Movies you've just watched

[it290]

The Hunger

First. The debut feature from the director of Top Gun. Never is the V word uttered, or other tropes thrown around. The otherwise perpetrated romantic notion of eternal life is shown with perverse betrayal. A rattle sounds on the soundtrack and no snake is seen. Beautiful mask for aged face. Alice, oh Alice, please spit out your gum! Easiest overall metaphor is addiction, duh, yet I wonder if there is a hidden one? Possibly about H.I.V.? Heavy inter-cutting of scenes former and current in the beginning quite jarring, I won't confuse them for MTv flavour. Climax reminds me strongly of a chase in a building 'tween a Nex6 and a slave: who creates who? A preserved capsule, no kitsch. Will see again.

If you like this one, I definitely recommend Abel Ferrara's The Addiction and Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive.

[NYN]

Yeah, I know the Jarmusch one. It's all right, considering that he's the director I reckon who does movies only for himself, rather than audiences. I felt trolled with one of his others, as in breaking 4th wall for no apparent reason.
The other I have to read up, though I dig AF's Body Snatchers. Thanks.

[GaijinPunch]

Paris, Texas



Wim Wenders finds beauty in South Texas, suburban LA, and everywhere in between where I, and I'm sure many of my fellow Gen-X Americans, would have found drab nothingness. A somber road movie of sorts, circa 1984, where Harry Dean Stanton shows up after many years in South Texas. His brother, played by Dean Stockwell, comes to his aid to find out of the journey he's been on, and exactly what happened to him. Another post here claimed that this was beautifully shot, but not that interesting. I do agree that the first half could be truncated a bit, and/or the performances could use a bit of polish. I have zero such complaints in the third act. This makes me want to get out my camera and use color film, in both day and night. Some unbelievable shots in this, which definitely helps it earn its reputation.

[RGC]

Paris, Texas

Just saw this for a second time myself a few weeks back. I found it helped knowing about its unhurried pace, so I could find a quiet, comfy spot and plan for minimal disruptions/maximum immersion. I was fairly enrapt throughout, and taken by various visual elements, not least those backdrops. All the characters are written with depth, e.g. the brotherly tenderness and patience shown by Stockwell's character is really touching. And that bittersweet ending, which arrives as a gut punch despite knowing it's coming.

Speaking of road movies, if you haven't seen it I can heartily recommend Alexander Payne's Nebraska (2013). It's a little different in tone, being more of an outward comedy, but it pulls on similar strings. There's also Lucky (2017), HDS's last feature (less of a road movie, more of an existential one), with a cameo from his real life buddy (now also tragically departed), David Lynch. You've probably seen both of these, but worth mentioning just in case!

[GaijinPunch]

I have indeed seen both, but need to revisit them as I recall little. HDS was such a legend - I loved his character in Twin Peaks: The Return. If you want the ultimate road movie, Until the End of the World claims that prize, although it's not as acclaimed as a lot of his other stuff. It is a bit of a mess, but I think it's definitely worth checking out. Killer soundtrack.

[RGC]

Until the End of the World

Holy runtime Batman! If I come across it I'll check it out, but almost certainly spread over multiple evenings.

I know what you mean about Harry Dean Stanton. He also elevated another old movie I caught for the first time this year, Straight Time (1978) -- a pretty solid heist/drama flick with Dustin Hoffman and Theresa Russell.

I'm still waiting for the right moment to revisit TP: The Return, having only seen it on release and remembering very little except it warping my fragile mind.

[Randorama]

I remember that my hometown hosted a test screening of Until the End of the World, as its length was definitely a punt for the company distributing it in Italy. Wim Wenders was really popular in continental Europe by that point of his career, but the movie was basically a mini-series compressed into a single movie theatre release. I remember watching it with mother and sisters (my father was on mission in Ethiopia!) and finding it mesmerising but too challenging for a junior high school kid...

...I lost several passages simply because I had to hit the loo. I definitely did not have any problems following the "plot" though. Jokes aside, I loved it as a kid possibly also because it is messy and dreamy and doesn't make much sense, but it offers a glorious trip around the whole globe accompanied with a light Speculative/Science Fiction plot (1999, India and Pakistan are about to throw nukes, somebody develops a machine to record dreams or something, a lot of yadda yadda that really serves as setting an "end of times" theme but without the usually apocalyptic drivel).

