Movies

Got to see Past Lives in a theater today. Another really good movie experience. It's exactly what I expected, so it's not a super surprising movie if you've seen the trailer. But yet it all works really well. Beautifully shot and acted, with a great undercurrent of melancholy throughout. It feels so grounded in reality too, which I'm sure won't work for everyone. I appreciate A24 releasing films like this right alongside the more weirdo horror stuff.
 
The Denmarkian Wonder said:
I liked it but i can see how it's probably not for everyone aka a David Cronenberg film haha
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Definitely. Not giving up on him just yet. Love The Fly, Dead Ringers (Jeremy Irons robbed of an Oscar), Dead Zone. Those are all somewhat tame though. Feels weird to call The Fly tame given that ending, but I could watch that move over and over and not tire of it.
 
I have been going a bit crazy with the recent Vinegar Syndrome and Severin sales but I found a movie randomly that was a new release from a VS Partner called Falcon Lake and I really enjoyed it! It will very likely be among my top movies of 2023.

It's a beautiful film and while I understand it being in mostly French will deter a lot of people it deserves to be seen if it at all looks/sounds interesting!
 
I've been on a bit of a film bender recently. I still haven't seen Tar and am gonna try and catch Past Lives in theaters.

But I've been thinking about how shitty this decade in film has been in comparison to the 10's which rivals the 90's as the best decade of film in my opinion.

When I made my end of the decade list, I had to work to narrow it down to 125 films from like a list of 160 films that I considered a 4.5/5 or higher. Granted I was working in the the industry, playing less video games and watching less hoops...

Digital cameras had looked like the gateway to affordable film making and there were countless great American indies being made every year... all of this to say:

I just finished Return to Seoul. It was phenomenal. There is it a good chance it finishes as my favorite film released stateside in 2023.

Granted, I haven't seen Tar, Spiderverse (the first of which is one of the only super hero films I'm willing to call a masterpiece) or Past Lives yet a but I think I'm at 10 to 12 5/5 star films for the decade. Which is a truly pathetic #. But maybe I just need to watch more foreign films because here's where I'm at:

1) Aftersun (2022) [UK]
2) Dune (2021)
3) Palm Springs (2020)
4) The Worst Person in the World (2021) [Norway]
5) Babylon (2022)
6) Moonage Daydream (2022)
7) Return to Seuoul (2023) [France]
8) Liquorice Pizza (2021)
9) Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
10) Triangle of Sadness (2022) [Norway]
11) Pearl (2022)
12) Power of the Dog (2021)

My other favs (4.5*) would be:
13) Minari (2020) [Korea]
14) The Banshees of Insherin (2022)
15) Nope (2022)
16) Asteroid City (2023)
17) Cmon Cmon (2021)
18) Plan B (2021)
19) The Sound of Metal (2020)
20) Shiva Baby (2020)
21) Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
22) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
23) The Fablemans (2022)
24) Don't Look Up (2021)

After that it's hazy with couple of strong 4/5's that might get bumped up upon rewatch like Zola, I'm Thinking of Ending Things and How to Build a Pipeline.

What am I missing in your all's opinions? I presume a bunch of foreign stuff? (And how wrong am I about Babylon? 😂).
 
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kvetcha said:
The pandemic broke filmmaking for a couple years, so it’s not entirely fair to pass judgment on the decade just yet.
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Fair. 2020 was god awful and one of the main reasons things seem so dire and last year was pretty damn solid. Same time, I'd argue the evolution of streaming and the dominance of Marvel have more to do with it.

Found this NPR piece on Return to Seoul- great listen.



Also--

 
DownIsTheNewUp said:
Fair. 2020 was god awful and one of the main reasons things seem so dire and last year was pretty damn solid. Same time, I'd argue the evolution of streaming and the dominance of Marvel have more to do with it.

Found this NPR piece on Return to Seoul- great listen.



Also--

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I agree with you, but the current evolution of streaming was given a real kick in the pants by lockdown.
 
kvetcha said:
I agree with you, but the current evolution of streaming was given a real kick in the pants by lockdown.
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Definitely. No doubt people got used to watching stuff at home.

But it also has to do with the business decisions / model that streamers pivoted too. Especially Netflix. Last decade Netflix was buying up films off of the festival circuit left and right. And there was an Indies section on their homepage that made them easy to find. '

They then pivoted to producing their own films. Which had two effects--

A) That model is a lot more expensive for Netflix, Amazon and left little in the budget for buying indies
B) Without streamers buying or promoting Indies, there is less financing for them. And when a good one gets made it often disappears into the either. For examples of this see Plan B (which should have been a huge hit), Aftersun (which I think was the best film of last year and nobody saw it), Licorice Pizza (which only PTA fans and film buffs seem to have seen), Cmon Cmon and Shiva Baby (both of which practically nobody has seen).

You used to walk into a blockbuster and browse films. Cult films became a thing. Now TV is the priority, Indies rarely get a chance to gain an audience, the $30m budget (which was the 60m budget in the 90's and 00's) has disappeared and all your left with is micro budgeted films, horror and super hero movies.
 
DownIsTheNewUp said:
Definitely. No doubt people got used to watching stuff at home.

But it also has to do with the business decisions / model that streamers pivoted too. Especially Netflix. Last decade Netflix was buying up films off of the festival circuit left and right. And there was an Indies section on their homepage that made them easy to find. '

They then pivoted to producing their own films. Which had two effects--

A) That model is a lot more expensive for Netflix, Amazon and left little in the budget for buying indies
B) Without streamers buying or promoting Indies, there is less financing for them. And when a good one gets made it often disappears into the either. For examples of this see Plan B (which should have been a huge hit), Aftersun (which I think was the best film of last year and nobody saw it), Licorice Pizza (which only PTA fans and film buffs seem to have seen), Cmon Cmon and Shiva Baby (both of which practically nobody has seen).

You used to walk into a blockbuster and browse films. Cult films became a thing. Now TV is the priority, Indies rarely get a chance to gain an audience, the $30m budget (which was the 60m budget in the 90's and 00's) has disappeared and all your left with is micro budgeted films, horror and super hero movies.
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Agreed on all counts!

It was so nice watching Past Lives in theaters precisely because it's the sort of mid/low budget drama that doesn't seem to get screen time any more.

Also, are you on Letterboxd? If so, are we mutuals?
 
kvetcha said:
Agreed on all counts!

It was so nice watching Past Lives in theaters precisely because it's the sort of mid/low budget drama that doesn't seem to get screen time any more.

Also, are you on Letterboxd? If so, are we mutuals?
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Yeah it's a priority for me to catch that before it leaves Chicago. Anyways, if you liked The Worst Person in the World and / or Aftersun, give Return to Seoul a rent. Has a lot in common with both films.
 
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