1
Random House / Re: Directors
« Last post by shariqq on November 03, 2018, 03:55:PM »44-minute talk about this film-making.
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Random House / Re: 1st KIFF (Dec 9–13, 2018)
« Last post by fizz on August 20, 2018, 02:59:AM »And how bloody GORGEOUS are the teasers for The Wild Pear Tree, another 3-hour opus!
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Random House / Re: 1st KIFF (Dec 9–13, 2018)
« Last post by fizz on August 20, 2018, 02:51:AM »Also, I would probably remove both The House that Jack Built and Everybody Knows from this list..
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Random House / Re: 1st KIFF (Dec 9–13, 2018)
« Last post by fizz on August 20, 2018, 02:49:AM »On top of what has already been listed, here are other titles I would choose (removing Blackkklansman, not that we've all seen it):
Arctic - Played at Cannes, very well received.
Birds of Passage - From the director of Ebrace of the Serpent, well received.
The Wild Pear Tree - forum favourite Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Three Identical Strangers - Winner at Sundance, highly acclaimed.
Non-Fiction - Oliver Assayas, Juliette Binoche, playing at TIFF.
Arctic - Played at Cannes, very well received.
Birds of Passage - From the director of Ebrace of the Serpent, well received.
The Wild Pear Tree - forum favourite Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Three Identical Strangers - Winner at Sundance, highly acclaimed.
Non-Fiction - Oliver Assayas, Juliette Binoche, playing at TIFF.
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Red Room / Re: mother! (Darren Aronofsky, 2017)
« Last post by fizz on August 20, 2018, 02:35:AM »I had forgotten about this silly, silly on the nose film.
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Sunset Boulevard / Re: IT (Andrés Muschietti, 2017)
« Last post by fizz on August 20, 2018, 02:27:AM »So McAvoy and Haider are officially in...
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Sunset Boulevard / Re: Avengers: Infinity War (Russo Brothers, 2018)
« Last post by fizz on August 20, 2018, 02:25:AM »Some of these answers seem silly and made-up as after-thoughts that conveniently explain but don't fit. This is Avengers, not Blade Runner.
Oh wait....
Oh wait....
9
Red Room / The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) (Luchino Visconti, 1963)
« Last post by Rishi on August 04, 2018, 11:57:AM »
Luchino Visconti’s Palm D’or winner is an exquisitely sumptuous affair that leaves you aching for more despite it’s 3 hour length. Starring Burt Lancaster as an aristocratic Sicilian Prince who struggles to retain a way of life in a fast changing world albeit begrudgingly accepting the inevitable, the story covers a period when Italy was going through a political change resulting in aristocracy and royalty losing their significance. Lancaster plays the role of a patriarch in a large family that includes his nephew (a roguish Alain Delon) and his fiancee (the ever stunning Claudia Cardinale). The film is gorgeously shot with a beautiful score by Nino Rota and some splendid performances. Lanacster doesn’t seem one bit miscast he looks the part and sounds it in a dubbed voice though. If Visconti is up your alley, do look up “Senso” and “Le Notti Bianche”.
4.5/5
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Sunset Boulevard / A Prayer Before Dawn (Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, 2018)
« Last post by PUP on July 18, 2018, 02:52:PM »So Shariq and I had the pleasure of watching this film yesterday but with the discomfort of having waiters serve us a 2-course dinner during the film. Each dinner 'table' was also lit for viewers to see what they were eating. Takes away the spirit of cinema but the film made up for it...even if it meant biting down on well made burger just a few feet from the onscreen blood splatter. Oh it's a hard life. So here are my thoughts on the film and without spoilers:
As much as I love the Rocky films and the franchise offspring Creed, I must admit that A Prayer Before Dawn makes those films seem like feel-good Hollywood fairytales. And as much as I recommend this film for its cinematic achievements, I must also say that this film isn’t for everyone. Why? As a brutal assault on the senses, there isn’t a single moment that allows the viewer to think “it’s only a movie”. Your only choice is to either look away, or absorb every horrific moment and wish it never happens to you or anyone you know.
Based on the memoirs of British boxer Billy Moore, his heroin addiction and ensuing drug bust in Bangkok, the film begins with his arrest and incarceration in a Thai prison. Not only is Billy (Joe Cole) the only white face in a prison cell with dozens of other hardened local criminals, the deplorable living conditions and lack of any sort of law and order would comparatively make life in Alcatraz seem like a privilege. And then, during his first night in, Billy is held with a knife to his throat and forced to watch an act of gut-wrenching, nerve-rattling brutality. French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire uses this scene to set the tone for the rest of the film where it remains consistently bleak and unapologetic. After days of copious cruelty and violence (or months, as a timeline is not revealed), Billy realises that his survival depends on his skills as kick-boxer. With sympathetic help from a lady-boy he befriends in jail, Billy starts training as a Muay Thai fighter. It might just let him live another day.
Billy’s training scenes are a stark contrast to the trumpet blaring training montage in any of the Rocky films. That’s because this film isn’t about the glory of winning a fight but solely about staying alive. Which is why A Prayer Before Dawn is first and foremost a survival film, followed by a blood sport film as a close second. Green Room actor Cole is remarkable as Billy and the main reason for recommending this film despite its ugly premise. Somewhere along the film’s two-hour runtime, Cole’s Billy transforms from a beat-down British expat to a fighter releasing his fears and frustration into every explosive blow with brute force. It’s a physically demanding role that Cole gets right but also helped by the jarring camerawork that puts us in the ring and under the skin of relentlessly pounded flesh. It all feels so authentic and immersive that one can’t really say if they are acting or beating each other senseless. Add to that, the film was not only shot in an actual Bangkok prison, Cole was also working with real life prisoners who were still under detention.
For the millions of tourists who visit Thailand every year, this film doesn’t paint a pretty picture and neither does it intend to. Like Nicolas Winding Refn’s moody Only God Forgives, Sauvaire has a story to tell about Bangkok’s seedy underworld that most tourists don’t often see. The anti-drugs message is severe and the price to pay is extreme, but as a real life story told with conviction, A Prayer Before Dawn is about humanity’s most defining virtue of persistence even in the most hellish of places.
Rating:4/5
As much as I love the Rocky films and the franchise offspring Creed, I must admit that A Prayer Before Dawn makes those films seem like feel-good Hollywood fairytales. And as much as I recommend this film for its cinematic achievements, I must also say that this film isn’t for everyone. Why? As a brutal assault on the senses, there isn’t a single moment that allows the viewer to think “it’s only a movie”. Your only choice is to either look away, or absorb every horrific moment and wish it never happens to you or anyone you know.
Based on the memoirs of British boxer Billy Moore, his heroin addiction and ensuing drug bust in Bangkok, the film begins with his arrest and incarceration in a Thai prison. Not only is Billy (Joe Cole) the only white face in a prison cell with dozens of other hardened local criminals, the deplorable living conditions and lack of any sort of law and order would comparatively make life in Alcatraz seem like a privilege. And then, during his first night in, Billy is held with a knife to his throat and forced to watch an act of gut-wrenching, nerve-rattling brutality. French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire uses this scene to set the tone for the rest of the film where it remains consistently bleak and unapologetic. After days of copious cruelty and violence (or months, as a timeline is not revealed), Billy realises that his survival depends on his skills as kick-boxer. With sympathetic help from a lady-boy he befriends in jail, Billy starts training as a Muay Thai fighter. It might just let him live another day.
Billy’s training scenes are a stark contrast to the trumpet blaring training montage in any of the Rocky films. That’s because this film isn’t about the glory of winning a fight but solely about staying alive. Which is why A Prayer Before Dawn is first and foremost a survival film, followed by a blood sport film as a close second. Green Room actor Cole is remarkable as Billy and the main reason for recommending this film despite its ugly premise. Somewhere along the film’s two-hour runtime, Cole’s Billy transforms from a beat-down British expat to a fighter releasing his fears and frustration into every explosive blow with brute force. It’s a physically demanding role that Cole gets right but also helped by the jarring camerawork that puts us in the ring and under the skin of relentlessly pounded flesh. It all feels so authentic and immersive that one can’t really say if they are acting or beating each other senseless. Add to that, the film was not only shot in an actual Bangkok prison, Cole was also working with real life prisoners who were still under detention.
For the millions of tourists who visit Thailand every year, this film doesn’t paint a pretty picture and neither does it intend to. Like Nicolas Winding Refn’s moody Only God Forgives, Sauvaire has a story to tell about Bangkok’s seedy underworld that most tourists don’t often see. The anti-drugs message is severe and the price to pay is extreme, but as a real life story told with conviction, A Prayer Before Dawn is about humanity’s most defining virtue of persistence even in the most hellish of places.
Rating:4/5