UKC

The Nightingale 

is a violent and brutal story set in the Australian penal colonies.

At its first screening some of the audience walked out, possibly more to do with the rape scene than the graphic violence.

Worth watching if you have the stomach for it.

Also watched a French thriller called "In the Shadow of Iris", convoluted plot and fairly erotic. Stands up quite well in comparison to Verhoeven's "Elle" which I watched and enjoyed last month.

The Children's Hour (1961)

William Wyler's second film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play. 
A deceptively simple premise (malicious small-town boarding-school pupil accuses the two teachers who own and run the school, of lesbianism) becomes an absolutely cracking film, which, rather like Brokeback Mountain, is not so much about homosexuality as it is about class, prejudice, hypocrisy and a whole host of "stuff". 
For an adaptation of a play which is mostly "people talking in rooms", it is remarkably cinematic (it did receive an Oscar nomination for its cinematography.
It is by nature melodramatic at times, but it's great melodrama giving the entire ensemble cast a chance to really shine. It's the best work I've ever seen from Hepburn and Maclaine, and even James Garner's wooden acting style works to everyone's benefit here. It's also fairly unpredictable - you can't really tell where it's going next....in a really good way.

9/10

 

Swallow .

This is a psychological drama about an emotionally unbalanced young woman with a serious eating disorder. I found it very disturbing but  also captivating . Haley Bennet turns in an excellent performance and the overall look of the film is very good; maybe the swish property they filmed where they filmed a lot of it contributed to that.

The final shot is striking by virtue of its protracted mundanity.

From the thread title I at first thought it was about movies by Bille August...

Joker

I just re-watched it and was even more absorbed this time where my attention was drawn to the recurring motifs: his dancing, his laughter and the stairs. Happy, when he is dancing. At first foolishly with the sign, later gently with his mother. Then in the public toilet after the train killing, when his dancing steps become more ballet like symbolising the beginning of his transformation. Joker, when he dances down the stairs, now with upright posture, fully transformed, and to the music of a pedophile. Genius!

Hi Tom, on which platform did you see Swallow? I am a big fan of Haley Bennett and I think she is very underrated, and sadly seems to have disappeared from the big screen for the next few years (raising her daughter in Devon, with movie director Joe Wright) so I'll take whatever I can get (and this does look intriguing)

For some idiotic reason along the lines of a convoluted "oh they are so huge, it just seems too OBVIOUS to actually WATCH them", I had never seen Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources until this weekend. 

Blimey. I see why they are so revered and have been hailed as classics for the past 30+ years. 
Dialogue, scenery/cinematography, editing, story and acting just superb throughout both films. And such a simple premise is given such depth that the drama really feels powerful. 
Manon des Sources is perhaps a little overlong and the reveal, which is almost a coda, could arguably be seen as convoluted but I didn't see it that way. 
The characterisations were more complex than I'd assumed as well, especially Ugolin (the Daniel Auteuil character).

Brilliant stuff. 

Sky Movies/NowTV

Thanks. I don't have those. I'll see if it migrates. 

In Manon des Sources, Emmanuelle Beart is so "ethereally beautiful" that she basically doesn't even look real, like she's not capable of physically existing! 

99 Homes was an impressive surprise... a 'low rent' Wall Street, set during the mortgage default repossessions following the 2008 crash.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/99_homes

A man called Ove. Swedish with subtitles. Just such a lovely film.

Honeyland. Actually a documentary about a Macedonian woman and her bees.

I watched them both again recently. Outstanding.

Excellent film.

Garfield is good, Shannon is superb ( as he is more or less always). 

This is just an amazing feat of cinematography, long but stick with it. Superb storytelling.

My nomination for best film in years...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=korean+film%2c+the+handmaiden&ru=%...

I was pretty impressed with 99 Homes although I felt it shot its load very early on - the first major repossession/eviction scene was absolutely devastating and the film could inherently not match that power again. 

We watched Green Book last night, which I'd never heard of. 

What could have been a slightly contrived tale of an educated black pianist hiring an Italian-American heavy to be his driver was saved by (a) the brilliant lead acting from Mahershala Ali and an almost unrecognisable Viggo Mortensen (who apparently put on 20+kg to play the part) and (b) the fact that it's a true story.

Warm without being corny, surprisingly funny, and with some great music in the soundtrack.

Watched The Lighthouse last night.

Interesting. Who knows what was going on at times.

The Nightingale. 

A wonderful must watch film. 

A beautifully made film capturing the essence of England and its glorious empire.

Basically highlighting for me how a deeply backward racist and fascist ruled country can continue until the present with no remorse for being the worst barbaric country in the history of the world, yet not, unlike fascist Germany, willing to face up to its countless genocides, imperialism and lies but rather glory in it. 

At least you'll be able to watch Last Night of the Proms now.........

You must be a lot of fun on a night out .