Octagon, If you enjoy Z-grade/outsider/fringe cinema, then you might want to check out the Andy Milligan double-feature. I'd advise previewing a bit on YouTube first though!
Then you should be all over this release - Nightbirds and The Body Beneath may be his two 'best' films (although the brief 'Vapors' does linger in the mind after viewing), and I just double-checked and the disc plays in my Region A machine. Plus, you get a commentary and fat booklet.
Octagon, are you region-free? If so, I highly recommend The Deep End. If you enjoy Z-grade/outsider/fringe cinema, then you might want to check out the Andy Milligan double-feature. I'd advise previewing a bit on YouTube first though!
Cool, thanks. I've eyeballed The Deep End a few times but didn't really know what to make of it. I've already placed an order today but I'm going to add it to my uk wishlist.
[Show spoiler]It was a pretty good order too. Not that anybody cares but who else am I going to tell
Das Testament Des Dr Mabuse MoC steelbook
Amer
Odd Man Out
A Room With a View
The Bedsitting Room (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were the tie-breakers here)
Silent Running
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Originally Posted by CoopFilm
I've been wanting those two. Although, aren't they always at the price they're at right now? I kept seeing posts about them having new lower prices..
I haven't really been watching the prices on BFI releases. Like I said, I was placing an Amazon.uk order today anyway and noticed a bunch of the Flipside line on the UK edition of this site's best deals link/thing at the top of the page. According to the price tracker the handful I checked were either new lows or match old lows.
And if you're going to pick them up you should get them now. I had them in and out of my cart a few times before deciding to hold off and maybe add them to a future order. If history is any kind of reliable guide their prices should go up by at least fifty percent any minute now
Here is the (at least) one-page paper I had to write about Fish Tank. I don't think it's to the best of my abilities because I was struggling with remembering and connecting things with one another. I honestly hate writing about films that I enjoy, especially when I have some type of questions provided to me ahead of time to think about in the paper. It's supposed to relate to sex and gender, hence why I was referring to males and females quite often in the paper. Anyway, here it is.
[Show spoiler]Andrea Arnold’s 2009 British drama, Fish Tank, offers the viewer a harsh reality of how hard life can be, especially for individuals struggling with finding themselves. Fish Tank throws the audience into the life of a lonely fifteen-year-old girl named Mia Williams. Mia is a socially awkward girl who resides in Essex with her single mother, Joanne, and her young sister, Tyler. Nothing seems to make Mia happy except for her passion for hip-hop dancing. It is the only positive thing that she has going in her life. Mia’s home life consists of poverty, drugs, and unacceptable sexual behavior on behalf of the adults in her life. Her mother spends the majority of her time partying with friends and dealing with hangovers. Her younger sister tends to keep to herself, smoking cigarettes with friends and cussing like a sailor. One day Mia’s mother decides to bring home an Irishman by the name of Connor O’Reilly, and from that point forward, everything seemed to change for the better of both Mia and her family. Mia looks up to Connor, as he is the only positive (male) role model that she has ever had in her life. She trusts him and feels comfortable around him because he encourages her to pursue her dream of dancing and helps her to adjust to this new and confusing world surrounding her. Not everything is what it seems, though, as Connor has his own demons hidden away from the public’s view. Fish Tank is one of the more modern films of this current generation that explores such concepts as gender and sexuality. While there are numerous examples throughout the film, the most significant, in my opinion, is through the character of Mia Williams. From the very beginning of the film, we recognize that Mia is very different from all of the girls she hangs around with. She resembles a tomboy in many aspects because of her attitude, the way she dresses, and the tough exterior that she displays out in public. She has no real friends and has a hard time opening up to anybody in her life. Her only forms of communication are through name-calling, degrading, and shouting obscenities. The one thing that interests Mia the most in life is hip-hop dancing, which is a predominately male activity. When she is not walking around Essex or fighting with her family members, she is training and practicing in hopes of being a hip-hop dancer someday. The only thing that Mia is truly lacking, however, is confidence, which Connor eventually helps her attain. Part of the reason for her uneasiness, in my opinion, is due to puberty, while the other part is due to being a nonconformist. The age of fifteen is a critical point in everybody’s life because the body is changing and feelings of sexuality begin to emerge. This is often accompanied with feelings of confusion because she is now seeing the world from a new perspective. Because of her poor socioeconomic background, the absence of positive role models in her life, and her body changing due to puberty, Mia is a lost soul who is struggling to find herself. On the other hand, Mia has always been a nonconformist and gone against the grain for all of her life. Mia dropped out of school and refused to take anybody’s advice or guidance. It is not until Connor O’Reilly comes into the picture that she learns to live. He guides her to the best of his abilities, tries to make her come to her senses and drop this chip that has constantly been on her shoulder all of her life, and inspires her to go out and make something out of herself. Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank is more than just a lesson on life, love, and relationships. Rather, it is about being a unique individual and not conforming to society’s expectations for us. From the moment we are born, until the moment we die, society labels and ascribes various gender roles onto us, which we are then expected to live up to. Fish Tank challenges these notions and does so in an excellent way by shifting the focus from what society wants us to be to what we as a unique individual want ourselves to be. One could argue that Mia Williams is a “fish” that is trapped in this “fish tank” of Essex. She’s looking to be her own unique personality, but her home life and her lack of self-confidence, among other things, are continually holding her back. It is not until after she meets Connor that she can actually break free out of the “tank” and move on with her life. All in all, Fish Tank is a very relatable film because there is some point in every one of our lives where we want to be ourselves without conforming to the roles and expectations that are assigned to us at birth.
Nice, thoughful review! (Can we assume that there were actual, you know, paragraphs in the actual submission?) Reminds me that it's time to put this one on again, which I've been planning to do ever since finally becoming acquainted with Michael Fassbender, which will only add to the enjoyment of the viewing experience.
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Originally Posted by Robinh
Haven't seen the Devil's Backbone. What is the overall view of this film? I really like creepy, atmospheric horror films.
Haven't seen it either but I did perk up when someone mentioned that it had reminded them of The Other, which I did enjoy for the creepy atmospherics!
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Originally Posted by randomzombie
Thanks for the welcome!
I have a lot of complicated feelings about Leon Morin, Priest. I know very little about the Catholic church, I attended a southern baptist church when I was a child and have grown into an atheist. Religion fascinates me though, so the theological debates/discussions between Barny and Morin were intriguing on their own. Add in the setting of the film, WW2, and the film is a complex, steaming gumbo of religion, latent sexual desire and existential angst. Random, long winded thoughts behind the cut -
[Show spoiler]A lot of the shots were so beautifully choreographed. The repetition of the crane shot when Barny climbs the stairs to visit Morin's room could be seen as trying to evoke Barny ascending to a higher spiritual place. A place where she can, for a little while, focus on her spiritual self amid the constant chaos that lurks on the streets outside and below. What's most interesting about this to me, is that the more she does this, the less content she becomes. Her quest for spiritual understanding (and eventually her quest for Morin himself) becomes an exercise in selfishness.
Morin himself is equally to blame for this. He at times treats Barny roughly, shoving her out of the way in church and grabbing an axe from her in her home in such a way that he practically drapes himself over Barny. He makes himself a tangible man instead of a figure of purely intellectual and spirtual intention. The film seems to suggest he does this on purpose with all women. We are never shown a man coming to visit him and his congregation appears to be mostly female.
So what did I get from all this? I'm still not entirely sure. Lol. I've read that the Catholic Church at the time of Leon Morin, Priest's theatrical release approved of it greatly. I find this puzzling because if anything, Morin, while a nice example of a freer thinking priest, does organized religion no favors here. His convert isn't converting for the sake of Catholicism, she's converting for lack of anything else that she sees as better. It's not conversion, it's resignation.
I loved that this film gave me so much to think about and could be read with multiple meanings. Good stuff.
Interesting comments randomzombie! Ordered my copy during the Great OOP Panic of '13 and it's currently on the way. Still very much looking forward to visiting this, for all the reasons you mention.
Then you should be all over this release - Nightbirds and The Body Beneath may be his two 'best' films (although the brief 'Vapors' does linger in the mind after viewing), and I just double-checked and the disc plays in my Region A machine. Plus, you get a commentary and fat booklet.
I have already seen them. I think "Blood" is my favorite of his that I have seen.
Octagon, great pick with Odd Man Out - a 5-star classic with great performances, dialog, cinematography, and direction by Carol Reed. In my opinion, his absolute finest work other than The Third Man.
I've read that the Catholic Church at the time of Leon Morin, Priest's theatrical release approved of it greatly. I find this puzzling because if anything, Morin, while a nice example of a freer thinking priest, does organized religion no favors here.
I'm not so sure about that. Faith was a very tangible, serious thing in the film. It wasn't window dressing, it wasn't a product of blind acceptance of tradition or doctrine, it wasn't some touchy-feely abstract Age of Aquarius philosophical concept. It was a very real thing and was treated very respectfully.
I could easly members and/or leaders of organized religions thinking very well of the film.
And as for the Catholic Church in particular, well come on.
If you were an accountant and Jean-Paul Belmondo played an accountant would you really care what he said or did or would that just automatically be the best freaking movie you ever saw?
All of the friends at the Boston Marathon whom I know personally are safe and accounted for, since they've been checking in on Facebook and such all afternoon. This news story has rattled me, to say the least, because I've participated in 42 marathons and ultramarathons since 2009, and these are my people. The Boston Marathon is bigger than the Super Bowl in my circle of friends.
Anyway, on with the topics at hand...
Back and reading all the announcement posts. The Ice Storm is one of those movies that has always intrigued me, since its release back in the 1990s, but I somehow have failed to check it out so far. Soon.
I am glad that the cover art for The Devil's Backbone is at least consistent with the cover art for Cronos (which I still need to see).
Nice, thoughful review! (Can we assume that there were actual, you know, paragraphs in the actual submission?) Reminds me that it's time to put this one on again, which I've been planning to do ever since finally becoming acquainted with Michael Fassbender, which will only add to the enjoyment of the viewing experience.
Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I did structure it differently for the actual submission but one paragraph looked better on the forums. Haha
All of the friends at the Boston Marathon whom I know personally are safe and accounted for, since they've been checking in on Facebook and such all afternoon. This news story has rattled me, to say the least, because I've participated in 42 marathons and ultramarathons since 2009, and these are my people. The Boston Marathon is bigger than the Super Bowl in my circle of friends.
Anyway, on with the topics at hand...
Back and reading all the announcement posts. The Ice Storm is one of those movies that has always intrigued me, since its release back in the 1990s, but I somehow have failed to check it out so far. Soon.
I am glad that the cover art for The Devil's Backbone is at least consistent with the cover art for Cronos (which I still need to see).
Good to hear!
I have never seen Ice Storm but the trailer had a very American Beauty vibe to it so I suspect I will enjoy it. On top of that the cover is really cool looking.
I have never seen Ice Storm but the trailer had a very American Beauty vibe to it so I suspect I will enjoy it. On top of that the cover is really cool looking.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
) Reminds me that it's time to put this one on again, which I've been planning to do ever since finally becoming acquainted with Michael Fassbender, which will only add to the enjoyment of the viewing experience.
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