Chorus.Fm Weekly Movie Club • Page 20

It’s an incredible movie. One of the best movies of the 90s. One of my personal favorites.

 

On my Plex if anyone needs it

 

Catching up:

Taste of Cherry deals with the complexities of life and the profound struggles faced by its protagonist, Mr. Badii. The film refrains from explicitly telling us the reasons behind the character's despair, recognizing that the universal understanding of life's challenges is sufficient. We witness as he desperately searches for an accomplice to help to free him from his despair. However, for Mr. Badii, it appears that freedom does not come in the form of a desire to live, but rather by an unwavering will to die.

 

In Bed with Victoria doesn't seem to be available to stream or torrent anywhere, which is a shame because I really enjoyed Anatomy of a Fall.

Watched Peeping Tom back in October. Some of the most striking use of colour in any film I've ever seen, and Karlheinz Böhm gives a surprisingly empathetic performance.

Bug explores how easily it can be for fragile minds to become corrupted. Agnes is longing for something to alleviate her misery, and Peter's paranoia and obsession with an insect infestation becomes her outlet. Does Agnes really believe in the bugs, or is her commitment driven by a need to not be alone? Either way she feels helpless, and Peter's delusions give her a way to feel in control - to feel like she is the super mother bug rather than the mother who lost her child.

 

Sorry all, swear I’m going to catch up with all the picks, incl mine. Been a rough few weeks and been trying to get clean, hopefully this’ll be my distraction.

 

What I love about American Movie is the love it has for the two central characters. No judgement, no disdain. Just two guys trying to make a damn movie because they love it, they have such passion for it.

I’ve talked to some people about this movie and they truly think the movie is making fun of them….in which I think that says more about the viewer than the subjects/creators.

 

I have a copy of In Bed With Victoria on my hard drive - please let me know if you (or anyone else in this thread) would like me to upload it to a Google Drive or something similar. Happy to do so.

 

There is a scene near the beginning of American Movie where Mark Borchardt, a would-be filmmaker from a working-class background, is seen standing outside of a large house. Talking directly to the camera and referencing the house, he says, "Now I know what I am here for," except, of course, his house will be much nicer. One of Mark's brothers is then interviewed, and he says, "Mark wants to have the good life - the big house and the nice car, but for the last 10-15 years, he's been stuck delivering newspapers," while Mark's other brother thinks, "he's just best suited for working in a factory." In that moment, all I could think of was that Steinbeck quote about how "socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." Like many others, Mark believes wholeheartedly in the American Dream, but it is this same resolute belief that stops him from ever actually creating a better life for himself. The title of the film is apt.

 

I watched American movie for the first time this year and absolutely loved it. I’ve been trying to find a copy on dvd. Just perfect.

 

@radiodead is up tomorrow

@chris is up next week

 

Happy New Years everyone! Very excited for my pick, it’s been on my watchlist for a long time and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it on streaming. But starting today on Criterion Channel it is!

My pick is Ikarie XB 1. It’s a Czechoslovakian sci-fi film, released in 1963 from director Jindřich Polák. Apparently it was a big influence on Stanley Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Here’s the excerpt from Janus Films website (wouldn’t be surprised to see a physical release from Criterion in the semi near future):

A visionary work of Eastern Bloc science fiction, this mesmerizing Czechoslovak adaptation of a novel by Stanisław Lem melds Cold War ideology and utopian futurism into a tour de force of space-age modernism. In the year 2163, a band of astronauts embarks on a fifteen-year voyage deep into outer space, in hopes of discovering life in another galaxy. It’s a perilous journey during which they will confront the wreckage of the twentieth century, the chilling vastness of the cosmos, and their own mortality. A triumph of avant-garde production design that served as a model for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ikarie XB 1—long known internationally only through a mangled and dubbed reedit—is a singular sci-fi landmark that finds both terror and wonder in the unknown.

 

That sounds really interesting!

Just watched Bug - I liked it mostly. It's definitely a little clunky in parts, and very visibly an adaptation of a stage play.

The conspiracy theories and presence of bugs unite Peter and Agnes, giving them a common bond and enemy, and a way to break up the loneliness, no matter how destructive that is. In both script and direction, there's a real uneasy atmosphere here, where we don't share the delusions of Peter and Agnes, we also don't quite trust the other characters telling them it's all in their head - particularly Dr Sweet, a wonderfully sinister and ambiguous character.

