Last movie you watched

[erilaz]

Saturday:

The Assassin (刺客聶隱娘) (2015) — Since the director is Hou Hsiao-Hsien, I wasn't surprised by the fact that this film is very slow-paced, dominated by mood and atmosphere, visual poetry of a sort. It's more of a political drama than an action film; the few action scenes go by quickly and are over before you know it. Even so, the dialogue is very sparse. Partly because of that (and partly because of unexplained elements like the masked woman), I found it hard to follow what was going on at times. It's a very beautiful film, but I must admit that I would have liked to see more of Shu Qi in wuxia action chick mode.

Sunday:

Experimenter: The Stanley Milgram Story (2015) — Interesting biopic about the psychologist who created the controversial experiment on obedience to authority figures. I have a religious obligation to see any movie that Winona Ryder is in.

[erilaz]

Heart of a Dog — The new film by New York-based musician/performance artist Laurie Anderson. It's a sort of video montage, tied together by Anderson's music and monologues. At the core are her reminiscences about her rat terrier, Lolabelle, but she also goes off on various tangents, from her quirky flights of fancy to the realities of life after 9/11, Homeland Security, data collection, and (especially) death.

I've been a fan since I was in high school (i.e. a VERY long time), so it was the sort of thing I would expect from her, but it was fascinating nonetheless, with a number of engaging, thought-provoking, and sometimes hilarious stories along the way.

[erilaz]

This evening I went to the Balboa Theatre in San Francisco for the first screening of that new science fiction movie, directed by that guy who created Felicity. I enjoyed it immensely. And the ending surprised me.

[erilaz]

Last movie of 2015: Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965).

First movie of 2016: Jack Hill's Spider Baby (1964).

Two of my favorites.

[erilaz]

Come on, people! I really don't want to be the only person posting in this thread!

Mustang (2015) — Five Turkish sisters have some harmless fun at the beach, but after a neighbor reports their "obscene" behavior to their family, the girls' home becomes their prison, where their elders attempt to cut them off from the bad influences outside and make them into chaste housewives-to-be.



Lady Snowblood (修羅雪姫) (1973) — The magnificent Kaji Meiko stars as Yuki, who was born and raised to be the instrument of her mother's vengeance against the gang who raped her and killed her husband. You might recognize the theme song, Kaji's "Shura no Hana", from the soundtrack to Kill Bill: Vol. 1. I watched the brand-new Criterion Blu-ray, which also includes the sequel, Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance.

[Amped]

I watched Star Wars Force Awakens last week. It was very nostalgic to see so many familiar characters again. Rey is a very badass girl.

Japan loves Star Wars.

[erilaz]

I can't wait to see where Rey goes from here.

I think it was a good strategy to give us plenty of time to get acquainted with the new characters before any of the old-timers showed up. It'll ease the transition to the coming episodes, which will (presumably) be even more about the new characters and less about the old.

Don't get me wrong; I loved it when the familiar faces showed up. Especially Han and Chewie, even though I had already seen that bit in repeated viewings of the trailer. Like J.J. Abrams, I was 11 when the first movie came out, so the nostalgia factor really worked for me.

[Nayoko-Kihara]

Last movie of 2015: Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965).

I enjoy finding this here after watching someone play through the first chapter of "Life is Strange" again.
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I haven't been able to watch a lot lately because of ongoing issues with my glasses, but I was able to finally squeeze in "Gone Girl" and "The Wiz! Live" (does that count?).

[erilaz]

"The Wiz! Live" (does that count?).

Sure, why not? I just got home from seeing something similar: the National Theatre's production of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, onscreen at the Elmwood Cinema in Berkeley. It was a great production, and even though the performance was filmed back in November, there was an interesting bit of serendipity in the costuming: in Act III, Hamlet is wearing a David Bowie t-shirt.

[aaronhansome]

I checked out Room a couple weeks past and my God, the most emotionally exhausting movie I've ever seen. Absolutely fantastic. Brie Larson deserves that Oscar.