Seen and not seen's, recommendations and queries on top films in general.

[Atrophist]

Skinamarink. Oh dear, oh dear.

You know the expression ”form over content”? Well this is exactly that, but the form isn’t any good either.

Pointless static shots from the inside of a single house, shot from deliberately awkward, incorrect and unhelpful angles. With no perceptible artistic justification. The image is also deliberately grainy and the sound scratchy, presumably achieved in an artificial, digital manner. Might work as a more subtle effect, but they’ve completely overblown it.

This might work as a 20 minute short at a film festival. 100 minutes of this? Not a chance. And don’t tell me I just don’t ”get” it. There’s nothing here to get.

[aububs]

skinamarink was my favourite film i saw last year

loved it

now that i think of it there's a noise mentality to it

i understand people not liking it and there's a lot of them

[Atrophist]

now that i think of it there's a noise mentality to it

I thought the same, actually. Imo it could have been great, if they’d toned down the gimmickry a bit, focused more on the story and pruned the lenght by maybe 20 min.

But hey, if you enjoyed it, great. I’ll still check out whatever the director does next, because like I said at least this film tries to do something different and original, and shows promise. Even if it doesn’t deliver this time around, imo.

[chibitachop]

Skinamarink.
You know the expression ”form over content”? Well this is exactly that, but the form isn’t any good either.

Pointless static shots from the inside of a single house, shot from deliberately awkward, incorrect and unhelpful angles. With no perceptible artistic justification...

This might work as a 20 minute short at a film festival. 100 minutes of this? Not a chance. And don’t tell me I just don’t ”get” it. There’s nothing here to get.

this is kind of how I felt the first time I watched it pirated at home, then when it went theatrical I couldn't resist the novelty of seeing it again in a theater and I have to say upon rewatching its shocking to realize how many of the shots that felt pointless / purely-aesthetic are actually motivated and have a functional purpose to drive what minimal plot there is.

without spoiling anything, lot of early stuff is showing progressively more lights getting turned off by indeterminate forces closing in on the living room & establishing when they sleep which objects are moved around, pretty much everything up thru "how'd you do that?" is way more linear than it seems first time. even the most pointless hallway shots are setting you up to notice what has changed later.

which is in no way meant to argue in any qualitative way that makes it "good" but just to say after rewatching I must concede there is much more deliberate structure than is immediately evident, its just skewed towards indirect context clues and off-screen audio (for example, them repetitively trying the light switch in the kitchen which we don't see at all).

I would love to discuss the ending with anyone else who felt they got something out of it, but I'll have to remind myself how to do the spoiler tag on here. it def gets more open-ended post "how'd you do that?" but cursory googling confirmed there is at least some corroborating consensus so its not just me free -improvising.

regardless, its categorically insane a movie this formally antagonistic is in wide theatrical release so I highly recommend anyone reading this at least give it a shot for the cognitive dissonance alone.

[Manhog_84]

Just rewatched Phase IV. 101 films Blu-ray has the original Saul Bass ending as an extra feature and fuck, it's amazing! It always felt that the film's ending is a bit letdown and rushed, but this works a lot better and makes more sense.

[HateSermon]

Couple of movies with the boys tonight…

First up was Invasion USA. Excellent Cannon film starring Chuck Norris. A bunch of Cubans and Russians try to storm the US but good ol Chuck Norris is there to fuck up their plans. I think he has like 10 lines in this whole movie, the rest is one big explosion after another. Plenty of real dynamite used on scenes rather than cgi or whatever. Some seedy goons in here, too. A fun ride.

Second was Dead Heat. A buddy cop movie but one of the cops turns into a zombie and can’t be killed. Somehow the main broad in this gets more attractive as the film progresses. One of the last flicks Vincent Price was in before he died and I gotta tell ya, still a great actor even on his deathbed. Has Joe Piscopo playing a meathead italian cop but his one liners were a huge let down. Like every time it was setup for him he said some stupid shit. Treat Williams is the pretty boy good cop turned zombie. Highlight of the film was a crazy reanimated butcher shop scene… chickens and pigs coming back to life and whatnot. Worth watching.

[goldameir]

Just rewatched "The Rock" (1996), and I can't stop admiring this movie since its release. This was exclusive how Michael Bay managed to combine a classy action thriller with such a deep dramatic character as General Hummel portrayed by Ed Harris.
And of course, the scroe is my favorite score for ever. You can't imagine this movie without "The Rock Suite". I've been listening to this album many years as a separate musical opus, and if they tell me, that I have to choose one music piece for the rest of my life..

Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer - "The Rock" Main Theme

[AdamLehrerImageMaker]

Been reading Quentin Tarantino's Cinema Speculation, which is phenomenal, and then jotting down some of the films that he writes about.

First was John Avildsen's Joe from 1970, which I'd seen a long time ago, and bought the blu-ray and rewatched it. Almost a perfect film. A bourgeois hard working family murders the heroin addict drug dealer that leads his daughter to ruin, earning the respect and admiration of working class foul mouth bigot Joe, who leads him to ruin. Truly hypnotic film, and a great lens into the generational divide of the first counter culture.

[Neons Fanzine]

Couple of movies with the boys tonight…

First up was Invasion USA. Excellent Cannon film starring Chuck Norris. A bunch of Cubans and Russians try to storm the US but good ol Chuck Norris is there to fuck up their plans. I think he has like 10 lines in this whole movie, the rest is one big explosion after another. Plenty of real dynamite used on scenes rather than cgi or whatever. Some seedy goons in here, too. A fun ride.

Even the beginning is epic
The russian guy shooting a dude in the dick and then throwing the screaming chick through the window, that's badass
And I love how the communists are invading America the same way the allies arrived in the beaches of Normandy

[HateSermon]

Couple of movies with the boys tonight…

First up was Invasion USA. Excellent Cannon film starring Chuck Norris. A bunch of Cubans and Russians try to storm the US but good ol Chuck Norris is there to fuck up their plans. I think he has like 10 lines in this whole movie, the rest is one big explosion after another. Plenty of real dynamite used on scenes rather than cgi or whatever. Some seedy goons in here, too. A fun ride.

Even the beginning is epic
The russian guy shooting a dude in the dick and then throwing the screaming chick through the window, that's badass
And I love how the communists are invading America the same way the allies arrived in the beaches of Normandy

Fuck man I said the same damn thing about the Normandy thing haha.

[Atrophist]

Cronenberg jr's Infinity Pool. His first actually succesful film imo. Unlike many others I wasn't a big fan ofPossessor, and Antiviral was just silly.

Infinity Pool still stumbles a bit here and there, but given how ambitious the concept is, it's still a remarkably well done film. Mia Goth's performance is so totally over the top that you can't help but admire it.

[PSYWAR LTD]

I watched "Evil Dead Trap" last night which was very good. It's a 1988 Japanese slasher movie with excellent music and a scene involving a killer fetus. High recommended. 

[ConcreteMascara]

I watched "Evil Dead Trap" last night which was very good. It's a 1988 Japanese slasher movie with excellent music and a scene involving a killer fetus. High recommended. 

Evil Dead Trap is great! I love the locations/sets for the film. And that scene where the killer pulls a hunting knife blade through a victim’s hands. Woof.

This past Saturday I went to a screening of 5 Italian genre films on 35mm and will hopefully get a write up posted here in my lifetime.