It's an intense watch, particularly towards the end, and the film is deliberately very vague on the objectivity of what we're seeing. Intriguing, a bit clunky, but with very strong performances from everyone here.

 

I need to rewatch Bug after learning it was about (meth) addiction and my recent struggles. I know it didn’t resonate much my first watch several years ago, but life happens.

 

Watched American Movie - it almost had the feel of a mockumentary, in fact I had to pause it to double check what I was watching. Mike and Mark have the natural absurdity and comic timing of seasoned comedians, with a great natural sense of surrealness.

What Mark is doing is ultimately a fool's errand, but also an act of sheer passion and determination, even if not necessarily much talent. He's pressing on with the production of Coven (brilliantly mispronounced to avoid it sounding like oven) and Northwestern for the joy of filmmaking, and the pipe dream that it'll be his ticket to the American dream and fame and fortune.

There is something very uplifting and joyous about complete amateurs and oddballs creating art, and not really knowing what they're doing along the way.

I did feel there were a couple of moments where the documentary did feel a little exploitative regarding Mark's personal life, and while some of those scenes were insightful into his character and his family, but I found the world of the filmmaking much more engaging than the world of Mark.

I'd like to check out Coven, assuming that's knocking around online somewhere.

I was also sorry to see that Mike died recently.

 

I know Mark sells signed VHS copies of Coven on Twitter. His account is really positive.

 

I'm not on twitter, but I had no idea Coven was ever really finished. I want to see it

He also shows up on a few episodes of Joe Pera Talks with You which rules

 

Someone uploaded a really fucked up negative version to Youtube way back when but it was unwatchable

 

American Movie was very enjoyable and pretty moving at times. I used to help my brother with movies growing up, usually with our toys and action figures and a lot of campy horror movies, so pieces of this felt almost too relatable.

I think ultimately what gets me about how this one guy's passion seems to ignite a sense of community around him. Though everyone has grown and appears to be a little tired of Mark's antics, they nevertheless jump in to lend a hand and support him. Yes, he's naive and no one really believes this will bring him fame and fortune, but it means something to this community in the end. Even Bill is reciting a little poem by the end.

Despite that theme, the whole movie also carries sort of a dark, wistful undertone. His best friend Mike is recovering from addiction, but Mark still wants to go out and party with him. His other friend has to get bailed out of jail. His parents marriage was a disaster. His relationship with his children's mother is also strained. He's burdened with debt. Bill seems to have lost some of his mental capacity. Getting this film done also feels like a last grasp to escape his responsibilities and relationships and friendships that are changing around him. Making the film, and roping all these different parties into it seems like a way to hold on to a period of his life that passed him by. The film he ultimately wants to make, "Northwestern", appears to be about that from the way he talks about it. Perhaps he avoids making that because it would mean confronting these truths.

 

Less analytical, but I just want to say I always love the scene where he asks his mom to play a cult member in the woods. And the filming sequences that follow.

 

Tracked down a copy of Coven.

I was expecting this to be a little The Room esque, but this isn't incompetent by any means, just a little scattershot and maybe a bit incoherent.

It seems a personal reflection of some of what we see of Mark in American Movie, the struggles of substance abuse, and of a desire to make something of his life - the American Dream. There's then Mark's horror influences here, hooded figures in the forest after the addiction group turn out to be cult members. It's all a little incoherent and slightly loses the plot towards the end in all honesty, but it is no worse than your standard student film.

The fact that it's pronounced coh-ven not coven because he didn't want it to rhyme with oven (???) is very funny.

 

I'm glad people enjoyed American Movie! It's very dear to me.

 

I think my favorite little moment is when they are recording screams and Mike goes and lets out the most earth-shattering shriek. I was floored because he is so soft-spoken throughout I was expecting just a little whimper from him. Even Mark, who has known him his whole life, is floored.

 

I'm with everyone on this funny, moving and endearing. Comparing it to the Fablesmans you can't help but wonder about the upbringing that is hinted at throughout. Would mark have been successful in a stable wealthy home? Would Spielberg have been an alcoholic chasing a dream or just got a normal job like his brothers.

 

Fablemans is an interesting comparison for sure. Didn’t think about that one.

 

My other favorite character has to be the bearded, long haired actor (can’t recall his name). Dude has that classic community theater staple vibe and is taking the material every bit as seriously as Mark but just lives on the opposite end of how he approaches the craft.