Hype Movie Club

[Luigi]

Watching The Piano Teacher atm

"Hey, what's she doing with that razor..."

 

[CaptainWagner]

Road to Perdition (2002) d. Sam Mendes

This was maybe the first movie I ever watched that really pulled me into the artistry of Capital C Cinema, and later the first BluRay I ever bought, so I'm always happy to revisit it. I'm glad it still holds up - largely due to Conrad Hall's god-tier cinematography. It's a beautiful story, and a perfect play against type for Hanks in maybe his most underrated role. It feels extremely Spielbergian (mind you The Berg had an insane '02 with CMIYC and Minority Report both dropping), which stands out as odd compared to Mendes' other work, but he plays it well. I think that mix of sincere sentimentality with the gangland violence gets dismissed by a lot of the Film Twitter types, but IMO this deserves to be listed among the best of a great year for film.

Makes me think - what is everyone's take for the Best Movie Year of this decade? For me, it's neck and neck between '02 and '07.

 

[flickchick85]

Makes me think - what is everyone's take for the Best Movie Year of this decade? For me, it's neck and neck between '02 and '07.

Probably '06 for me. Children of Men and The Prestige are probably the two movies of the decade that made the biggest impression on me. But '07 would be a close second!

 

[Kane52630]

07 was truly a revolutionary year.

No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
3:10 to Yuma
Superbad
Ratatouille
The Assassination of Jesse James
Michael Clayton
Hot Fuzz
The Mist
Atonement
Bee Movie

 

[flickchick85]

Ok y'all, I'm introducing a new type of category as we go into the new year: Genres/Eras! I won't be abandoning filmmakers or decades as potential categories, but this is just another thing to mix it up a bit. Hopefully one that can be a little educational for us all as well. So, in honor of a certain Christmas release this year, our inaugural genre category for December will be...


German Expressionism

What is German Expressionism? It was a filmmaking movement in the 1920's and 1930's marked by wild creativity and imagination, where the internal emotions of a piece were reflected in the external - from the designs, to the costumes, to the acting styles. It was a movement that outright rejected cinematic realism. This era was the primary influence on so many beloved classics today, from Blade Runner to anything Tim Burton has ever touched, as well as being a direct predecessor to the also hugely influential genre of Film Noir.

Since there are really only a relatively small handful of German Expressionist films out there - 27 according to this list ...and it's actually 26, because we've already done M (1931), so that one's no longer eligible - I'm going to say everyone gets up to THREE votes this time. So let's see how this goes. Voting will be open through Saturday. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate!​

 

[flickchick85]

My 3 picks for German Expressionism:

Nosferatu
Metropolis
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (just because I HAVE to see if this premise is as wild as I remember it being )

 

[Kane52630]

Nosferatu
Metropolis
The Man Who Laughs

 

[CaptainWagner]

hmm.... This is exciting, as I haven't seen much from this era of film. Really liked M when we did it before.

Faust
Metropolis
Nosferatu

(I saw clips from Metropolis in film classes but we never watched the whole thing)

 

[flickchick85]

Sorry for the delay all, had a particularly crazy week. Thankfully, this one's really easy to tally. Our December selections:


Metropolis (1927)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
Written By: Thea Von Harbou and Fritz Lang
Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich
What's It About? In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.


Nosferatu (1922)

Directed By: F.W. Murnau
Written By: Henrik Galeen and Bram Stoker
Starring: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav Von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder
What's It About? Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.

Anyone who considers themselves a film aficionado and has NOT seen these absolutely vital, legendary classics by the end of this month will be shamed. SHAMED! Happy holidays, y'all!​

 

[Luigi]

The Piano Teacher

Quite a haunting look at what a lifetime of repression can do to a person. Erika deserved far better than to be stuck in the life that she was given. Those last five minutes are just crushing.

 

[Black Narcissus]

The Piano Teacher

Quite a haunting look at what a lifetime of repression can do to a person. Erika deserved far better than to be stuck in the life that she was given. Those last five minutes are just crushing.

Them last minutes have always stayed with me all these years. like a scar. Hauntingly beautiful.

