Gelfling

damn, at least all these episodes posts being bumped to the top page up the post count with me bumping all the threads people still post in back to page 1

poehler-bear

Sorry! I didn't have a computer these last few days

Well, it has a lot of blockbusters and a lot of tv shows and many crappy Brazilian things. But you can find good stuff too! I watched Babel, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Young Frankenstein these last few weeks. Oh and Certified Copy! So it's not horrible. I have some apparently great movies on my watchlist like Caché and La Cienaga. I know it depends on where you are, but French netflix is only starting right? Maybe it will get better soon!

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That sounds amazing!

Omg, I just saw a link to this movie and I was curious about it. But then I saw vampires and er... but now I'm definitely gonna watch it! I'll report back soon(ish)

Oh, damn :/ I think the only Eastwood movie I've seen is Unforgiven. I liked it but I'm not into his themes... Even so, it's a shame his movies have been getting worse.

that's awesome. I think people get too caught up on the narrative, it's a shame. There's so much else to be consciously enjoyed in a movie. I say consciously because you're always gonna be effected by the cinematography, the atmosphere, what these things make you feel, but I think many people don't realize that.

True. Sondheim his songs never fail me, no matter how many times I've listened to them. It's insane!

Oh and yeah, I'm never gonna be okay with Rapunzel not dying.

It's like the producers found the easy way out, the cover up, and now they're just using it over and over to keep some criticism away, so they can show the progress in statistics.

Oh my god. That's actually a fantastic idea to play with!

I'm very excited cause I loved Madame Bovary, I wanna see how he worked with that.

Oh that's nice! It makes me excited to see men saying this kind of stuff. And exactly. That's the dream for all minorities. I'm taking an excellent class on queer cinema (especially male gays) and affection, intimacy etc. And the first class the prof said, we're not gonna watch movies where the sexuality is an issue, which I found extremely refreshing. Tbh I'm still not very familiar with queer cinema but most stuff I saw, more mainstream, had that same old story of discovery. Anyway, point is, this cinema exists (for different minorities) and I hope it infects mainstream soon.

Not yet! I'll check them out!

I know I was thinking of what I could afford. Well not that Italy and Germany are cheap but I was sure I was going to Poland so I figured I could use my time better if I stayed in that area (plus Czech Republic also seems cheaper than usual). France, Belgium, Switzerland all look so expensive but next time France is definitely first on my list! Ugh ((( I'm not stopping by any country (but Poland) of my fave Europeans

Aga_darkside

I'll catch up on the rest of the thread later, but first:

We totally have to meet up! Do you know anything about your stay in Poland, like where and when?

poehler-bear

Yes! I was hoping you'd show up so we could figure something out. Warsaw and Krakow. I still have to make a final itinerary but for now Warsaw from July 22 to 24, then Krakow from July 25 to 28 (but taking two day trips, one to the Salt Mines and another to Auschwitz). Actually Poland is the bit of the trip that seems better defined now so it's likely these will be the right dates. I'm actually doing the whole trip with a Polish friend!

Aga_darkside

Cool! Kraków works for me (Warsaw too, but I live like an hour away from Kraków so it would be better). I was thinking I could spend a day in Kraków with you and also go to the Salt Mine. It's awesome and I only visited it once when I was 10. I've been to Auschwitz once and that's enough. We'll figure something out, great you're doing the trip with someone local

Gelfling

It is and I think they are having problems with several distribution companies owned by big groups associated with tv networks, who don't want the competition so I don't know how it's going

yeah the vampire aspect is more a subversion of the genre and a metaphor. It's pretty interesting stuff on a symbolic level.

I think he's getting caught up in the politics (he's never been as politically active as he's been recently) and losing track of the message.
I think Letter from Iwo Jima is my favorite and it seems like the anti-thesis of American Sniper on so many levels.
Bird is also well worth watching and Bridges of Madison County is a beautiful thoughtful movie.
I didn't like Mystic River as much as everyone else did but the performances make it a stand-out.

I don't think you can explain that to people who still believe directors write movies but sometimes you can have a conversation about it.
I recently had a (mostly peaceful) argument with someone who was telling me that 12 Angry Men is a great movie but the direction was "mostly theatrical" and didn't help the script. and when I pointed out to specific examples of how the direction heightened the tension, closed in on the claustrophobic atmosphere of the movie, somehow I got through but it's hard work.

I don't think they meant to Disneyfy it because they didn't for the rest, but they were trying to get rid of a story that didn't tie into their second act.
To be honest, I have a bigger problem with them getting rid of all the dark humor of the second act (the reprise of Agony is much needed) than with Rapunzel

Galaxy Quest already did but expanding that would be quite interesting.

