November 2018 Film Discussion thread

Really hate that the only way to see Ballad of Buster Scruggs in the cinema is a super expensive Curzon

Yeah there was talk of relaxing the monopoly that Curzon has on Netflix stuff but doesn’t appear to have got anywhere.

Seems a bit weird of the Coen’s to be embracing Netflix distribution

why?

Just watched Apollo 13 for like the 12,147th time. Such an amazing film and story

Because the Coen’s more than most seem to be faithful to the traditional ideas of cinema and cinema as a communal event. Their films hark back to classic cinema, they put so much attention and detail into their films…it seems like a waste just to be seen on a tiny laptop screen.

Saw The Ballad of Buster Scruggs last night. It was decent, with some great Coen’s scripting and funny moments. Think it might have worked better if they’d followed through with the plan for it to be a TV series.

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The kids and I really enjoyed it - but yes a TV series would have been good.

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It was going to be a TV series, wasn’t it?

When I saw Calibre at the Edinburgh film fest in the summer the director said that those screenings were the only ones they could do for ten years under the Netflix deal.

But theyre doing a bunch more now around Scotland, so no idea.

Oh right haha

In that case I’m talking nonsense

Watched Pet - standard low budget horror but some nice twists and a good ending
Suspiria (1977) - actually forgot how slow it is in parts and dont think it is quite as good as its status, but it is still very enjoyable and it looks beautiful
Hell or High Water - I dont normally like westerns/neo westerns but loved this. Extremely entertaining

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - thought it was very good, the Coens are always great when commenting on the cruelties of fate etc

Interesting point re: the film

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Suspiria - Dull, uninspired, tame; not shocking, not scary, not inventive. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was lazy, but it definitely felt like a film operating well within its comfort zone.

I was expecting glorious staging, imagery, allegory, something to totally shock and to disturb me. I got none of that from it.

Shame, really, as it looked so promising.

In other news, we used out Mubi Go for the first time for this and it’s so straightforward - just select the cinema and time, take the QR code to the box office and that’s it… Well worth it. Next week’s film is Shoplifters, so we’re definitely going to that one.

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That new Robin Hood film out in a few days has ‘bomb’ written all over it. No idea why studios keep spending loads on Robin Hood/King Arthur/Peter Pan films when they all seem to flop.

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Finally saw the new suspiria. Really good. Shame about Thom York though.

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Wildlife - Enjoyed this. It looks seriously beautiful, one of the most gorgeously shot films I’ve seen in ages. The composition of every single frame was exquisite and I can only imagine how intricate some of the blocking needed to be for the depth of field and focus-pulling to be as beautiful as they were. Performances were all excellent as well but I felt there was something fundamentally a bit off in the casting despite how good everyone was. Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhall are both young-looking grown-ups IMO and then their kid was basically balding, meant I had to consciously suspend disbelief a bit which was a shame as all of them were acting their socks off (Mulligan particularly). Glad I saw it for sure.

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It looks SO bad.

Otoh, ninja Robin Hood, in the visual style of a Michael Bay film? And I can for free with my unlimited card? I’m totally in.

Google tells me it’s out here for one night only on December 11th.

Same rating here as the original apparently. Good work all round.

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