 

[CaptainWagner]

roundup on last month:

The Piano Teacher (2001)

I really wanted to get into this, because it certainly has a lot of interesting stuff going on, but it just never pulled me in. The performances are all amazing, and that carries it through, but the narrative is just so meandering I was struggling to stay committed. I love a good loosely-plotted character study, but you can IMO barely call this a study. Haneke seems painfully disinterested in actually exposing, much less exploring, what makes his characters tick. He points the camera and shoots and we only get to watch. Obviously, given the reviews, that works for a lot of people, but it didn't engage me at all.

Miami Vice (2006)

Like Spielberg's A.I., this is another movie whose popular "reassessment" I can't buy into. The plot is paper thin and the characters somehow even thinner. Beebe's cinematography is of course phenomenal, but on a technical level there's nothing going on here that Mann didn't do two times better in Collateral. Which could be enough to sell me, but with this narrative, I have nothing to care about. It doesn't help that Farrell here is not quite at the level we know and love today, making for a sadly forgettable protagonist. This one definitely is floating near the bottom of my Mann ranking; but it does make me want a mojito.

 

[Luigi]

Agree on Miami Vice. Sadly, that's how I've felt about Mann's last couple of films.

Here's hoping that Heat 2 can turn things around.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Agree on Miami Vice. Sadly, that's how I've felt about Mann's last couple of films.

Here's hoping that Heat 2 can turn things around.

It's a shame, because Collateral is IMO one of if not THE definitive films for the transition into digital cinematography, but it really feels like Mann has been spinning his wheels ever since.

 

[Luigi]

Watching Nosferatu now.

 

[Luigi]

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

I swear, Thomas must've been color blind with all of the red flags that he kept missing. This sort of worked as a Christmas film in that Count Orlok came to town bearing gifts...except those gifts were pestilence and death. It's no surprise that this film has stood the test of time with its striking imagery and I'm very excited to see Eggers version.

 

[flickchick85]

Sorry for the delay, crazy week! I'd say the New Year is the perfect time to look back on the previous decade to see how we ended up here and where we went wrong, wouldn't you? In that spirit, our category for January will be:


The 2010's!

Just a reminder, our previous selections from this decade were Death of Stalin, the Mission: Impossible series, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, so those are now ineligible. Everyone gets up to 5 picks, voting will be open 'til Saturday! Happy 2025, everyone!​

 

[squeekness]

Zero Dark Thirty
Dark Waters
Spotlight
Gone girl
The Martian

 

[flickchick85]

My 2010's picks this go-round:

The Social Network
Spotlight
Nightcrawler
Game Night
Parasite

 

[Kane52630]

You know what? I'm gonna avoid picking the popular choices.

AND I need all of you to open your mind.

The FP
Rubber
Fateful Findings
The Fanatic
Cool Cat Saves the Kids

 

[blueharvest]

Mad Max: Fury Road
Blade Runner: 2049
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Dunkirk
Arrival

 

[Link]

You know what? I'm gonna avoid picking the popular choices.

AND I need all of you to open your mind.

The FP
Rubber
Fateful Findings
The Fanatic
Cool Cat Saves the Kids

Well, you know what...

Blue Ruin
Cool Cat Saves the Kids
Destroyer
Fateful Findings
White God

 

[Kane52630]

Well, you know what...

Blue Ruin
Cool Cat Saves the Kids
Destroyer
Fateful Findings
White God

 

[emielaen]

Bait
The Assassin
Happy as Lazzaro
Seven Weeks
Phoenix

 

[DKDetective]

My 2010's picks this go-round:

The Social Network
Spotlight
Nightcrawler
Game Night
Parasite

The Social Network (best film of the decade possibly and Fincher's masterpiece)
Her (takes place in 2025 and involves AI, needs a definite rewatch)
Ex Machina (again, AI and ethics)
Get Out (evil white people showing their true colours)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (how to behave in the face of a fascist takeover)

And an instant permaban for anyone who nominates The King's Speech, The Theory of Everything, Argo, or Green Book.