Ooooh interesting!

that or rejection, bigotry etc, which I guess is still sadly part of being queer but there's more to a love story than people who think you're wrong for loving someone.
Which movies have you watched?

They are. Very much so.

Maybe I'll make my way to wherever you are first

There she goes, twisting the knife

I want pictures!

poehler-bear

Okay Aga! I'll PM you about it when I know more!

Oh no :/ That sucks.

Thanks for the Eastwood recs! I forgot I had watched Bridges. But I was what? 14? I didn't appreciate it, I believe my opinion was "boring" I really wanna watch Letters tho!
Oh and I was okay with Million Dollar Baby.

Hmm interesting! I'll report back what I think after I watch it. Not having seen it Rapunzel's fate bothers me because I think it takes away a lot of the Witch's storyline and 'Children Will Listen', but let's see.

Oh this movie has been on my list forever (but without reading the summary apparently). Should I watch it then?


I'm trying to check letterboxd because they have enormous LGBT+ lists there but it's not working. So what I can think of rn is Imagine Me & You (Like any romcom but idk I loved it a lot + Lena!!!), Brokeback Mountain, My Summer Of Love, Kyss Mig (which I also loved, I'm a sucker for melodrama ), A Room in Rome (softcore porn tbt), Gia (forever ago, for Liz Mitchell), Philadelphia, The Kids Are Alright, Loving Anabelle (sooooo bad, so many bad movies on Netflix Gay & Lesbian category), A Single Man, The Fish Child, When Night is Falling -- now I realize it's more than I thought -- The Children's Hour, never forget Garbo was bi in a movie once (and sad cause bi people are almost non-existent in fiction), and I can think of some with supporting gay characters. Oh Notes on a Scandal. I'm sure there are more. But see, most here are mainstream or almost there.
For class we watched I Shot My Love and bits of Paris is Burning, Homme au bain (what an ass François Sagat has ), Praia do Futuro, Tatuagem...
Aand I finally watched Blue is the Warmest Color a few days ago! I know you have problems with it but I really liked it.

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I'd finally have company to go to the tourist sites! A friend from Canada came to Rio with her Brazilian bf last week but I didn't do anything. She made plans and cancelled them in the last second (I actually went to the entrance of the Christ and to Sugar Loaf and all for nada). So I'm excited for someone to visit!


Done! We'll send you some photos!

Gelfling

Damn! I didn't see you had replied

same with me.

It wasn't a masterpiece but it's a good character movie. A lot of people got confused by the ending, because they thought they were watching a sports movie and they somehow felt the ending was pushing an agenda but I don't see it that way. It was a tragic way for the protagonists relationship to culminate but it made sense within their respective stories and their mutual story.

I think they managed pretty well to preserve that despite the change but you'll tell me.

I've seen it many times, despite not being a fan of Tim Allen. He's funny in the movie though and the rest of the cast, I mean Hello! Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman are hilarious!
It's a well crafted geek comedy taking shots at all the tropes of scifi television so it's worth watching just for that.

I thought you'd seen at least this one

It was pretty good. I wasn't expecting much but I was surprised how much I loved it

Heh I liked it. The sex scenes were not entirely necessary but they weren't too graphic so I was fine with them. I liked the character story and how they weave through the lies and deception to really get to know each other.

I'm sure. "But I'm a Cheerleader" is a good "bad movie" though.

I really loved this one. It's my favorite performance by Colin Firth. It's very subdued and slow paced but it's a great movie.

it's true. Well, most of the "lesbians" on tv right now are seen dating or having sex with men at some point but it's more to defuse the threat they represent to the male audience than it is about real bisexuality.

The Hours! well somehow

We're getting there. Although the lack of male gay characters in movies that are not about how it sucks to be gay is distressing.
Don't get me wrong, Milk, Dallas Buyers Club, Longtime Companion, Brokeback Mountain, those are all very important films (didn't like Brokeback as much as most people did though ) but the theme is always very similar.

well it's he uses it "for work" so obviously

I do but honestly it's mostly because it's an important film. We're still at a point in French cinema where gay characters are mostly the butt of the joke in poorly crafted comedies that are supposed to have a message of tolerance but rely heavily on stereotypes for the comedy part so it's not helping. Movies like Blue are important because they are not about stereotypes, they are about real people and real stories. So I guess the graphic and mostly gratuitous nature of the sex scenes kinda lessen the impact.

