Seems like Beanpole is up on Mubi in the UK and, as a result, also "out there." Saw it at TIFF last month and was one of my favorites of the festival. Won the Best Director prize in the UCR section at Cannes this year. (The whole awards slate for that section is insane this year, probably the best of any section at any intl fest this year)
@yung_ting I feel like you were asking me about the new Bonello at some point? (maybe I'm wrong) But it's streaming on MUBI UK now if you have a VPN or can find a rip.
Awesome, I have a VPN and I’m pretty sure my Mubi sub is still active, will watch this week and let ya know
Anyone heard any updates on Damian Szifron's Misanthrope? It's been 5 years since Wild Tales and I need something new.
I saw Young Ahmed last night. The whole “this was made by two WHITE MEN... in EUROPE.... in 2019?!?!” that people were shouting out before it premiered and into the reviews (especially on Letterboxd) feels so disingenuous after having seen it. Like no one that watched the film did any work to look beyond the logline. It’s hardly about Islam, or even radicalization. These ideas are present, obviously, but the whole film is just another one of the stories of a child in crisis. I can see people taking issue with using these as vessels to explore a character, but that doesn’t read as inherently problematic to me and doesn’t seem to be the main concern people are raising (from what I’ve seen at least). It’s not as rewarding as their best works, but it’s very affecting and one of my favourites of the year.
That’s really heartening, I was apprehensive from the initial wave of reviews but they are such empathetic filmmakers that I had trouble believing they mishandled the subject matter to the degree that some made it seem, can’t wait to see it
It's really good! I had relatively low expectations (Almodovar's output this decade has been pretty spotty) but I found this pretty moving and his best in at least 10 years. It's clearly Almodovar's work - both in form and content - but it's got a relaxed tone that's pretty far from the eccentricities of his early works. Definitely feels like his first film as an old man (I mean this as a positive).
Pain and Glory was fantastic, absolutely loved it and feel very lucky to have caught it on a screen Watched Dogman last night and thought it was great despite the lukewarm reception. Haven’t watched anything Garrone has done since Gomorrah but gonna change that now
I have so many thoughts and feelings but I don’t want to sound like an idiot working through them in real time. This will be sticking with me for a long time, but the one thing I feel confident about is that reducing this opus to a bleak suicide note seems totally reductive. From the opening moments we’re told about something completely still - something that all four are drawn to yet contrasted by how we follow in long shots of consistent, rhythmic movement. I think they may have eventually found that stillness, whatever that means
of my recent watches (all from this year) An Elephant Sitting Still Our Time Bacurau Ash Is Purest White Knife + Heart Atlantics Diamantino
A lot of the conversation around it has been so reductive, only talking about it as bleak/with regard to suicide. I think there’s hope or solance buried in the film though and that’s why it resonated to strongly. It is really overwhelming but I felt so secure after watching it. Tell me what you like I cannot blind rec films to most people lol