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Yeah I gotta watch the rest of this trilogy. JFC, that was incredible

I think I appreciated the tension that Miyazaki creates by describing our relationship with technology, that on the one hand, it can help manifest the impossible (like cities in the sky) or that it can annihilate us all. These characters, each with their own relationships with technology and the peace they've made with it (or their unease) is interesting to think about...

It's also incredible how deftly Miyazaki pulls us into this world and has us believe in it, using movement as his technique to draw us into the reality of his world.

This was pretty good. I saw it on tubi under the name "transmutators" which got me to watch it, but on its own merits as a Filipino SF film, it's way better. Like it's an enthusiastic film that projects the idea of the Philippines into the future, and I really like that. Reyes wears his heart on his sleeve for this film, and I'm a sap for that. Big thumbs up from me.

Well I liked that one a hell of a lot

I have been instantly transformed into a fan.

Goddamn, this was really good

I think there's something that's a bit retro about it. Like not just because it was made in '98, but because it also kind of reminds me of 80s high school films where the students are violent psychopaths...but instead of being like that Charles Bronson fantasy Class of '84, it feels similar to Battle Royale (but only in the sense that we're with the students.) Performances here are fun with people mostly playing against type, and there are some really good moments. I had fun ❤️

What a great film!! And honestly, shame on military sf for dominating our imaginations for so long. Barbarella's shag space ship is the greatest idea ever, and an innovation almost 60 years from the past!

In thinking about the tragedy of Maria Candelaria, it's kind of fascinating, the imposition of story upon the body of her. She is never allowed to really determine her one nature or to simply live; her existence is almost always ruined by everyone that she encounters. The painter wants to exploit her, the priest wants to convert her, the shopkeeper wants to possess her, the townspeople condemn her for being the daughter of a prostitute and the one she loves, Lorenzo Rafael, cannot save her.

The question of her naked form is also an interesting question. The painting that destroys her is only an idea, a composite between her portrait and her actual self. The only one to ever see her fully is the "bone cracker." She is the only person we know of who sees Candelaria in her full authentic naked form, which nobody is ever permitted to see. The townspeople react to it badly because it's as though they revolt at the idea of what people consider to be authentic, and then go out and destroy the basis for that idea. What Fernandez goes out to convey is complex with regards to how we build the idea of national imagination -- that these fictions destroy the essence of what is true.

Fernandez also shows his love of country. There is a ion for Mexico in how he uses Figueroa's images in the story he weaves together. Mexico is shot low and in full, clouds rendered with attention to detail and made powerful. The landscapes are vast and sweeping, creating a sense of epic grandeur while discussing the mundane. The figures of Rafael and Candelaria are both given heroic proportion and made larger than life. We are meant to see them in a particular way, to see them not as diminished people, but instead as beautiful, strong and noble.

This love of people and country is strong and evident, as is Fernandez's anxieties about what murders it's soul. We have to wonder then about what it is that Fernandez's intent is with the film. Is it to come to Mexico's defence and protect that which is sacred? Or is it to simply mine her for what we wish and discard the remains? Anyways, a compelling, thoughtful film that benefits from reflection.

From "Canuxploitation, your complete guide to Canadian b-film":

"Connors' likable performance and undeniable talent makes Across This Land an easy film to enjoy. But more than that, Saxton's film is a poignant reminder of the way Connors' music played a central role in developing common narratives that continue to be weaved through movies produced across the country, including a name-dropping nostalgia for hometowns at a time when Canadians were leaving rural areas and heading off to seek their fortune in larger cities--a trend heart-wrenchingly rendered in Canadian films released at the time like Goin' Down the Road and The Hard Part Begins."

This was also pretty good!

That was pretty good!

I liked it, it was great, but I've never been so mad in my life during a movie

Man, those people sucked

this nazi propaganda film was incredibly painful to watch with it's heavy-handed manipulation and intention to keep citizens subservient to the paternal state. i hated it, every second.

That's a helluva film

Man, this was great

Boy, could I go for a cigarette

Watched on Sunday January 12, 2025.