I think that the cinema was overcrowded at the beginning. I mean, a Wim Wenders movie, during his peak of relevance, in a small university town: you can infer the rest, I guess. Only a third of the people or so remained "until the end of the world" (New Zealand? It is a "global road trip movie", back when the idea was borderline SF), but I guess that skipping dinner and/or dining on popcorn and cola was a though proposition for quite a few people.

I remember that when my father came back and was able to catch up with the movie, he spent *weeks* or so raving about it and complaining that people did not have the "dorsal spine" to sit down and watch a "masterpiece" without whining. Steely military training and heady artistic sensibilities can make a fairly bizarre combo, as Facets of an individual's personality I also remember watching it in two sessions with the waifu in 2015 or so, and she also adored it precisely because it does not make much sense, and because we visited quite a few of the countries featured in the movie.

The OST is also "borderline SF" in how it combines very different artists together - just read the playlist here. Can's Last Night Sleep remains one of my favourite songs ever, and one I usually listen to before long trips or other important moments.

My two cents is that you guys could either study when to make a "split" for a two evenings viewing, or simply have a completely free day, a tactical break for a meal (so you can ruminate on the movie while eating, or debate it with someone during the meal), and proper hydration because almost five hours of movie require proper beverages to support the effort.

...And then you should really buy a copy of the OST in vinyl, and wonder how it was possible, in the 1990s, that movies could have such (relatively) eclectic OSTs with actual artists producing actual music that would actually work well with the movie. Modern movies and the way the handle OSTs are driving me absolutely nuts, I must confess.

[RGC]

Ok, I'm sold. I'll try to track it down. It sounds quite trippy.

[GaijinPunch]

Until the End of the World

Holy runtime Batman! If I come across it I'll check it out, but almost certainly spread over multiple evenings.

The Director's Cut is over 4 hours from memory. The theatrical was... under 3? There's a lot going on. I feel if it got the Netflix 4-part treatment it would be quite digestible.

I know what you mean about Harry Dean Stanton. He also elevated another old movie I caught for the first time this year, Straight Time (1978) -- a pretty solid heist/drama flick with Dustin Hoffman and Theresa Russell.

I will add this to my list.
EDIT: I actually saw this. Gary Busey was so young... his kid was in it too, I recall.

I'm still waiting for the right moment to revisit TP: The Return, having only seen it on release and remembering very little except it warping my fragile mind.

LOL - I definitely do not have this problem.

[GaijinPunch]

I remember that my hometown hosted a test screening of Until the End of the World, as its length was definitely a punt for the company distributing it in Italy.

<snip>

What a great read, Rando! Interesting to hear that your dad was one of us, at least in some ways. Neither of my parents would have cared much for this, or much of what we post here. Glad the waifu liked it. I last watched it on a flight from the US to Japan, in probably 2018 or so, the first time having been in the 90's. Everyone knows a lot of my life between those dates. So I had a chuckle when they showed the scene in Tokyo (Omotesando specifically) which featured that hideous statue outside of the UN building... it was tacky then, too.

Soundtrack: I was obsessed with Depeche Mode back then, and their contribution (Death's Door) was a Martin solo that sits weirdly between Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion - their two most successful albums. They did play it live on the tour of the latter, but I don't feel it got a lot of love. The title track by U2 I quite loved, and it got its proper fame on Achtung Baby.

What are your thoughts on Paris, Texas?

