Non-Fortean Films

Naughty_Felid · Mar 5, 2015

Sorry if there is another thread I did search. What about non-fort films?

Stayed up through the wee hours and watched Nymphomaniac 1 and 2.

First was quite good. Stellen Skarsgard as ever is brilliant and Charlotte Gainsbourg was quite good too. Some cringy bits though.

Second got a bit silly with her career change. Typical ending though

The sex scenes were in no way titillating at all so it makes me scratch my head if people think so or call it porn. Quite the opposite there was nothing going on downstairs for me at all and I'm familiar with pornography.

The only impressive thing was the two black gentlemen that Gainsbourg's character entertains and the size of their tackle.

If you like Von Trier which I do, you'll enjoy it. If you don't I wouldn't bother investing your time in it.

GNC · Mar 5, 2015

Must admit I find Von Trier's constant straining to be controversial and push the audience's buttons (picking on women all time, for example) a bit tiresome. Don't miss his (sadly unfinished) TV series The Kingdom, though, it was fantastic. Also liked Melancholia for its wholehearted embrace of the nihilism depression can bring. Europa is a great-looking movie, too.

Naughty_Felid · Mar 5, 2015

Yeah I thought Melancholia was great too and loved the Idiots when it came out, but I've not re-watched it in years. I've not seen a lot of his other stuff, didn't like Dogville as I recall.

I like the fact that he still pushes the controversy. There are so many bland directors out there that even if he seems like a dick at least he's different.

And he did make Melancholia!

GNC · Mar 5, 2015

I found The Idiots kind of annoying, the worst example of Lars' "Let's really annoy these suckers!" excesses, and Dogville is so artificial that it becomes farcical. It's a pity, he's a very talented man but got stuck in this cycle of trying to drum up interest in his work by being "terribly un-P.C.", quite often blaming women for the evils of the world because he knows it'll get people's backs up, except it usually doesn't he get heaped with praise as usual.

Melancholia I think reflects his depression (or what he claims is his depression) and is a stronger film for it, rejecting the sensitive side such films usually take for a balls out (or tits out in Kirsten's case) "Fuck the lot of you!" rage.

Swifty · Mar 6, 2015

I watched Richard Linklaters film, Boyhood last week and was impressed with it ... he pinned down the cast to return each year for 12 years to record a fictional family growing up and growing through changes we all go through. It's not a documentary, Richard crafted a story that changes as the child actors grow up, the adults grow older, the world subtly changes etc .. I was surprised that the missus sat through it as she prefers first, middle and end act action dramas. We both agreed to watch it in two sittings (that turned into three sittings!) because it's a very long film. It's very honest, almost voyeuristic and I found myself recognising a lot of chapters from my own life ... so it's soft, strong and very very long .. Andrex the movie

Mythopoeika · Mar 6, 2015

It's an amazing, unique concept - but it could have become derailed if any of the stars had died in that 12 year period.
Very risky.

rynner2 · Mar 6, 2015

Mythopoeika said:

Only risky if the whole cast was killed off. Just one or two individual deaths could be written into the storyline. TV and radio soaps often do that sort of thing!

Swifty · Mar 6, 2015

rynner2 said:

True unless the boy died but then I suppose they would have changed the title to Childhood .... my other half was actually a bit puzzled by the Boyhood title because you get to see every one get older .. I get what Mythopoeika means though and it's even more perilous on low to zero budget ... I've worked on loads of low budget films and there's always somebody who gets bored and wanders off ...... film making's boring to most people and there's not a lot you can do when they're not getting paid anything. I was making a head cast of a friend once which involves fast work before the materials set when a young woman who'd agreed to help me wandered off to chat to a friend half way through the process! ... I could have killed her but I just grabbed the nearest person in the room and we got it finished ..

edit: the film that put Richard Linklater 'on the map', a cult indie film that Kevin Smith saw before deciding he could make Clerks .... I've still got a letter from the editor of The Idler magazine (that I found through Fortean Times magazine .. props where props are due) when it was brand new asking me if I could find him a copy ... I'd never even heard of it back then! ..... I've just found that the whole movie is now available to watch on Youtube

Mythopoeika · Mar 6, 2015

Are you an FX/props man, Swifty? One of the few things I'd love to do...

Swifty · Mar 6, 2015

Mythopoeika said:

F/X make up only and only TV pro work twice .... so not as a KNB living unfortunately, no

... I wish! ..

Mythopoeika · Mar 6, 2015

Swifty · Mar 6, 2015

Kurtzman, Nicotero and Berger .. they were the shit in the late 80's trained under Savini, worked for Raimi, Nicotero still makes The Walking Dead ... if you're alive, you've seen there stuff ..

edit: there resume is so large, you'll have to download it!

http://www.knbefxgroup.com/

The above footage comes from about the time Bob Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger formed KNB, maybe a year later after they first worked together on Evil Dead 2 .. the props are for Intruder aka Nightcrew: The Final Checkout, directed by Scott Spiegal ... there's more sensational KNB stuff on Youtube but the truth of working on independent film is closer to this video ... hard work, long nights, coming home stinking of chemicals all for that final shot

.. that's the reward ... fame seekers need not apply ..

