Watched quite a few movies the last couple of weeks. My favorites:
Never Look Away
Really excellent film. Writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck also made
The Lives of Others, which is one of my favorite films of the last 20 years. I slightly prefer
Never Look Away. It’s over three hours, but held my attention throughout. Nominated for best foreign language film and best cinematography awards at the 2019 Oscars. Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel has had a long Hollywood career with many Oscar nominations.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
I really like this slow, haunting, melancholy film set in a Taipei movie theater on the rainy last day before closing. Long static shots, almost no dialogue, and absence of traditional plot probably makes this a difficult watch for most people, especially in the smartphone era, but the atmosphere and dreamlike mood drew me in and made it memorable.
Toxic
Excellent dark comedy dealing with the absurdity of local teenagers being sold the idea that modeling is a way out of a small Lithuanian town with few opportunities. Brilliantly absurd, bleakly comical, and rather depressing. Sadly, this is a dynamic too common in some East European cities. Jean-Luc Brunel and his more notorious criminal co-conspirator are not alone in using the lure of modeling for nefarious purposes.
Sick of Myself
Somewhat dark and horrifying, but more of a comedy and satire about narcissism, obsession with getting attention, and using victimhood to gain affirmation and status. Juxtaposing this sociopathic character with the polite Oslo society makes the film work for me.
Sentimental Value
Another Norwegian film and up for many Oscars. I preferred Joachim Trier’s
The Worst Person in the World, but thought this was really well done as well. Very Bergmanesque and an actors film, but it just didn’t capture me. Great acting and everything was well done, but I felt it was trying to pull emotions without earning it with the narrative. Trier’s intentional blurring of lines between real life and theater contributed to my emotional distance. Still a really good film in my opinion, just not as good as some of Trier’s previous works.
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