[Randorama]

I was listening again to the OST during a sweltering hot dinner at home, alone (long story...), so I will start from some more considerations on the OST:

U2's Until the End of the World is one of the few songs I like by them and has that melancholic streak that works perfectly with the movie finale, which personally I always adored and which I think that qualifies as "quintessential SF" (no spoilers, but the ending is quite optimistic, even if optimism comes at a price). Depeche Mode...OK, Martin's Death's Door is a great song. I remember that it worked well during the longer hiatus between Violator and SoF&D (c'mon, three years during teenagerhood are an eternity!). I then also adore Talking Heads' Sax & Violins and R.E.M. Fretless, aside the rest of the OST really. I mean, if you guys haven't downloaded this on Spotify on whatever App you use, like, now, you have hearts of stone or something

On Wenders in general, and on Paris, Texas in particular: Memories on some topics become really blurry as I age, but I do remember that during my childhood and teenagerhood my parents would usually bring us to watch more "adult" (i.e. denser, heady, more intellectual) movies and concerts for free, but we could choose our more commercial/lighter entertainment with our allowances. Movies from authors like Wenders were family occasions, as I mentioned, because he is one of those "continental Europe" authors who favour visually powerful narration over flawlessly logical script (case in point: he directed one movie with Antonioni).

I have extremely blurry memories of the block of movies from Paris, Texas to Beyond the clouds as deeply enjoyable occasions, though I remember that I never failed to like his extremely penetrating "photographic eye". Those were movies that we (mother, father when in the country, two older sisters) would watch because they invariably had stunningly beautiful shots and inventive composition and often presented intense vignettes.

I just forgot to mention: we went to an uncut version of the movie (i.e. the whole five ours), because the Italian distributor wanted to test if it could work in cinemas. I am pretty sure that they officially released the 3-hours something version. I swear that the local newspaper even had articles in the vein of "people abandon cinema because the new Wenders movie is too long, dammit!" or something like that, once the test was over.

Re: Paris, Texas:

I would need to re-watch Paris, Texas again. I have these memories of these long shots about suburban locations that were suffused with an eye and perspective that would treat them not as "random transit zones" ("non-places", in technical terms) but as locations where humans live and interact (places in technical zones). My 1988 self that watched the movie on TV had only this gutsy feeling of what he was trying to do with the movie, but right now I suspect that I would describe the movie in this manner, given that I have a certain amount of "theoretical baggage" from my job that could be useful to the task.

Plot-wise, though, I remember that I found it a very unnerving movie, due to the fact that Stanton cuts a really painful figure as a drifter, at least to my eyes. As an adopted kid, I never really lost the fear of ending up as one (i.e. a drifter), so the character made me feel very uneasy. I wonder if I would have the same feelings, as an adult. On a tangent, I offer something totally weird I read an eternity ago and that I cannot seem to find again in any decent source: apparently, Wenders found inspiration in Russ Meyer's works and use of photography for this movie. Yes, that Russ Meyers

I am tempted to elaborate more but I suspect that it is easier if you check the link and then we see if you have the intuition about the concept of "place", so that I may elaborate in more detail my thoughts.

Re: father. My parents represent a certain type of European, old-school middle class. Hard-working, goal-oriented, etc. etc. but also with a commitment to a certain type of "well-rounded" education with a tinge of snobbery: according to them, they watch the best movies, read the best books, listen to the best music, etc. etc.

My parents are however a "rock'n roll" generation (class of 1956), so relatively modern in their interests. I mean, my father would bring me to my uncle's arcade when in town, and our parents brought us kids to Rolling Stones, U2, Prince, David Bowie concerts, among other legends (but not e.g. Iron Maiden or Depeche Mode: too modern for them).

My father is not a cinephile but over the decades he developed that strong taste for technically well-crafted cinema, so he nudged us kids to develop some of this taste as well, along with a critical sense regarding enjoyment (i.e. the "ruminations" during/after a movie). Also, as an army officer (Alpini, mountains' troops), he was a scout and therefore a skilled photographer and geographer: he had and still has professional bias towards excellent photography and gorgeous landscapes, in movies.

The problem now is that if we watch something together that has some clear technical problems of any sort, he may end spending *hours* complaining about it. I remember posting here about how he went absolutely ballistic after watching Prometheus, but one day I may simply sit down and write an "effortpost" entitled "my father and Michael Nolan, or: this universe is too small for the two of us". It might be an ongoing mini-series, I suspect (seasons 2-ongoing: "my father vs. modern Hollywood movies")

I am half tempted to "effortpost" in the TV thread too, but I actually want to finish watching some series (well, mostly Hell on Wheels) I have been fiddling with, before offering my thoughts on them.

[xEbb1993x]

The Naked Gun was REALLY funny!