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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched (Jan 2011 - Nov 2013)  (Read 2532774 times)

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15300 on: September 24, 2012, 11:53:32 PM »
My #32 of All Time. (It's the 3rd review in this post) Wim Wenders transcended cinema like few others. I want to say congratulations for watching it, Sandy, but the best thing about watching Wings of Desire is you got to watch Wings of Desire.

Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15301 on: September 25, 2012, 12:04:34 AM »
Oh! wonderful review 1SO. I was looking for a moving gif of your screenshot. It was one of my favorite moments in the film as well. Yes, it was an honor to get to watch this film. I'm sorry it took me so long and I wish I had seen it before the remake, since then it would have been a complete discovery. Your link reminds me that I need to re-watch Jesus Christ Superstar, because I haven't seen it since I was a teenager.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2012, 12:17:35 AM by Sandy »

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15302 on: September 25, 2012, 12:14:00 AM »
Awesome portrait of Wings of Desire, Sandy.  I love that film.  It made my top 100 a few years ago.

I Am Love (2009)

There are some films that are so sensual that you can touch them.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  For so many people in our pornography culture, “sensual” means sexual or nakedness.  But the meaning of “sensual” is “of the senses,” and it has the deeper meaning of stirring emotion, especially longing for an ethereal experience that is accomplished through the senses. 
Movies are a sensual medium, in general.  We see and hear and (if we watch with a fantastic sound system) feel the movie in the air.  In the best films, we experience new things, live the lives of others whom we had never met before the beginning of the film.  We see and hear through them, and so obtain a sense of their thought.

But a few films are so sensual, that I can almost use senses that aren’t actually available in a common film.  I can feel the cloth, taste the prawn, caress the face, smell the forest, move my fingertips over the roughness of the bark of the tree.  But more importantly, I can capture the very essence of a character’s emotions in my soul.

I would put I Am Love in that category of film.  It is a short list, frankly:   In the Mood for Love, about the unfulfilled longing for another.   The Double Life of Veronique, about the ethereal versus the corporal life.  The New World, about choosing one’s love or the one who loves you.  Babette’s Feast, about an aesthetic community that experiences the joy of earth.   There are, perhaps, a few others.  Three Colors: Blue,  The Tree of Life.

But like I Am Love, they are lush, focusing on close cinematography, drawing on nature and food in a way that stirs both the senses and the soul.  These are films that expand our experience of reality, even as the finest sensual experiences do—that communicate not only the flesh, but the spirit behind the flesh.   

Great performances, amazing cinematography, fantastic music-- all of which are loud and in your face.  Just the way I like it.
5/5





"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15303 on: September 25, 2012, 12:22:58 AM »
But a few films are so sensual, that I can almost use senses that aren’t actually available in a common film.  I can feel the cloth, taste the prawn, caress the face, smell the forest, move my fingertips over the roughness of the bark of the tree.  But more importantly, I can capture the very essence of a character’s emotions in my soul.

 :D Now that is a movie!

Lobby

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15304 on: September 25, 2012, 12:40:11 AM »
Wings of Desire was on my top 100 list this year. Here's what I wrote about it when I watched it in February:

http://www.filmspotting.net/forum/index.php?topic=9536.msg664540#msg664540

It was the second time in my life I watched it; the first time I slept through it. This time I didn't. Beautiful, beautiful film.
http://thevelvetcafe.wordpress.com/  - where I think aloud about movies

Antares

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15305 on: September 25, 2012, 09:33:35 AM »
Just adding this for a bit of counterbalance...

Wings of Desire (1987) 3.5/5 - I actually watched this film about a month ago and forgot to write a review on it. Now that four weeks have passed by, I am at a loss to think of anything in this film that was truly memorable. As I was watching it, it held my curiosity and there were some truly beautiful scenes, but as a whole, I will probably never watch it again. Bruno Ganz was great as can be expected, and I loved looking at Solveig Dommartin. It's a shame she died so young. Sorry if there's not much written here, but the film just didn't grab me. I liked it, but barely.

And this small discussion I had with 1SO...

Too bad, Antares. I would've thought we'd find common ground with a moody, think piece like Wings of Desire. So much to say about life, how you remember it and how you choose to live it. Even with all I've done this year to stretch my cinematic horizons, none of them match the dreamy pull of Wings, which I have seen many times.

I'll give it another chance at a later date...I'm no Pauline Kael, I believe almost all films deserve a second viewing, in case you weren't in the right frame of mind the first time. I did like it, it just didn't move me. The funny thing is, my wife really wanted to watch it, and she's very big on arthouse type films, and she too, wasn't enthralled by it. I was shocked at her lack of response to it, because this is the kind of film that's right up her alley.

Nine months later, the most memorable thing I can think of was my wife's reaction to the film. I'm going to have to give this another viewing, maybe after Noirvember.
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Antares

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15306 on: September 25, 2012, 09:37:13 AM »
I Am Love (2009)

Added to my library queue.
Masterpiece (100-91) | Classic (90-80) | Entertaining (79-69) | Mediocre (68-58) | Cinemuck (57-21) | Crap (20-0)

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15307 on: September 25, 2012, 10:01:39 AM »
Dank that people are discovering I Am Love. Finished high on FLY's list in 2009 and it's easily the best performance of Swinton's that I've ever seen (and I'm not a huge fan of all of her work, so when she stands out to me she stands out something fierce).

MartinTeller

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15308 on: September 25, 2012, 10:10:34 AM »
I Am Love (2009)

Added to my library queue.

And my watchlist.  I will never get this list wrangled if you people keep doing these intriguing reviews!

Sandy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15309 on: September 25, 2012, 10:32:13 AM »
Wings of Desire http://www.filmspotting.net/forum/index.php?topic=9536.msg664540#msg664540

A huge part of the movie we just see angels walking around in the world, listening to the thoughts of people. I let the stream of consciousness, the poetry of the words and images fill my mind. I can barely put into words what feelings they evoked within me. But I was pretty sure it said something essential about life, love and what it's all about.

 :D I wasn't able to put anything into words at all. Great review Lobby.

...the film just didn't grab me. I liked it, but barely.

I did like it, it just didn't move me.

I completely understand this Antares. Just look at my In the Mood for Love fiasco. :)

Wings of Desire is a meandering piece, but I strongly identified with both Damiel and Marion and their thoughts. It's that subjective resonant ping.

 

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