Movies II

On a whim I rented [i]Cafe De Flore[/i] from the library. It's very good. French-Canadian film that's part romance, part surreal, and part suspense. Highly recommended.

Fri, 2016-10-28 12:56

#256

mark_alfred

HyperNormalisation, by Adam Curtis: https://archive.org/details/HyperNormalisation

The link contains options to watch the video streamed or to download it. It's a BBC documentary about how current trends in western political systems came about (it focusses mostly on British and American politics). It touches on the middle east (primarily Syria and Libya), the banks, the internet and computers, the Occupy movement, and various other issues. Its main theme is how the focus moved more to managing economies rather than having visions for improvement. Recommended. As a plus, Curtis also frequently uses the music of Brian Eno in his films (this one included), so if you're an Eno fan, it's another reason to watch the movie.

Mon, 2017-01-16 17:26

#257

epaulo13

Trapped in a Human Zoo

This is the story of the incredible journey of eight Inuit who came from Labrador in 1880 to Europe lured by promises of adventures and wealth, only to realize they had been trapped in a world that time has today forgotten; the world of human zoos. Thirty-five thousand indigenous people from around the world were recruited for these zoos.

In this world, men, women and children were exhibited like animals. An era of scientific racism was ushered in. And if not for one small diary found after being lost for over one hundred years, written by a man named Abraham, their tragic story would have been forgotten forever....

Mon, 2017-01-16 17:40

#258

ikosmos

A Canadian film about pass laws would be a great addition as well.

Long ago on babble I had a ferociously nasty argument with Jeff XYZ, who left babble shortly after that, a lawyer by trade I think, who claimed that Canada had no such laws [or practices, which was the point] and whose attacks could have taken the paint off a car at twenty paces.

Sat, 2017-01-21 01:12

#259

Rev Pesky

Recently watched again (for the I'm not sure-how-manyth time),

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Heath Ledger's last film. In fact he died as the film was being made, so things had to be done in order to complete the movie. Fortunately the movie itself allowed those things to be done.

Written by Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown, and directed by Terry Gilliam.

Cast includes Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield and Tom Waits. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law played portions of the movie that would have been done by Ledger.

Visually excellent, as Gilliam's work is, with a story line that has an overarching theme. What happens when someone makes a deal with the devil.

I have watched this movie several times, and find something in it each time. My sister watched it (at my insistence) but grew bored with it, so I guess it can be taken or left. But if someone asked me for a beautiful movie to watch, this one would be near the top of the list.

Gilliam has made many movies, among which I would place "The Fisher King" as number one. The 'Imaginarium' would be second.

If you're looking for something out of the usual, this is the movie. If you don't like it, well, you can blame me, but it won't change my feelings about it. In fact, just wrting about it makes me want to watch it again. Off I go...