What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Slippery Jack]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Yes, there was definitely an air of 'comic book villain' about Kevin. As you say, very heavy handed, and little debate.

That's kind of what I liked about it so much. I went in expecting a horror 'demon seed' type film, and that's exactly what I got

I read the 'comic book villain' nature of Kevin's character more down to unreliable narrator syndrome, his 'evil' greatly exaggerated in the mind of the Tilda Swinton character. We only ever see her side of the story, and I read the whole film through the prism of her damaged psyche . . .

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Last week's viewing:

[Slippery Jack]

The Imposter - fascinating 'you couldn't make it up!' documentary. A little problematic in the how it's interview subjects were put across, but the sheer lunacy of the story definitely makes it worth a watch. Don't wanna say too much, might be best to go in cold and discover it for yourself

Magic Mike - Boring as hell, though the second good Matthew McConaughey performance of the year, who'd ve thunk it ! (maybe he has always been good, I've just never seen any of those 'lean against female lead on the poster' rom coms) . . .

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Yes, there was definitely an air of 'comic book villain' about Kevin. As you say, very heavy handed, and little debate. There is no real exchange between Kevin's mother and father throughout the whole film. In fact, John C. Reilly was so under-used, he must have been laughing all the way to the bank with that minimal performance.

As Slippery Jack mentioned, the events are told from the perspective of Kevin's mother, so it's little surprise her husband is barely shown and, when he is, isn't shown in a great light. Once you get to the end of the film and realise why people are acting towards Eva with such hostility, it's no wonder her recollections of Kevin's childhood are far from objective.

[Delirium]

Originally Posted by Slippery Jack

The Imposter - fascinating 'you couldn't make it up!' documentary. A little problematic in the how it's interview subjects were put across, but the sheer lunacy of the story definitely makes it worth a watch. Don't wanna say too much, might be best to go in cold and discover it for yourself

I saw that at the cinema. It certainly is a case of 'you couldn't make it up' as you say, but I found it off putting namely as the people involved are so astoundingly stupid. A case of wanting to believe something so much you can't see what's in front of your eyes. And for heaven's sake, even the FBI come across as completely inept.

And the central concept of this is the unreliable narrator. In this case a smug, nasty piece of work without a single drop of empathy for his victims. I was oddly compelled, but on the other hand slightly irritated by it all.

[demonknight]

Watched Paranoiac on bluray last night. Good movie with great PQ.
Followed that up with The House that dripped blood. This much better than
Asylum i thought. Loved Jon Pertwee in the last segment. And i also got
to watch the rest of the ZFE extra's on disc two. The Gino de Rossi feature was excellent as was the hour long doc FRTR,just brilliant. The feature with the composer,Fabio Frizzi,was kinda hard to follow,even with a translator present,i found the SQ wasn't up to much.Overall though i was very happy with Arrow's release of ZFE.Also very happy with the BU release too.

[Slippery Jack]

Originally Posted by Delirium

And the central concept of this is the unreliable narrator. In this case a smug, nasty piece of work without a single drop of empathy for his victims. I was oddly compelled, but on the other hand slightly irritated by it all.

Indeed. Plus I found the filmmakers indulgance of him highly problematic. All those filmed flashbacks where the actors are dubbed with his voice. And those frequent reaction shots (probably out of context?) edited in to twist the viewers emotions. Eg. you'd have a scene with the victims getting upset, then they'd cut to a shot of Bourdin doing a smug grin to camera, as if he is reacting directly to their distress, something he couldn't possibly have been reacting to in actuality. In many ways I was more irritated by the filmmakers than their subjects.

Agree about the stupidity of that FBI agent! Perhaps it says something about the 'PROTECT THE CHILDREN!' climate of fear, especially pertinent at the moment . . .

[it'smebilly]

Originally Posted by Slippery Jack

The Imposter - fascinating 'you couldn't make it up!' documentary. A little problematic in the how it's interview subjects were put across, but the sheer lunacy of the story definitely makes it worth a watch. Don't wanna say too much, might be best to go in cold and discover it for yourself

Magic Mike - Boring as hell, though the second good Matthew McConaughey performance of the year, who'd ve thunk it ! (maybe he has always been good, I've just never seen any of those 'lean against female lead on the poster' rom coms) . . .

McConaughey was great and stole the show in dazed and confused, one of my all time greats. He can act, it's just his film choices leave a lot to be desired.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[Delirium]

Originally Posted by Slippery Jack

And those frequent reaction shots (probably out of context?) edited in to twist the viewers emotions. Eg. you'd have a scene with the victims getting upset, then they'd cut to a shot of Bourdin doing a smug grin to camera, as if he is reacting directly to their distress, something he couldn't possibly have been reacting to in actuality.

Good point - highly manipulative filmmaking!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Delirium

Good point - highly manipulative filmmaking!

I'm not sure if it is 'highly manipulative', just a way of enhancing the narrative through clever editing. If it was told documentary style and completely objective, you wouldn't feel the same way about Kevin and Eva, nor have the same reaction at the end.

Thinking back at it with that in mind, the right decision was made.