It is distractingly bad

Update: wait, no. I take that back. It's not bad exactly as what it does do, it feels unintentional. But in a way, you could look at it as a film that makes fun of it's subject, Christmas, and thus bears the form of an anti-christmas film. Anyways, I'll have to try and watch this again to get a better sense of it.

In a lot of ways, it was like watching a Jackie Chan film. Very enjoyable.

It's more like a whimsical fairy tale than any kind of martial arts story...it makes for a fun watch

I really enjoyed this one! Melanie Griffith does a great job.

It's ok. Hyams has a different take than Kubrick, but is forced to echo his style at times. It results in an unsatisfying watch at times, but only because the scenario is a little unfair to Hyams...so for me, it's ok

Really didn't like this one.

The movie is Fucking Incredible. Everything I've heard is deserved, and not a weak moment in the whole damn thing. Fucking Incredible.

Fuck Baby Driver

One of these brothers is not good at fighting, but I'm going to leave it to you to guess which one

This is a film designed to corrupt youth. Fucking loved it. Everyone should watch this at least once in their lives, and every film should have an agenda like this one. Brilliant.

That guy really loved his bird

That's some good guitars

Felt like I was looking into the future, not the past. Felt horrible. Incredible and gut-wrenching.

I...I have to watch this again. I fell asleep during it multiple times and had no idea what was going on.

Edit: ok, so a lot of discussion helped with this one, certifying that some assumptions I had made during the viewing were not too wild. The flexibility of styles used in the film help make it easier to make some associative jumps. Sonia's body might be a site of colonial struggle that is also represented by large machines that dominate Brazil's landscape. It's alright to dislike the doctor because his central redeeming quality seems to be his abusive strength and lustful, controlling gaze.

*Sigh* I get the feeling that it's something that I'll probably end up watching again.

I really enjoyed this one. Not many films that suddenly have me fully grasp the continuum of time, of history, or of an entire national film industry. That aspect of the film aside, it's very touching, heartfelt and beautiful. Wonderful melodrama.

That was pretty good!

This one is pretty good, but might hover somewhere around 2nd or 3rd for me out of the 4

I think this one is probably the weakest of the four, but it's nice

So far Iike this one the best

Watched on Tuesday October 22, 2024.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan

It's ok. I didn't really like the video game aesthetics, but whatever, I'm not paying the bills on this one

Very enjoyable film. A lot of things about it struck a contemporary chord...echoes of history

I hated every second of this film.

I have the sinking feeling that this will be the only Griffith film I enjoy

This one's great!

I really enjoyed this film. Weber's framing and storytelling here is impeccable; from a standpoint of technique, it's deeply impressive.

That was pretty cool. It had some great themes running through it, interesting ideas about generational trauma, cycles of abuse, and art occupying this weird space of need, desire, expression and commerce....really enjoyed it

Watched on Thursday September 5, 2024.

I love this movie

There's exactly one good joke in the dialogue for this one, and then the rest of the film is horrible. Robert Z'dar is good (like, too good) in this, but his torture scene with Melissa Moore took me out. Other than that though, it's terrible and tough to get through without wanting to out from boredom.

A Brief History of Korean Cinema by Cho Junhyoung

• Fight for Justice
• The Story of Jang-Hwa and Hong-Ryeon
• Arirang
• A Ferry Boat that Has No Owner
• The Story of Hong Gil-dong
• The Story of Chun-hyang
• Heartlessness
• New start in life
• Tuition
• Narcissus

...plus 128 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These are some films that I watched that helped inspire some of the stories in Superzine, a personal anthology of comics and essays that'll be coming out at TCAF, May 11-12, 2024.

• Dream Home
• Carrie
• Suspiria
• Eyes Without a Face
• GLOW: The Story of The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
• Batman

• The Adventures of Robin Hood
• The General
• Forty Guns
• Johnny Guitar
• Red River
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
• The Searchers
• Ocean's Eleven
• Enter the Dragon
• Rambo: First Blood Part II

...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Adaptation.
• Sansho the Bailiff
• Citizen Kane
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Roma
• Do the Right Thing
• A Man Escaped
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• The Limey
• Harlan County U.S.A.

...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Us
• Cat People
• Eyes Without a Face
• Candyman
• X
• Suspiria
• House
• Raw
• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Dream Home

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.