Sinners (2025) - 1930s southern black community has to deal with all kinds of issues internal and external when a pair of charming hoodlums return home to go straight and open a juke joint, but what to do about honkies trying to get in on the action? Unspoken moral?: White people suck.
Dead Men Walk (1943) - really bad old horror with stilted acting and dialog.
Mirror (1975) - Second time I’ve watched it and I am not smart enough to ‘get’ this movie. I adore both Stalker and Solaris (Andrei Rublev is interesting but not my favorite Tarkovsky film), and those I believe I ‘get’, but I feel like I’m missing half of what is communicated in Mirror. Still, it stirs emotions and is engaging to watch. Beautiful imagery.
Oedipus Rex (1967) - Pasolini tells the ancient tale of a land blighted because of the sins of its ruler, then ties it to post-war Italy. Recommended.
Medea (1969) - Another from Pasolini, but not as good as Oedipus Rex, but is does have opera singer Maria Callas, so worth a watch.
Death of a Unicorn (2025) - awful. Inappropriate violence for kids and too mild for adult horror. There isn’t even much of a moral to find since none of it bears relation to reality.
Hyenas (1992) - Now THIS is a movie. Set in a small African village, it is something of a parable on greed. It has funny hits in a dry, awful sort of way, and more approachable humanity than anything else on my list this week.
Welcome back Memfree! Your positive review for ‘Hyenas’ led to it being added to my watchlist.
I’m waiting for one night when everyone’s down for ‘Sinners’ so I can finally watch it. I also have a smattering of Tarkovsky’s films on the watchlist, would you have a recommendation on which order?
I don’t know. I’m usually ready to watch a meandering film with slow pacing, but I know people who won’t put up with that, so I might like movies you find unwatchable. In contrast, there’s a subset of French slice-of-life movies that I just generally dislike while other people love them. Anyway, I’ve only seen 4 Tarkovsky films, and they all move more slowly than, say, a superhero blockbuster. Of those 4, I guess the most accessible is Solaris. Some days/weeks later, I’d watch Andrei Rublev as a change of pace, then after another wait try Stalker.
Those should be enough to give you a feel for the director, and then maybe you can try Mirror and tell me what I’m missing. I feel like a bunch of symbolism is going over my head. Are those Maoists shaking little red books? What does that evoke from a Russian perspective?
Welcome back Memfree! Your positive review for ‘Hyenas’ led to it being added to my watchlist.
I’m waiting for one night when everyone’s down for ‘Sinners’ so I can finally watch it. I also have a smattering of Tarkovsky’s films on the watchlist, would you have a recommendation on which order?
I don’t know. I’m usually ready to watch a meandering film with slow pacing, but I know people who won’t put up with that, so I might like movies you find unwatchable. In contrast, there’s a subset of French slice-of-life movies that I just generally dislike while other people love them. Anyway, I’ve only seen 4 Tarkovsky films, and they all move more slowly than, say, a superhero blockbuster. Of those 4, I guess the most accessible is Solaris. Some days/weeks later, I’d watch Andrei Rublev as a change of pace, then after another wait try Stalker.
Those should be enough to give you a feel for the director, and then maybe you can try Mirror and tell me what I’m missing. I feel like a bunch of symbolism is going over my head. Are those Maoists shaking little red books? What does that evoke from a Russian perspective?