Movies

I watched The United States vs Billie Holiday last night.

I really enjoyed the film, super interesting and it painted what I assume to be a really strong image of what life must have been like for a black person (even a successful one) back in that era. I think the way they built up the song 'Strange Fruit' without fully allowing it to be heard was fantastic and really made the reveal impactful (I kind of wish that I hadn't heard it until now).

I do think that the scenes were a bit disjointed at times and you really had to pay attention to work out where they are, how long has passed since the previous scene, etc. Overall though its a really fantastic film. The final text at the end of the film breaking down what happened after is really powerful.
 
Due to pure luck and circumstance I've got a pass for SXSW this year. I'm drowning in the lineup; the only movie I'm scheduled for is The Sparks Brothers. Is there anything else I should be looking out for?
 
Bull Shannon said:
Due to pure luck and circumstance I've got a pass for SXSW this year. I'm drowning in the lineup; the only movie I'm scheduled for is The Sparks Brothers. Is there anything else I should be looking out for?
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Is it like, a virtual SXSW?

I'm looking forward to seeing The Sparks Brothers, such an creative and odd duo.
 
Max Sterling said:
Is it like, a virtual SXSW?

I'm looking forward to seeing The Sparks Brothers, such an creative and odd duo.
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Yup; I’m a little unclear how it all works (whether you have to stream a movie and watch along in real-time at its showtime, or if you can start whenever within a window) but it’s entirely virtual. There’s a chat between Edgar Wright and Ron and Russell Mael later that day, too.
 
Bull Shannon said:
Yup; I’m a little unclear how it all works (whether you have to stream a movie and watch along in real-time at its showtime, or if you can start whenever within a window) but it’s entirely virtual. There’s a chat between Edgar Wright and Ron and Russell Mael later that day, too.
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I sympathize with the struggle to understand screening times for virtual film festivals. It would be fine if they all followed some standard rules of the road, but some festivals allow you to watch whenever you want during the length of the entire festival, others you have a 48-hour window that starts when you press play for the first time, others you have a 48-hour window that starts when the "screening" is scheduled, others have a 4-hour window that's scheduled during the "screening" time, others you have 4 hours from when you press start within a 24-hour availability window, sometimes there's a live Q+A you can participate in or just watch later (if you can find the link later mwahahaha) - the only common thread is that no festival tries to answer all of your logistical questions all on one webpage with clear, thoroughly detailed information, and within each festival, different films have different rules and restrictions. I think maybe that's just due to the fact that they weren't used to doing virtual festivals and were working out the kinks as they went along. But when you're paying $10-15 to screen a movie and there are so many restrictions on when/how you can actually watch it, it's definitely a deterrent and in many cases, the films just show up for free on amazon or hulu a few months later anyway and you can watch them whenever you want, as many times as you want without the hassle.

BUT it does feel cool to see something before the wide release and put up one of the first few letterboxd reviews.
 
David A. said:
Doubt it but it's a surefire nominee. It traffics in the mediocrity that AMPAS loves to eat up. That's my personal pick for worst film of 2020. Nothing worked.
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This was in reference to the globes, but yeah, I think Nomadland has BP locked and loaded at this point. Promising Young Woman has gained all the momentum for original screenplay too, so Trial may walk away empty-handed, though I sure it'll get a good amount of noms.
 
Finally found a window to knock out some international films from my Shudder list last night.

Impetigore was super good! Suspenseful and atmospheric Indonesian spiritual/body horror with some fascinating twists.

La Llorona (the Guatemalan one) was especially good—and surprisingly political too! Loved the premise and the POV from which we experience the unraveling of what happened.
 
ayayrawn said:
This was in reference to the globes, but yeah, I think Nomadland has BP locked and loaded at this point. Promising Young Woman has gained all the momentum for original screenplay too, so Trial may walk away empty-handed, though I sure it'll get a good amount of noms.
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I agree with all of this...I was worried about the Globes. The Oscars aren't giving BP to Chicago 7
 
Not a single category this year where I thought, "wow this is humiliating, why do I even follow this shit" I'm in awe.

These look great!







 
I don't really understand why awards shows are still a thing. They don't mean anything... It's like the "Top 100 rock songs of all time!" lists... they're just a small group of peoples opinion on something everyone has different opinions on. Like, sure, give lifetime achievement awards to people who have done a lot in a field, whatever, that seems reasonable. But, "This person acted better than every other person last year!" Or "This movie was the best movie last year!" are not only incredibly subjective, but silly. Why do people care?

I guess I'm especially confused when folks here get really into it. This is a fairly eclectic gathering of folks, we all see the validity of differing preferences and opinions. What some random group of industry people decide is worth acclaim isn't relevant to anything...

Someone please explain to me the allure.
 
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