettes, there is a whole world contained in sixty seconds – an example of that is one scene with two stepsisters and a piano that suggests a whole universe of rivalry, conflict and possibilities. Fascinating idea, beautifully executed.
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I will echo (pun intended ) the positive comments on Runarsson's Echo. I am somewhat biased as I was on holidays to Iceland 2 years ago and I fell in love with the country. But the film offers lovely snapshots on everyday life. I particularly liked

the scene with the new born baby right after the New Year's countdown

Irish Aris

fisgon wrote: »

Under the Silver lake – Mitchell – 2017
“You’re not going to kill me?” “I don’t think so, we might, I’m not sure yet.”
David Lynchian weirdness, reminiscent of Mulholland Drive. Codes, secret messages, mysteries, conspiracies, it takes place in a Los Angeles where it seems like 50 people live who are always bumping into one another. Inventive, loopy, stylish, curious. Great soundtrack – a pleasure.


fisgon wrote: »

Giraffe - Hartmann - 2019
Bland and slow-moving – a mix of documentary and fiction that doesn’t really work on any level. Nothing is explored in any depth, we just get the surface of characters, stories, issues. People appear and are never introduced, scenes take place, seemingly at random. No resolution and no conclusion. …and the title is as random as everything else. Totally unengaging.
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Non-fiction – Assayas – 2018
Possibly the most French film ever made. A film of ideas, philosophising, adultery, people having long conversations about the nature of truth. The talk of algorithms controlling our lives is a little dated now, even just two years later. Also, the scene where “Juliette Binoche” is mentioned in the film, while she is sitting there playing one of the characters, is just silly, and not as clever as they think; a sign of self-indulgence that is typical of the film as a whole. Goes nowhere.
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I saw these 3 films the last few days and I generally agree with your reviews figson.

Under The Silver Lake was playing more in the conspiracy theory side occasionally flirting with "tin foil hat" territory but in a clever way. I thought the reveal was a little "out there" and didn't exactly fit with the build up to it but overall Mitchell handle things well.. And a different, quite interesting role for Garfield.

On Giraffe and Non-Fiction - I think both films suffer for being too "theoretical" (for lack of a better word) and depending heavily on whether the viewer would be interested in the subject matter.

Like you figson, I didn't find Giraffe particularly interesting. I felt that it was trying to connect 3 different stories (the research on the house and the people affected by the building of the tunnel, the stories of the Polish workers and the relationship between Dara and Lucek) but by the end I felt that they never met anywhere. There were some good ideas that I could relate to: the sense of belonging to a place as presented in the beginning of the film with the old couple or the stories of the Polish workers on how they left their country to work, but these were very brief and I never got into the film.

On the other hand, I found most of the philosophical discussion on Non-fiction interesting and caught myself thinking about it afterwards. I think your comment about this being the most French film ever made is fair: People talking endlessly, episodes and dialogues that don't really offer much in the overall story, characters that aren't easily likeable (personally I couldn't warm to any of them) - although I think all the actors give good performances. An interesting change for Assayas - thematically at least, as I think there are similarities with how he directed Cloud of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper.