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tilbageidanmark · 3 years

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Movies I watched this week - 34

It dawned on me last night, that watching films and writing these short reviews is somethings I truly enjoy. I thought to myself: If I could do that as a job, it would be ideal. I see up to 4 films and more per day, anyway. So now I am going to embrace it, and make it my job.

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(2 + 1) by my new favorite Polish director, Paweł Pawlikowski:

✳️✳️✳️ Cold War, starts with a group of ethnomusicologists searching the countryside for old traditional folk sounds before they are lost forever, and ends 15 surprising years later at the most intense heartbreak. An absolute masterpiece - 10/10.

Here’s a short trailer that shocked me, since I didn’t realize what a disastrous love story it was until the end. (Photo Above).

✳️✳️✳️ Ida, the first Polish Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film (2012). In 1962, a 17 year old novice nun, before taking her final vows, discovers that her parents, who were murdered in the war, were Jewish.

A featured snippet from John Coltrane’s Naima represents the mood of the story.

Stark and austere black & white compositions, a journey into Poland’s darkest soul. Best film of the week.

✳️✳️✳️ However, The woman in the fifth, Paweł’s previous film, was forgettable and listless. It’s hard to imagine that the director of this standard fair will rise to produce the magical lyricism of his two later films. Even Joanna Kulig (Zula from ‘Cold War’) doesn’t elevate it and make it worthwhile.

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Ida’s visual style was inspired by The Passion of Joan of Arc, and Paweł’s framing often evokes Maria Falconetti’s tortured face. Carl Dryer’s haunting 1928 film is still fresh and extremely modern. Even more than the radical close ups, I was struck by the gender imbalance of the play: One frightened 19 year old girl, against a full battery of grotesque, powerful and menacing old men, who demand complete fealty from her. 9/10.

The film had its world premiere at the local Palads Teatret. Apparently, the original models for the film's set are stored at the Danish Film Institute Archives - Maybe I’ll get a chance to see them one day.

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Abbas Kiarostami’s slow-moving Iranian film Taste of Cherry, about a man driving on the outskirts of Tehran, looking to pay somebody to cover him with dirt, after he commits suicide. Probably the inspiration to Ramin Bahrani’s ‘Goodbye Solo’. It ends with Louis Armstrong's "St. James Infirmary Blues." 8/10.

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Costa-Gavras’s 1972 State of Siege was a searing indictment of the brutal US meddling in Latin America, and the shameful, deadly repression of leftist regimes. So many atrocities committed in the name of the Imperialistic Yankee dollar: Death squads, torture, mass assassinations, deadly coups - The same playbook for 70 years.

Chaotic opening scene of the army sweeping the street. The whole movie was terrifying. 7+ / 10

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Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old. The Uncanny Valley effects created by using colorized footage from the trenches of WW1, corrected for speed, and laid with voice-overs of actual British servicemen, talking about their war memories. The moment when the soldiers reach the battlefield, and the film shifts from the black and white to color is breathtaking. 8/10

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A Fantastic Woman, a 2017 sensitive Chilean movie about a trans woman, whose older lover suddenly dies, leaving her to confront his estranged family and to deal with ugly problems of identity, respect and dignity. It’s compassionate and eventually hopeful, though not necessarily fantastic.

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Thelma, an atmospheric Norwegian thriller about a young student with psychokinetic powers who falls in love with another girl, while losing her mind. Very slow burning and moody. Reminds me that I want to re-watch Polanski’s Repulsion.

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Aretha Franklin X 2:

✳️✳️✳️ Respect, the new, terrific, slick Aretha Franklin bio, which is also a solid feature directorial debut for the director Liesl Tommy. The small girl part was best, but the whole story was well-made. Recommended.

✳️✳️✳️ ... And the final gospel concert from ‘Respect’ was recorded by Sydney Pollack in 1972, and just-recently released as Amazing Grace. With glimpses in the background of Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger (at 0:51).

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Woodstock, the documentary of the festival at Max Yasgur's farm. Unfortunately, this is only 1/2 of the original film. Re-watch.

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Carey Mulligan X 3:

✳️✳️✳️ An education, a beautiful story about a naive 16 year old girl in 1961 London who is being seduced by a charming and sophisticated conman twice her age. The title can be understood in two different ways. 7+/10.

✳️✳️✳️ Never let me go - A British filming of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel didn’t get me. Part subtle science fiction story about compulsory body donors, and part love story with the always-aweful Andrew Garfield in a boarding school setting, its appeal just flew past me.

✳️✳️✳️ Drive - a perfect arthouse thriller by Nicolas Winding Refn. The action scenes are similar to Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and many other LA-At-Night action films, but the romance is tight and constrained. The motivation of laconic hero Ryan Goslin is being commented on in the 4-5 songs that puncture the action, with the last one calling him “A real hero - a real human being”, however he is not a real human being, but a replica of the Steve McQueen / Clint Eastwood mold.

Re-watch.

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I haven’t seen the great American saga Days of Heaven for many years. Through the gorgeous cinematography of Néstor Almendros, the score by Ennio Morricone, and especially the voice over story telling by the little girl Linda Manz as she saw it, it’s still as perfect as it was years ago. 10/10

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Brazil, Terry Gilliam’s 1985 satiric version of George Orwell’s 1984. Dystopia! Bureaucracy! Ducts! With young Jonathan Pryce as a dreamy glam rock flying Phoenix.

Too bad that Gilliam never got to film Hieronymus Bosch, for example his Garden of Earthly Delights!

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I’ve never seen a Bob Ross painting show or knew much about him except that he had a landscape painting program on PBS, so the new documentary Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed was all news to me.

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First watch, and only because the highlights always looked somehow ‘funny’ - Fletch. But American comedies of the 80′s and 90′s were so uncharitably lame. 1/10.

Maybe it would have been better if they used their first choice, Mick Jagger.

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Throw-back to the art project:

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc Adora.

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(My complete movie list is here)

#movies

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sthayil · 4 years

Text

2019 Reading Goal Outcomes

Goal: 52 Books in 2019, no romances, no rereads

Result: 61

Summary: This was a year of fantasy, with the Throne of Glass series as hands-down the best one. I almost entirely read fiction, so will try for more non-fiction in 2020.

1. Reader, I Married Him - Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre, by Tracy Chevalier.

Short stories again, dipping my feet in the water of getting the reading habit up and going again. I read this entire book over the course of various subway rides.

2. Ahead of the Curve, by Joseph H. Ellis.

A business investing textbook that Ryan wanted me to read. Pretty interesting, nice explanation of the fundamentals, but limited applicability as it only pertains to certain cyclical industries.

3. Anya’s War, by Andrea Alban Gosline.

A lovely young adult story set in 1940s Shanghai in the Jewish community there, all the refugees fleeing Europe. Didn’t know about all the Jews who lived in China. They later left for the US.

4. The Silver Swan, by Elena Delbanco.

Father and daughter famous cellists, story about love, loss, legacy, and genius.

5. Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers.

A very Christian novel, based on the Biblical story of Hosea. It was quite a moving story, but now I want to read some of her secular novels, just to see the difference. It was one of the books on my Kindle, recommended to me by Nicole.

6. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie.

Two adolescent boys sent to rural China for re-education during the Cultural Revolution. Translated from the French.

7. Tarnsman of Gor, by John Norman.

A sci-fi novel about a planet like Earth on the other side of the sun. The first in the series. Found this in our Edinburgh Airbnb.

8. Dear Mr. You, by Mary-Louise Parker.

A collection of letters to all the men in her life. I liked most the ones to the uncle of her adopted Ethiopian daughter, and then one at the very end to the oyster picker who picked her father’s last meal.

9. Lady of the Snakes, by Rachel Pastan.

A look at life as a female academic, trying to find the balance between her career and her family. I wonder if I ever feel as passionately about something as the protagonist, who is dedicated to a single famous author in Slavic literature, and his wife who is secretly the real author. The whole book made me remember the feminist comic about the mental load in a family.

10. Trespassing Across America, by Ken Ilgunas.

One man’s journey through the middle of America as he followed the path of the Keystone XL pipeline, and his reflections on the environment, our role, travels, midwestern folk, and long walks. Very gentle reading, and I definitely was surprised by some of the research that he has done about the history of the Great Plains. I didn’t realize what a drain on the US economy the farmers are, and that they are basically welfare farmers.

11. Bakhita, by Veronique Olmi.

The sorrowful story of one of the modern saints, a Sudanese slave who came to Italy. The story of her life, with the backdrop of colonization, slavery, and the world wars.

12. Plenty, by Alisa Smith and J. B. Mackinnon.

The two authors decide to maintain a 100-mile diet for a year. Interspersed with recipes every chapter, and alternates between their voices. A delicious and thoughtful journey, that made me want to leap into the kitchen and start canning and pickling.

13. Assassin’s Blade, by Sarah J. Maas.

Collection of short stories leading up to the first Throne of Glass novel.

14. Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas

15. Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J. Maas

16. Heir of Fire, by Sarah J. Maas

17. Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J. Maas

18. Empire of Storms, by Sarah J. Maas

19. Tower of Dawn, by Sarah J. Maas

20. Kingdom of Ash, by Sarah J. Maas. This was one of the best high fantasy series I have read in a long time. Epic battles, intrigue, loss, love, courage, everything. I kept rereading my favourite sections for the rest of the year.

21. Haiku Love, The British Museum, by Alan Cummings.

Beautifully illustrated by mostly woodblock prints, I took photos of my favorites, from mainly the new love section.

22. My Last Love Story, by Falguni Kothari.

A cancer love story revolving around a love triangle in a Gujarati diaspora community.

23. Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri

Haven’t read anything by Lahiri since Interpreter of Maladies, so I’m glad to jump into more short stories. Fantastic, as expected.

24. The Grift, by Debra Ginsberg.

Fortune telling and human weakness.

25. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas

26. A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas

27. A Court of Wings and Ruin, by Sarah J. Maas.

I liked the Throne of Glass series better, but this was still good. There is one more novelette but it is supposed to be a bridge to a new spinoff series, and I would rather just wait for everything to be out and binge read them all at once. So I will stop here with this series.

28. Radiance, by Grace Draven.

29. Night Tide, by Grace Draven

30. Eidolon, by Grace Draven

31. In the Darkest Midnight, by Grace Draven.

Another epic fantasy, but in the end Draven is a bit heavier on the romance.

32. Master of Crows, by Grace Draven.

Series unfinished and hard to get a hold of.

33. A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara.

A devastating novel about friendship and trauma and New York City. Unforgettable. I read Veasna’s copy which has been making the rounds in our circle of friends and leaving us all ashes in its wake.

34. Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

35. Fire, by Kristin Cashore

36. Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore

Another young adult fantasy series, again a pretty good one. This seems to be the theme of this year.

37. Look Who’s Back, by Timur Vermes.

A satire on the media focused world we live in, through the eyes of Hitler who woke up in the modern world.

38. Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan

39. China Rich Girlfriend, by Kevin Kwan.

Both are fun and fluffy reads. I can see why they became so popular.

40. Before She Sleeps, by Bina Shah.

Dystopian, Handmaids Tale, with a South Asian setting and characters.

41. When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep and Stalin Robbed a Bank, by Giles Milton

Lovely collection of historical anecdotes.

42. Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles.

The American civil war was so bloody. I think Americans would have a better understanding of war if they fought wars on their own lands again.

43. The Hundredth Queen, by Emily R. King

44. The Fire Queen, by Emily R. King

45. The Rogue Queen, by Emily R. King

46. The Warrior Queen, by Emily R. King.

The premise was such a good one, and it was fun to be able to read fantasy in a South Asian setting, but the writing was flat and the characters annoyingly indecisive. They all seem to stumble from predicament to predicament, reacting endlessly but never able to do anything properly. By the second book I just wanted the story to end.

47. The Place of Shining Light, by Nazneen Sheikh.

A moving thriller about trying to smuggle an ancient Buddha statue from Afghanistan into Pakistan, and the stories of the people along the way of the journey.

48. Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers

49. Dark Triumph, by Robin LaFevers

50. Mortal Heart, by Robin LaFevers.

A fun trilogy set in historical times, with three different female protagonists who are also trained as assassins by a convent. Found it through a list of books recommended as similar to the Throne of Glass series, but it was different enough to still be enjoyable and not compared in my mind while I was reading.

51. Queen Song, by Victoria Aveyard

52. Steel Scars, by Victoria Aveyard

53. Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

54. Glass Sword, by Victoria Aveyard

55. King’s Cage, by Victoria Aveyard

56. War Storm, by Victoria Aveyard.

Again, this is a series I found because of my suffering from Throne of Glass withdrawal. The story is interesting enough, and decent attention to detail and logic with a lot of the action/battles. The protagonist did start to get on my nerves as annoyingly helpless and indecisive, but then the author started changing the points of view in the last couple of books, and some of the other characters found the protagonist as annoying as I did, so that was refreshing to read and gave me the stamina to finish the series. There are a few more novellas but I’m not interested/invested enough to find them. I’ll stop here.

57. Pick-up, by Charles Willeford.

Good old fashioned American crime novel from the 60s with a few unexpected twists.

58. Notes on a Banana, by David Leite. Memoir on food, love, and manic depression. The highs/manic parts sound blindingly productive. Glad for him that he sequestered himself during the whole AIDS thing. Wish there were some recipes, I might go look at his blog.

59. The Young Elites, by Marie Lu

60. The Rose Society, by Marie Lu

61. The Midnight Star, by Marie Lu.

A refreshing series with a true anti-heroine. You despise her so much almost throughout the series.

#reading readinggoals newyearresolution throneofglass sarahjmaas fantasy epicfantasy

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