Mythopoeika · Mar 6, 2015

I once did a theatrical/film/TV makeup course but never completed it. The friends I was depending on to be my models kept being unreliable and I just stopped going (got depressed). I really would have loved to do that for a living.
Perhaps I will persist in acquiring metalwork/plastics skills and start doing a bit of prop-making. There is probably less need to depend on other people for that.

Swifty · Mar 6, 2015

I was about to find you a way (through free download) to get hold of Tom Savini's Grande Illusion F/X tutorial books ... I bought both of them (at great difficulty) in the 80's and they sometimes now sell for £80 + these days but they remain, to the best of my knowledge, the only advanced make-up books ever produced ... now I've just stumbled across this, both books combined at a very low price and I can't recommend them highly enough ... Richard Corson's Stage Make-Up is also considered the Bible for make-up artists, I've got a hardback splattered with latex and grease paint and you might still be able to find another one I've got, Dick Smith's Monster Make-Up which, truth be told, is aimed at little kids but still has some nice tricks ... if you fancy getting into realistic F/X, you HAVE to buy this below linked book, there are no others ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grande-Illusions-Books-I-II/dp/0988446898/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425660457&sr=1-1&keywords=grande illusions

Mythopoeika · Mar 6, 2015

Thanks for the pointers!

Swifty · Mar 6, 2015

Mythopoeika said:

You're welcome and, if you're serious about becoming a smoke and mirrors true cinematic illusionist, you absolutely have to have this book ....

.... I've done Halloween partys, carnival fancy dress, promotional videos and low budget fantasy/comedy/horror stuff by copying techniques from it .. it even coaches you on the correct mind set (less is more, make friends with your lighting crew etc etc) to be that man behind the curtain ..

Ulalume · Mar 7, 2015

I love the way Richard Linklater uses time and people's relationships to it in his films, and relate to it a lot. I haven't seen Boyhood yet though, because I worry it will hit a little too close to home. So many places and things in the film are familiar to me and I have a son about the same age.

Linklater's work seems to reflect my own and my family's life experiences in a way that's sometimes wonderful (as in, I can't believe some one has captured this specific emotion, time and place) but sometimes painful (like my sister crying her way through Dazed and Confused because it was too accurate. )

I'll probably watch it when I feel tougher.

Swifty · Mar 7, 2015

Good idea Ulalume ... I kept saying "I did that!", "My Sister used to wind me up like that!", "My Mum did that!" all the way through the film ..

Hope you find your wings again soon X

GNC · Mar 7, 2015

Yeah, there are few filmmakers more captivated by the passage of time that Linklater. His Before trilogy is one of the all time great trilogies, made nine years apart. I saw the first one in the cinema and feel I've grown older with those two characters, so well observed but be warned the last one is a heartbreaker. Boyhood was great too, the mother's last line is... rather upsetting.

Frideswide · Mar 7, 2015

Watched Aguirre Wrath of God again last night.

Mr Frideswide says it's nothing special :confused:

GNC · Mar 7, 2015

Tell that to the monkeys, they looked really into it.

FrKadash · Mar 11, 2015

''Rarely seen sci-fi films released on BFI Player''
Updated: 3 March 2015

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/...al&utm_source=facebookbfi&utm_campaign=buffer

GNC · Mar 11, 2015

If we're recommending SF on this thread, give Predestination and Coherence a look, two low budget mindbenders showing the benefit of a good script.

ramonmercado · Mar 11, 2015

FrKadash said:

Thanks for that. Definitely a couple that look worth a watch.

ramonmercado · Mar 11, 2015

GNC said:

Predestination is certainly faithful to the spirit of the Heinlein short story All You Zombies, its reviewed in FT 325 - 8/10, I agree with the score.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2397535/?ref_=nv_sr_1

ramonmercado · Mar 12, 2015

GNC said:

Just watched Coherence online, chromecast to tv, pretty good.

GNC · Mar 12, 2015

ramonmercado said:

The final shot had me laughing out loud. Amazing what they did on a tiny budget.

skinny · Mar 13, 2015

Watched '71 last night. Nice tight little thriller. Good acting. Emotionally challenging and politically intriguing. Got hooked into the story from scene 1 and couldn't take my eyes off it. Well-made flick.

GNC · Mar 13, 2015

'71 had good action scenes (it was directed by the same bloke who did Charlie Brooker's Dead Set) and rattled along, but the main character was a cypher and I found it a bit dubious to set in during the Troubles (Belfast looking like the end of the world) but have nothing more political to say than "there were goodies and baddies on both sides". Seemed opportunistic, and left me uncomfortable.

skinny · Mar 13, 2015

GNC said:

I thought it explored the complexities and doubleplay better than most other films on the Troubles I've seen. The main character left the scene totally cynical about 'sides' in full knowledge that nobody could be relied on. The creators did an excellent job of undermining the credibility of all main players and exploring the bizarre world inside the conflict.

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