If you're looking for recommendations (I'm sure you aren't )

- Bent
(Clive Owen's best performance, imo and even though the topic seems pretty heavy, and it is, it's an interesting and improbably love story rather than "just" a movie about being gay in Nazi Germany)
- Cloudburst
Unusual in the genre ("what do you mean "old" lesbians? They get old? Who cares about that? show us the young hot ones!" ) and at times light, at times poignant. More about an aging couple trying to make a run for it than about "lesbians in love". Great performances by Dukakis and Fricker.
- Ha-Sodot
A very underrated (well they won awards in Israel but it's virtually unknown internationally) movie about self-discovery with interesting characters. There are so many "coming of age" movies with guys leaning how to be men but very few about young women learning to be women and in a culture as oppressive as the Orthodox Jewish community, it makes for a compelling movie, with a lot of converging themes and a mystical aura that won't leave you cold. Plus: Fanny Ardant
- Les Nuits Fauves
Since we talked about the rarity of bisexual, male characters and serious queer movies, this one is one of a kind in the French queer landscape. It made quite a big splash back in 1992 when it was released. Even today, it's still a very ballsy one. The self destructive nature of the protagonist sometimes makes the movie hard to watch but it's a very raw and profoundly human "love story" and it's not Sleepless in Seattle
The lead actor also directed and wrote the script from his autobiography.
- Fire
Deepa Mehta is one of those rare female directors who's managed to make the movies she wanted about women without having to compromise. This one is no exception. I liked Earth and Water more but possibly only because I really loved them.


Other worth the watch in no particular order
- Flores Raras
- High Art (Patricia Clarkson!)
- Dying Gaul (and Patricia Clarkson again but she's the straight one in this one )
- basically every movie Xavier Dolan wrote and directed

poehler-bear

It's okay! I haven't been able to be constant on my replies anyway.

I agree on Million Dollar Baby. Plus good performances so I'm okay with it. I wouldn't give it a Best Picture oscar tho. Finding Neverland was nominated???? Whaaaaaaaa? Eternal Sunshine wasn't nominated? (must rewatch that asap) And Before Sunset Anyway


I had a short time of being very into Swedish cinema. I tried to watch at least once Swedish movie per week. Watched a lot of good things! I still have some stuff dled so I'll probably watch more soon. Then I took a class in Scandinavian cinema on coursera (did I mention this here?), and got out of it with a big watchlist
I finally watched Festen (The Celebration). So good! Have yu seen it?

Oh I wasn't complaining at first I liked the character stuff but it started to seem a bit too pretentious for me, trying too hard to be an art film. I think it had potential and it lost itself on the way. And yet, I still liked it. I blame it on the softcore porn though

Gotta check that classic!
Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Natasha Lyonne???? Dling it now!

I remember lots of people criticizing it but I really enjoyed it, especially for Colin Firth. And I had a weakness for the costumes

Unfortunately. It's amazing that the best representation of bisexuality that I saw on American TV was on a kid's show. Crazy.

Yeah! It's strange I didn't think of it, even if it the theme one of the three stories. I guess because it's mainstream but not mainstream like Philadelphia is, for example.

Yeah :/
I also didn't like Brokeback Mountain as much as everyone else did. Idk if I should give it another try... I loved the other Ang Lee movies I watched so it's a bit disappointing I didn't care for this one.

I don't mind the sex as part of the movie, but yeah, we didn't need 10 straight minutes of it. But I loved the other things about the movie. And Adele can't-type-her-last-name was amazing! Léa Seydoux too. Regardless of sexuality, I found a good film about relationship in general.

I am!! Thank you so much!
Besides wanting to broaden my film experience (so heteronormative), personal life made me look for more movies. But it's so hard! I wanna find good movies, or cute movies but those lists aren't as easy to get as let's say, best french movies. So again, thanks!

I was gonna watch that one on Netflix US! But then I read Netflix was blocking people who were cheating to get american menu so but I'll add to my list!
Regarding old lesbians, omg, must tell you! You know that Brazil's primetime is soap operas? And that one network rules them all, like, if something happens there, it's legitimized. The new-ish 9pm soap (the most important) has an old lesbian couple! And it's two of the most prestigious actresses here (one of them was up for an Oscar once). Ofc, it sparked a lot of hate speeches but it's amazing they're doing that!

Thank you so much! I'll start dling them once I'm done with Tarkosvsky movies I watched Mirror yesterday
Oh! Flores Raras is directed by a brazilian! With the actress who plays the daughter of the old lesbian couple in the soap

Have you seen Happy Together? It's one I've been meaning to watch for a while.

Gelfling

I'm so lame! I have had my response typed somewhere for days! And I forgot to post it! (also I was watching Hannibal)

poehler-bear

It's fine!
Hannibal the show?

