Je Tu Il Elle

The film equivalent of 'watching paint dry' - for the first half hour of this art house black and white film by Chantal Ackerman, a girl (Ackerman herself), in a almost empty room, lies on the bed, eats sugar, writes letters, and gets naked. Later, hitch-hiking, she is picked up by a truck driver, and finishes up at the house of a girl-friend where they have sex. It's very slow, but almost hypnotic, almost. 

Academy cinemas

With reference to my earlier blog, here's a photo of the Academy Cinemas in Oxford St:

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Birdman (again)

Just realised that Birdman (see my earlier blog) got the OSCAR for Best Picture - ho hum...  

The Round Up

Brownie points to MUBI for selecting The Round Up as their film of the day. I remember seeing this when it came out, in 1966, at one of the Academy cinemas in Oxford St - at the time one of the only places you could see less mainstream films. I probably went as a result of reading a review by Dilys Powell in the Sunday paper - I think I may even still have the review somewhere in a box in the loft, as the film made a great impression on me. I guess, at the time, it was something completely different - and it still packs a punch - somewhere in Hungary the army is trying to track down outlaws (opposition resistance leaders) and so rounds up all the local men (shepherds mainly), keeps them in a specially constructed prison in the middle of a huge plain and uses all sorts of psychological methods to identify the outlaws from the innocent shepherds - it's all very still and quiet and alien and strangely disturbing - but shot in such stunning black and white (the blacks are really black and the whites and really white) that it is just beautiful to watch. Lovely to see it again (for the first time since 1966) though I note you can get it these days on DVD. Thoroughly recommended. Trying to remember other films I saw around the same time that I was similarly affected by - Closely Observed Trains possibly, and Juliet of the Spirits and, well I'm sure others will come to mind. 

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Another attempt to watch the film that was about to fall off the bottom of the MUBI list failed - as it turned out to be rather long and I gave up and went to bed and then couldn't access it the next day - doh! Anyway, really liked C.R.A.Z.Y. as far as it went - this is a Quebec-based coming of age story, about Zac growing up and his struggles with his father, his brothers, and his sexuality. It reminded me a bit of Boyhood - it goes on a bit long but you do get drawn into wanting to know how things turn out - but I'll have to get the DVD now to find out!! There's also a great soundtrack - from Zac's father's obsessions with Patsy Cline and Charles Aznavour, through Zac's love of David Bowie. 

Bubbles

Forgot to mention that I was delighted to be invited to the premiere of Nasheed Faruqi's short film 'Bubbles' at the Notting Hill Gate cinema a couple of weeks ago. Nasheed is the friend of my wife's friend's daughter, and raised some of the funding for her film through Kickstarter, hence my minimal involvement (a small donation) and invitation. Here's the synopsis from the Cannes Short Film Catalogue: Set in a British-Pakistani home. About a little girl who witnesses an act of horrible violence at home, and how it beaks her heart. Faruqi conjures up a real sense of claustrophobia and tension, and of things coming to the boil (in more senses than one!). I'll keep my fingers crossed that it makes an impact in Cannes!

100 films you've never heard of...

The continuing saga of trying to find and watch (and blog about, see: http://patrese2.blogspot.co.uk) all the films in David Meyer's book 'The 100 best films to rent you've never heard of' led me today to:
'Robin and Marion' Richard Lester's excellent film about Robin Hood's later life, the core of which is the revival after 10 years away fighting in the Crusades, of his love affair with Maid Marion (and inevitably his continuing feud with the Sherriff of Nottingham - do they still have a Sherriff of Nottingham?? - can't be a popular position to hold!)
and
Predator - the Annie Schwarzenegger rumble in the jungle with guns, aliens, and muscles - blah!

So that means I've seen 82 of the 101 films (101 because Meyer lists both versions of The Wages of Fear (the remake confusingly titles Sorcerer). It's been a disappointingly slow process as I started in July 2011 and had high hopes of zipping through the 100 films in a couple of years - I've even collected several other books with similar titles in the expectation that I'd work my way through them too - la di da...

MUBI

Just joined MUBI, the online film series promoted by Picturehouse - a new film every day, with 30 days to watch them - but as one is added, one falls off the bottom - so as Tarsem Singh's 2008 film 'The Fall' was about to disappear I choose to watch it - I'm embarrassed to admit I'd never heard of it - but it was wonderful - visually sumptuous - and I urge everyone to go find it and watch it!

Films to and from Beirut

Fantastic couple of days in Beirut - and the 5 hour flight allowed me to watch a few films:

Birdman - film about putting on a Broadway play - very theatrical - didn't really get it - seemed to be shot in one long take - but that made it relentless - no gaps - no time to breathe..

The Imitation Game - breaking the Enigma code - but really more of a biopic about Alan Turing - didn't like the switching between times - would have liked to know more about how the computer actually worked - what they put in what they got out - and why it took them so long to realise that if every German message ended Heil Hitler that that might be an easy (easier) way to crack the code

Nighcrawler - creepy main character spoilt an interesting film about the film crews that ambulance chase around LA

Whiplash - drumming - only able to watch half an hour before we landed - but easily the best half an hour of the flight..