So what have I been watching lately (very brief comments)...
Kiki's Delivery Service was pretty cute. I just thought the ending was a bit abrupt? Probably the simplest Miyazaki I've seen (not in a bad way)
Something Must Break. A movie about a trans woman! I watched it in class, enjoyed it a lot. I liked that it raised the question of gender and society's obsession with defining people's genders. Also a nice dialogue with melodrama tradition.
Pride, finally! Also finally I watched a LGBT movie that didn't involve romance, which was very nice.
The Sacrifice - Tarkosvky is definitely becoming one of my top favorites. Even though I still can't figure out even 10% of his movies, somehow they really move me despite all the confusion. Best of all, I always wanna rewatch them right away. I'm also, finally, going back to reading his book, Sculpting in Time, and it's fascinating.
Winter Light - I believe it was the simplest Bergman I've seen, maybe because it felt more like chamber play than any other. I didn't connect as much to this one, I think it placed even more emphasis on religion than the others. And this time it was even more specific, imo, to Catholicism. Nevertheless, I cried and there was some fear deeply human behind all the religious monologues.
Weekend - Godard makes me laugh even if I don't necessarily agree with his ways or find them too much. Got a bit lost sometimes, but I enjoyed it overall.
Landscape in the Mist - !!! must watch more movies by Angelopoulos. Have you seen it?

Gelfling

Yup. Finally caught up.

poehler-bear

Oh! Can you talk about it here? Mixing with some movie talk? Or would that be breaking too many rules?

Gelfling

hell yes! **** the rules
I'm just glad you, Aga, Kate and a few other people are still showing up
I even have a secret plan to



What specifically would you like to talk about? I've already vented out my bizarre obsession about how bad the food is on the show but I'm certainly open to more topics

It's an enjoyable movie but it's not my favorite Miyazaki. What's your favorite?

I haven't seen it but I read a lot about it when I watched Soldier's Girl (Did I mention this one before? I thought I had when we were talking about Lee Pace). The perspective is different I guess but there's also a lot about gender prejudice and sexuality/gender expectations.

There are more and more gay and lesbian movies but it's true that transgender movies are rare because they are controversial even within the LGBT community, which I always had a hard time understanding.
I'm not naive enough to believe that just because you're Asian, or black or Jewish, you're not going to be a racist to someone, for example, but you would think that people suffering from prejudices and expectations placed on them by society for their orientation would be more tolerant of gender identity issues.

That's a whole other thing. I don't pretend I can understand what a trans person is going through but then it's not my place to understand or to judge. I just accept it as part of the world. And gender identity and sexuality are completely different.

I guess people feel safer putting people in boxes. All kinds of boxes really, with labels on them. Gender and sexuality are the worst because most people still assume they're binaries.

Did you watch other movies about trans people?

It was refreshing, although I guess that's true of straight movies too

Heh that's pretty awesome, isn't it? I love having that feeling when I watch a movie and it's so rare now.

trust him to make movies that can leave you perplexed and emotional all at once.

As for religion and fear, well, they've always been intimately linked. The first religions were born out of the fear of the unknown and I guess more recent religions focused more on the fear of death and beyond.

It's an odd movie even for him. It's a little over the top for me but it's still weirdly enjoyable

I haven't heard of it at all! I'm guessing from the last part of your comment that you'd recommend it

and since I can't find my reply to your other post I have to reply all over again, which I don't mind actually (I don't have interesting conversations about movies every day )

poehler-bear

Oh no! I didn't know the board was this bad! I'll try to post more! At least here and on theater board. Idk if today cause I have tons of Europe things to plan, but soon!

I'll start with the basic, what do you think of it in general? I know I change my opinion about it every second but Gillian!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for this new season!

That's tough. I haven't rewatched any yet, so I'll go with three-way tie. Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Totoro. What's yours? I still have two or three to watch, I think.


And you did mention Soldier's Girl! I just completely forgot about it. I'm gonna dl now before it happens again!
I don't remember watching any other film about trans people. I've watched things with trans people featured. I have Transamerica on my netflix watchlist, so I'll watch that soon.

That is true. Sigh.

Right?? I like that he compares cinema to poetry in his book. It makes perfect sense for his filmography and then the need to understand everything evaporates, you can just feel. Not that it isn't fun to speculate on meanings, but they aren't necessary. Wait, I think we had this talk not long ago

it's a fascinating relation. Lately I realized I've been more and more interested in directors (and other kinds of artists too) who put their focus on spirituality or make of it an important issue in their ouvre. Tarkovsky and Bergman are obvious ones for cinema, but for music I think there's deep spirituality in Sigur Ros for example.

Yes! It had a bit of a Tarkovsky vibe imo, those long shots, bits of life. Or maybe I was too influenced by the tree in The Sacrifice that was similar to the tree in this movie Anyway, it's worth checking it out regardless of similarities. And it's about two siblings, I'm always amazed when directors make serious movies with children as protagonists (Ivan's Childhood for example).

Aw I hate when that happens. Sometimes it's better to rewrite tho, some new thoughts creep up on you.